It killed me to have to Buy Crickets.

[TigsMom]

My Boxie hatchlings needed live food and there was do way for me to try to chase down the tiny crickets around the backyard. I've tried small meal worms, they weren't interested in them. It wasn't the cost that bothered me, it was the fact that we have tons of crickets around here. Oh well. I bought a dozen tiny ones (but there were definitely more like 2 dozen in the bag). I dumped them all in the terrarium. Still haven't seen these two hatchlings eat anything (they hatched Aug 9th). No doubt they are eating when I'm not watching. The crickets grew and slowly disappeared although I still have a couple left. The frozen blood worms are disappearing as well. To my surprise today, there are a ton of new tiny baby crickets.

I just moved the terrarium indoors since our low was 70 Degs last night and getting cooler nights finally. The crickets chirping in my office are going to drive me nuts, but if the hatchlings are eating them up it worth the frustration. Next time our Son comes to visit (should only be another week or two) I'll have him bring in the 150 gallon tank and set it up for the hatchlings and leave this smaller 50 gallon tank outside for crickets.

It's been a few years since I had any turtles in the house. It'll be fun watching these new babies grow.

 

[wellington]

I don't know about tortoises or turtles, but there is always a caution when it comes to dumping lots of crickets in with frogs and some reptiles. The crickets can eat on the reptile. Not sure if it's just large crickets or young ones too. Maybe a reptile expert using crickets will know more.

 

[lisa127]

Make sure you have food in there for the crickets so they don't pick at your baby turtles when they get hungry. I have never fed crickets to boxies. I fed red wigglers when babies and nightcrawlers when they got bigger.

 

[Elohi]

I feed crickets but when they are dumped in rather than tong fed to her, I make sure there is cricket food in the habitat. I never thought they would bother my ornate boxie but I wanted them to survive long enough for her to eat them all. She loves crickets more than anything else so I like to make sure she has a big batch of them every few weeks. I bought some red wigglers and I don't know if I have an old bunch or if they just don't move much.


Elohi(Earth)[TURTLE]

 

[Millerlite]

I always did like Lisa, red wigglers and nightcrawlers as adults, I also feed out of my enclosure when they are young that way I know they are eating and the works arnt just running


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[terryo]

I always did like Lisa, red wigglers and nightcrawlers as adults, I also feed out of my enclosure when they are young that way I know they are eating and the works arnt just running

Me too.

 

[Tom]

I would not let crickets loose in the enclosure with a baby like that. I used roaches for mine when I had him, and I'd always smoosh the head first. Then I'd toss the still wiggling little roach on the food pile, and watch them get eaten up. This will work with crickets too. Crickets WILL chew on a live animal at night. Roaches won't.

 

[ShellyTurtlesCats]

Before I knew better, I had a baby turtle get eaten by crickets. Horrible memory. I cried my eyes out.

_________
~ Shelly ~

 

[TigsMom]

Not to worry, I'll try to get the monster tank cleaned up and set up tomorrow. The crickets have cricket food (wheat germ dusted with calcium). I've never had a problem with this in prior years when I had hatchlings and crickets. ACK, but I didn't dump as many either and never had the crickets reproduce. There wasn't time for that as they were gobbled up before my eyes. My other hatchlings in previous years gobbled up meal worms and night crawlers right away (after their yolk sak was absorbed and gone), for whatever reason these hatchlings are extremely shy so far, they'll smell their food and walk away. I sun them early (when temps are reasonable here) and soak them before I introduce them to their fresh food. I was trying to feed them in their soak & sun enclosure ( a toddlers water table with just a splash of water. tilted table slightly so the puddle of water is at one side and they can soak or walk out easily, WORKS GREAT) (temps average 90 Degs F in shade, 95 in sun (note our temps here finally cooled down last night, we haven't been out of the 90's all summer) with a hardware wire top to prevent predators from getting to them. After watching them for an hour or more, they weren't the least bit interested in eating. Once that process failed after weeks of trying daily, I decided I needed the food in their terrarium in hopes they would eat. I know I'll need to replace the substrate soon to prevent mold and growth, but looking to transfer the hatchlings my bigger tank very soon. Now that you all have me concerned, I'll call for help getting the big tank moved tomorrow. Hubby and I both have very bad backs and this tank is too much for even both of us to try.

Thank you for the warning. Crickets get into the outdoor pens all the time and never bothered my Adult boxies, of course the Adult Boxies keep those crickets cleaned out of the pen really well. I haven't found any night crawlers or red wigglers in a long time. Kmart used to carry them, but stopped a couple of years ago. There was a worm farm just outside of town (I knew the owners) but they've sold their property and moved, so my local suppliers dried up. I'll need to try to find another local source or order some online.

 

[TigsMom]

Cricket update. The crickets now live outside in a smaller tank all by themselves and are eating Mazuri! Hah! Thinking that might be one way of introducing the Boxies to Mazuri if they are resisting eating it themselves. Who'd have believed I'd be a cricket breeder, sheesh! Good thing my friends already know I'm nuts. hahaha

 

[TigsMom]

New enclosure for the boxie hatchlings, no crickets-

 

[Saleama]

Can you explain the lid? Is that covering a humid hide or is it a swimming pool for the babies? I have a plant saucer in for my little ones and they use it but I have watched them climb out and they teeter quite a bit (they are all just slightly larger then a nickel) and although no one has tipped over (knock on wood) yet, it still causes me enough stress to not leave the house while they have a full dish of water. Also, how big were yours when you first gave them crickets? Mine will eat a meal worm, but can't finish so I wind up with a bunch of meal worm halves that nobody will eat.

 

[TigsMom]

Yes, that blue lid is their swimming pond to prevent them from flipping. It's working out great! The saucers were too deep, one flipped and luckily I saw it soon enough, but didn't want to risk it again. These hatchlings are only 2 months old and ate ate tiny crickets. It is challenging to get them to eat. I put them in a small tub or on warm sunny days out in their outdoor enclosure to feed them.

 

[Saleama]

Thanks for the tip! Have you ever tried making it rain before feeding them? I poked holes in a jar lid and sprinkle the enclosure before I put them in to feed and it seems to work more often than not. I always feel bad when I can't get them to eat but I think the little turds are smarter than me in this regard. They gain weight weekly so they must be eating something.