Quote Originally Posted by JeffreH View Post
Most pet stores lack knowledgeable staff and provide pretty poor information about properly caring for a pet (any pet). Members of small mammal forums, avian forums, fish forums, and herp forums alike see this trend. Most large name pet stores buy wholesale lots of animals and aim to make as much money as physically possible which leads to puppy-mill style breeding, pushing products that are unnessary or harmful (i.e. calci-sand, coil UVB bulbs, etc), and hiring minimum wage employees who are not adequately trained in all aspects of care for each species that the store sells. Typically the little pamphlets are all that are used to teach employees and customers how to care for pets, and these are often very inadequate and often flat-out inaccurate. The methods are often enough to keep the animals alive as cheaply as possible in store and allow them to survive but not necessarily thrive in the customer's care. You'll find a few exceptional employees and stores here and there that do their extra research and provide the proper information and tools to care for a pet properly, but always take anything an employee says with a grain of salt ; )

Waxworms are a readily available feeder options at most pet stores, so that is probably what you purchased. They are pretty high in fat and are most often provided to gravid (pregnant) herps or those that need a little calorie boost, but they do make for nice treats here and there to any diet. Feel free to feed a few, just don't go overboard... think of waxworms like candy bars for herps.

There are varieties of online suppliers of feeder insects as well if your pet store is limited and you wish you expand your feeder options. Aside from shipping cost, the online prices of feeder insects are often substantially lower than that of pet stores. For example, I can get 1000 crickets at about $0.02 a piece before shipping and handling fees, while most pet stores sell them for about $0.10 a pop. If you are ever interested in some of the more unique feeders like silkworms, roaches, and often soldier fly larvae (phoenix worms/calci-worms) you will likely have to venture online or pick these up from reptile expos. I see you are also from Ohio, we are fortunate enough to have monthly shows in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland where additional feeders can often be purchased inexpensively.

I'm not very well versed in my feeder fish knowledge so I can't help you out much there... I know some fish are notorious for carrying fluke worms which can be problematic and I generally oppose feeding vertebrates to small herps altogether due to impaction risks, but I'd prefer to have someone else with feeder fish experience chime in before you take my advice on the matter =P

So in a nutshell: focus on your crickets as a staple feeder for now. You may be able to place them in a glass bowl of some sort or a glass custard cup and it makes for a very easy way of feeding them without the hassle of the crickets running all over the enclosure and hiding. The crickets aren't smart enough to jump out and will simply try to scurry up the glass sides in vain until the frog nabs em (I'd assume bowl feeding could work for FBT's?). You can offer the waxworms and mealworms as rare treats and if you want an additional staple insect look into earthworms, silkworms, or soldier fly larvae. There have been some recent discussions in the forum about all of these species and I believe a topic about breeding earthworms was recently made here which you may find useful = )
I agree with you about pet stores and their methods. I notice ages of employees and too often some can't answer my questions. When I bought the fire bellies, I asked the girl how she was getting them out of their aquarium and she said "with my hand", before I could say anything she already picked up 2 and I doubt she washed her hands first, and she was not wearing rubber gloves! I brought them home and read that they should not really be handled unless necessary and they secrete a toxin that may cause some people to react with a rash. They also have sensitive skin and oils from our hands can affect them, not to mention germs! I did ask her if she could use a net, but I was ignored. She was very casual about picking them up. Fortunately they are alright and I will not be holding them.

I was in the PO the other day talking to a woman also waiting in line, about politics. I was complaining to her how poor the laws and penalties are in Ohio with regard to animals. I mentioned puppy mills, gas chambers, cruelty, etc. She agreed that animals are at the bottom of the list. This has gone on for years about people complaining about rights for animals and nothing is changed. It upsets me about what goes on every time I read another case in the paper. I wish more could be done, it is not fair to treat animals/pets with such disrespect. I have been caring for stray cats here and am still working with one who is learning to trust me, which is my goal, because winter is coming and she has no home. I arranged my garage for her and she has a nice bed, plenty of food, and I hope some day she will get the courage to come in the house.

I got off topic here, but, I will think about an easier way to house crickets and can try getting earthworms or breeding my own. Since you mentioned fire bellies eating fish, I don't know if that's even a good idea, its one I read about. I later read something about feeding snails? How would you feed them a snail? Try to get snail out of its shell? or maybe they are sold some other way? I'll keep reading about fire belly diets. Also are they really toads?..... because they act more like frogs. I hope mine will chirp one of these nights. I would like to hear the sound they make.