Calcium supplement kills cricket colony!!

[ataraxia]

generally crickets heavily dusted die quickly. I seriously have every brand of calcium probably made in the U.S. and none of them kill crickets if dusted correctly.

Lightly dust before you put them in the animals cage.

 

[EvilLost]

Ancient thread lol -.-

 

[JackP308]

Ancient thread lol -.-

still has some good info though

"Crickets breath through little holes in their abdomens called spiracles- "thats a cool little fact I did not know.

 

[Benton1576]

still has some good info though

"Crickets breath through little holes in their abdomens called spiracles- "thats a cool little fact I did not know.

Agreed, i learnt something new today! Cool.

 

[tkalawart]

haha

this feed is halarious. "Ive been dusting my crickets and they are dying shortley after." Reply- Dont dust your crickets until feeding "I dont need advice on dusting Im not stupid!!!"

 

[Benton1576]

this feed is halarious. "Ive been dusting my crickets and they are dying shortley after." Reply- Dont dust your crickets until feeding "I dont need advice on dusting Im not stupid!!!"

I dont think the issue was his dusting schedule, more the fact that 3 hours later they all died. Thats not normal. Mine dont die 3 hours later, ive often found an esacaped cricket wandering my house over a week later after dusting with calcium.

 

[Pennychameleon]

One thing I always remember when it comes to my husbandry is that just because one thing works, that doesn't mean something else won't work better. Just because you've done something for years and you haven't had problems till now, that doesn't mean there's not a better way to do it. You should only dust your crickets right before they are fed off.

I suspect that whatever calcium supplement you were using before doesn't stick to the crickets as well, which makes it seem to me like most of the calcium powder probably comes off the crickets after a few days. That wastes your calcium and could result in deficiencies for your chams (which are not always visible).

I believe that being open to new ideas and different ways of doing things is a very important part of being in the herp world.

Edit: I just saw that you have a panther and two jacksonii. You're feeding dusted crickets to all of them? For the panther, he may not get enough calcium from dusting all the crickets once when you first get them. But for the jax, they actually may be getting too much. I'm sure you know that montane species like jacksonii are very sensitive to over-supplementation and their feeders should only be dusted once a week or less. I really think you should reevaluate your dusting schedule. Even though I'm sure your chams seem fine, that doesn't mean they won't thrive and be even more healthy with more appropriate supplement schedules.

Hi I have a Yemen baby the crickets are dusted lightly but die soon after, I put a dish with meal worms dusted but the Cham was only interested in the dust?? Is this dangerous??

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Hi I have a Yemen baby the crickets are dusted lightly but die soon after, I put a dish with meal worms dusted but the Cham was only interested in the dust?? Is this dangerous??

This is an old thread. You will likely not get an answer from the OP, please make your own thread.

 

[mpbm31]

This is an old thread. You will likely not get an answer from the OP, please make your own thread.

Hello! I haven't been on this forum in years! lol Yea I had crickets to die after I dusted them and found out it was the calcium. Honestly I have a lot of experience with chameleons. I use to breed "panther" and a few others. I really don't have an answer on why the chameleon would go for just the dust. I learn a lot through trial and error. Take a paper bag and put the feeder(crickets, mealworm, etc..) and lightly sprinkle the calcium and D3 in the bag and shake it. This will just coat them lightly. I don't think it'll hurt the chameleon to eat the extra just make sure it isn't a lot. I'l look up the products I used and pm you. I had a lot of fun and success but had to sale everything when I moved. I'm looking to buy a cham soon so I'll need the products again. I'll get back to you by this afternoon. Have a good day!

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Hello! I haven't been on this forum in years! lol Yea I had crickets to die after I dusted them and found out it was the calcium. Honestly I have a lot of experience with chameleons. I use to breed "panther" and a few others. I really don't have an answer on why the chameleon would go for just the dust. I learn a lot through trial and error. Take a paper bag and put the feeder(crickets, mealworm, etc..) and lightly sprinkle the calcium and D3 in the bag and shake it. This will just coat them lightly. I don't think it'll hurt the chameleon to eat the extra just make sure it isn't a lot. I'l look up the products I used and pm you. I had a lot of fun and success but had to sale everything when I moved. I'm looking to buy a cham soon so I'll need the products again. I'll get back to you by this afternoon. Have a good day!

Wow! I was thinking in my head-"What if the OP actually replied?". How funny! Welcome back!

 

[Pennychameleon]

Hello! I haven't been on this forum in years! lol Yea I had crickets to die after I dusted them and found out it was the calcium. Honestly I have a lot of experience with chameleons. I use to breed "panther" and a few others. I really don't have an answer on why the chameleon would go for just the dust. I learn a lot through trial and error. Take a paper bag and put the feeder(crickets, mealworm, etc..) and lightly sprinkle the calcium and D3 in the bag and shake it. This will just coat them lightly. I don't think it'll hurt the chameleon to eat the extra just make sure it isn't a lot. I'l look up the products I used and pm you. I had a lot of fun and success but had to sale everything when I moved. I'm looking to buy a cham soon so I'll need the products again. I'll get back to you by this afternoon. Have a good day!

Thank you! Glad it won't be harmed by the calcium, this is my first chameleon and absolutely think they are amazing!! This one was on its last legs at the pet shop so I randomly bought it then read up everything some info is contradictory so members like yourself are invaluable!! Hope you find a few great chameleons!!

 

[Kritter]

Lmao this thread is ANCIENT! With that said it’s crazy this just happened to me a couple months ago. I decided I would throw some of the products I never use anymore after switching to Repashy but I tried throwing some of that Flukers crap in there later that day everything was dead now I only use Repashy Bug Burger and the stuff works great!