Refrigerating FOOD

[JennaMarie]

So, call me crazy, but I sure do love buying in bulk (as demonstrated by the ridiculous amounts of toilet paper and paper towel in our house). Anyway, we're ordering some food and I was wondering which of the types of bugs I can put in the fridge to slow their growth. We're going to buy smaller amounts this time as our cham is still young, but in the future we'll be purchasing much larger amounts, so I'd love to know what we can purchase and slow the growth to keep around for a long amount of time.

Looking into:
Superworms
Crickets
Phoenix worms
Silk worms

Also, I'm doing my research on these, but is there anything special I need to know to take care of these critters? I've heard that silk worms take a bit more TLC than the every day bug and didn't know if any others had anything extra too.

We've only had our little guy for a week now and have been feeding him crickets and Phoenix worms. He's a great eater and we're very excited to add new bugs to his diet and give him a nice variety.

 

[reptileman]

Ok all of these
Superworms
Crickets
Phoenix worms
Silk worms
will die off very fast if refrigerated,
however if you buy crickets that are slightly on the smaller side for your cham they will last longer because they will still be able to be fed to him as they grow
I have found that superworms can like for months if kept at room temperature
My experiences with silkworms have not been very good, I have had a hard time keeping them alive and they will only eat mulberry chow or mulberry leaves they also grow prety fast.
If you decide to get silkworms I wouldnt recommend buying more than your cham can eat in a short period of time.
Also havnt used phoenix worms for chams before, I used to feed them to my beardies when I still had them and found they also do fine in room temperature.
Hope this helps

 

[blackhawk007]

You may want to explain what you mean by refrigerate. Are you talking a normal fridge temp, or a temp in the 40's-50's?

 

[reptileman]

You may want to explain what you mean by refrigerate. Are you talking a normal fridge temp, or a temp in the 40's-50's?

either way I believe those temps would kill all the feeders that were listed

 

[JennaMarie]

Blackhawk007 you would know better than I, I'm not sure what the options on that fridge are?

 

[blackhawk007]

http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/the-template/faq/Page

 

[blackhawk007]

http://www.reptiworms.com/

 

[JennaMarie]

So from what I've seen, mealworms and phoenix worms (aka reptiworms) do well at lower temperatures, however most other things die at lower temps. So I guess the next step is to check my fridge settings, (I'm not home right now), and go from there. Hopefully my fridge will cooperate with my bulk purchasing addiction!!

 

[DekuScrub]

superworms last a ridiculous amount of time with little to no maintenance. i throw alfalfa pellets and seeds in with em. along with the bedding they come in, which i assume they eat. theyre a better option, nutritionally, than mealworms and dont end up smelling like fermentation. and as was mentioned, as well, if you buy crickets small they last a long time. especially if you limit their food intake. too much food they grow too little they die. mildly starved crickets are easier to gutload too.

 

[JennaMarie]

Thanks for the advice Deku! I definitely think this last batch of crickets was "well fed" as they got plenty of Romaine and Carrots. I'll keep that in mind!