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Feeding crickets to gliders. How? #183984
12/10/06 05:22 PM
12/10/06 05:22 PM

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One of my girls is not really showing much interest in mealies these days. She has plenty of appetite for everything else though, so I figured it's just that she needs to eat something different for a while. I got some small crickets, which I've read are great for gliders, but I''m not sure to best go about feeding them to my suggies. Mealworms don't have nearly the escape potential that crickets do. jump

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #183991
12/10/06 05:55 PM
12/10/06 05:55 PM

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You can get a medium or large Critter Keeper container and put the crickets in there, they shouldn't be able to jump out and the gliders should be able to get in and out easily. I think some others might use a large Mason Jar too. Or you could give them to the gliders using a large tweezers.

Oh and you can freeze the crickets, they won't be jumping anywhere if their dead crazy

Always keep in mind that there is a much higher risk of feeding your gliders aflatoxins through crickets. Make sure you know where they are coming from and that they have been raised on good quality bedding.

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #183999
12/10/06 06:31 PM
12/10/06 06:31 PM

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I got them from the pet store. Is that trustworthy?

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #184002
12/10/06 06:41 PM
12/10/06 06:41 PM

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When I feed crickets I keep them in the fridge as this really quiets them down and then I give them using tweezers. Saying that I havent fed them for a few months because of what Ive read and Id rather be safe than sorry.

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #184007
12/10/06 06:58 PM
12/10/06 06:58 PM

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I haven't fed crickets to my boys for awhile now due to the aflatoxin scare, but, what I used to do is put the crickets I was going to feed in a ziplock bag and either crush their heads or let them die from lack of oxygen. I know it sounds cruel. Believe me I did not enjoy doing it, but this was the best way I found to avoid `escapees`. I would then hand feed them to my gliders or put them in a bowl at mealtime.

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #184009
12/10/06 07:09 PM
12/10/06 07:09 PM

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What is the aflatoxin scare?

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #184014
12/10/06 07:33 PM
12/10/06 07:33 PM

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The crickets could easily get out of a critter keeper. There are the can-o-crickets you can get at the pet store to make it easier, they are gut-loaded and dead.

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #184045
12/10/06 09:16 PM
12/10/06 09:16 PM
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 16,087
Manitowoc, WI
BeckiT Offline
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BeckiT  Offline
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Posts: 16,087
Manitowoc, WI
I raise crickets for my son's reptiles, and there is nothing cooler than to see the gliders hunt crickets! I put 3 or 4 in the cage, shut the door and a couple cricket chirps later they're up and ready to hunt, lol... the crickets try their best to hide in the leaves of the plants or in the blankets that the gliders have thrown on the floor.. It works for about 15-20 seconds before they get pounced on and eaten, lol

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: BeckiT] #184052
12/10/06 09:49 PM
12/10/06 09:49 PM

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How do you keep them from getting out in your house?

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #184059
12/10/06 10:04 PM
12/10/06 10:04 PM
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 16,087
Manitowoc, WI
BeckiT Offline
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Manitowoc, WI
they don't live long enough to get out of the cage, lol...

the cricket farm is in a large rubbermaid tote with air holed punched in the lid (they can eat through screen...)

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: BeckiT] #184061
12/10/06 10:13 PM
12/10/06 10:13 PM

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Yeah, thats what I had when i had my bearded dragon. But those guys always figured a way out of even that!

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #184077
12/10/06 11:04 PM
12/10/06 11:04 PM

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I used to place my crickets in the freezer and then give them to my Jing. He loved his cricket Pops.. hehe

I am looking into starting my own cricket farm soon, and with the new reptarium I don't have to worry about esacapees and Jing can hunt to his hearts content

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: BeckiT] #184179
12/11/06 02:57 AM
12/11/06 02:57 AM

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Can you be sure the crickets are aflatoxin-free if you raise them yourself? Mine seemed to really like them. They were a litle confused (and still groggy) at first by suddenly having the afternoon snack try to ecape. They are used to being able to make me just hold onto a mealie until they roll over, scratch their tummies, fluff up the tail, and decide they're ready to snack.

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #184206
12/11/06 08:53 AM
12/11/06 08:53 AM
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 777
Lecanto Florida
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Posts: 777
Lecanto Florida
i keep mine in ten gallon aquarium or bigger with screen top on it. if they climb out(little ones can ) then put a piece of wide tape about 3 -4 inches from top of container and the crickets slip off of it if they try to climb over it. a thing i do every x-mas is every cage gets a ten gallon aquarium put in it and we then put several live crickets in their and sit back and watch the suggies go crazy catching the live crickets. otherwise i hand feed suggie crickets every week at least and mom and babies daily. we freeze them in a zip lock baggie and then put in dinner dish at night(always first thing our babies eat first). when first giving crickets to young gliders(3 or 4 weeks oop) i squish the heads so they don't bite the babies until they are use to handling them. i give to babies after i see them eating one while mom or dad holds it and eats with them.

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: 1daddyglider1] #185051
12/12/06 10:01 PM
12/12/06 10:01 PM

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If you don't have a soft stomach...Tear their legs off and they don't jump anywhere!! Haha!

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #185094
12/12/06 11:08 PM
12/12/06 11:08 PM

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what is the aflatoxin scare? how do you know if you're getting "safe" crickets?

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #185284
12/13/06 11:34 AM
12/13/06 11:34 AM

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About tearing the legs off - I use to do that. My husband and I would sit down and tear off one back leg to each of the crickets we were using that night, the problem is the way their little bodies are, when you tear off a back leg over half of the time the cricket will just about rip in half. This happened to us constantly - no matter how careful we were.
The easiest thing for us was I washed out an old peanut butter jar, and when we get them home they go straight into the jar - into the freezer.

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #185296
12/13/06 11:53 AM
12/13/06 11:53 AM

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I use the bathtub

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #185340
12/13/06 01:14 PM
12/13/06 01:14 PM

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Originally Posted By: tinksbadda
what is the aflatoxin scare? how do you know if you're getting "safe" crickets?


Aflatoxin is a mold that can grow on corn products if it is not stored correctly. The corn-cob bedding is often used to feed crickets. When the crickets injest the bedding the aflatoxin binds with their DNA and is toxic to animals that eat the crickets.

Since almost all crickets are raised on the corn-cob bedding, I do not beleive that there is any way to guarantee you are getting a safe cricket. In the end, it is a risk that you have to decide whether you want to make or not. I choose not to simply because there are other safer forms of protein and insects that can be fed to the gliders.


I've asked several times, but still don't know for sure, whether the aflatoxin can be passed from cricket to cricket. I know people have suggested purcahsing crickets, raising their own (without the use to corn-cob bedding) and only feeding the offpsring of the crickets...but I have also been told that it is impossible to raise crickets without the use of atleast some corn-cob bedding so you would never completely get rid of the risk.

HTH thumb

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #185406
12/13/06 03:10 PM
12/13/06 03:10 PM
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,968
Northeast Indiana
minkasmom Offline
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Posts: 5,968
Northeast Indiana
From what Bourbon has explained to me, the aflotoxin "hooks itself" onto the DNA of the cricket...from my VERY LIMITED knowledge of genetics, this COULD PASS ON from one generation of crickets to the next...so my humble conclusion is that there will be NO MORE CRICKETS served to my babies....having one person here on GC lose their ENTIRE COLONY to "poisoned" crickets is enough!

Bourbon will probably be proud to hear that her WARNING has finally sunk in! (Better sooner than too late...)


Minkasmom (Papillon Kisses)
Slave to:
25 gliders,4 cats,
and ONE husband (can't handle two, lol!)
gangel Remembering all my lost loves cry
Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: minkasmom] #185415
12/13/06 03:35 PM
12/13/06 03:35 PM

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so what other bugs do you feed your gliders with crickets out of the picture? So far I only feed Miszka mealworms but i'd like to give her more variety. Any suggestions? Where would I get them (I'm not sure how to "catch" them)?

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #185438
12/13/06 04:03 PM
12/13/06 04:03 PM

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Never feed `wild-caught` insects. You simply don't know where they've been....like pesticides and other nasty stuff.


Deck the Halls, Ya'll!

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #195399
01/04/07 05:53 AM
01/04/07 05:53 AM

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Originally Posted By: Kris
About tearing the legs off - I use to do that. My husband and I would sit down and tear off one back leg to each of the crickets we were using that night, the problem is the way their little bodies are, when you tear off a back leg over half of the time the cricket will just about rip in half. This happened to us constantly - no matter how careful we were.


There is a way to take the legs off of a cricket without harming the body or actually the cricket itself. With the cricket leg in its natural postion it looks like > squeeze it together until it looks like - give the fatter (thigh) another squeeze (don't pull) and the hind leg will come right off with no damage to the body. One of the only defenses a cricket has is the ability to shed legs if grabbed by a predator, this triggers the response. If left alive the cricket would molt then have another leg.

Re: Feeding crickets to gliders. How? [Re: ] #195552
01/04/07 03:04 PM
01/04/07 03:04 PM

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for those that raise their own crickets, the jelly stuff thats usually used to feed them, that stuff wont harm the glider when the cricket gets eatten will it?


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