Feeding the crix out of schedule...

[barnaby]

Hi all!

I have a pygmy in a exoterra enclosure 45x60x60. Here it is:

And here's the little guy (not so little for a pygmy):

I heard some people say that a couple of days after releasing the crickets, if not eaten their nutritional value drops to near 0. Problem is I can't hand feed him or cup feed him or anything involving the slightest interaction so, as you might imagine, I can't control in any way when he eats his food. I dust the crix, put them in the enclosure and imagine that he eats them, because he looks healthy to me... I've only seen him eat 3 or 4 times in almost a year.

Question: Can I leave some small quantity of veggies in the enclosure (in a small exoterra bowl or something) for the surviving crickets eat and keep themselves more nutritional for my cham? Of course I'd change the veggies on a daily basis.

thanks!

 

[littlevillage]

I don't know for sure if it's a good idea or not, but that's what I do. I'm not as worried about them losing their nutritional value as I am about them getting hungry & munching on my chams. If I know there is a couple crix left running around in the cage when it comes to be lights out time, I always put a little crix feed in there, if they can't be caught.

If this is a bad idea, maybe someone will chime in & tell us both why.

 

[jannb]

If I have any left at the end of the day, I just take them out.

 

[barnaby]

If I have any left at the end of the day, I just take them out.

Trying to catch small crickets in that heavily planted terrarium is next to impossible...

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I don't know for sure if it's a good idea or not, but that's what I do. I'm not as worried about them losing their nutritional value as I am about them getting hungry & munching on my chams. If I know there is a couple crix left running around in the cage when it comes to be lights out time, I always put a little crix feed in there, if they can't be caught.

If this is a bad idea, maybe someone will chime in & tell us both why.

Totally fine ... and actually a good idea.
You are not alone, many keepers do this.

-Brad