Pinhead Cricket Question

[EMCookjb]

This question may have been posted before but I have a "stupid" question. I am looking at various types of ways to feed poison dart frogs. I am considering using pinhead crickets. If use them, I will probably want to breed them. I know the general rule of thumb for determining the size of feeders is the distance between a poison dart frog eyes. The question is, how big will pinhead crickets get?

John

[numpty]

"Pinhead crickets" is just a term to describe newly-hatched crickets, of whichever kind. They'll grow to however large adults of that particular species get ... probably up to an inch for most feeder types, I would imagine. Too big at the upper end for dart frogs, obviously.

I don't own dart frogs, but I'd imagine feeding them would be similar to feeding frogs I've kept of a similar size. Maybe others with more experince will chime in, but I would guess that crickets up to a week or two old would be fine. (I have a frog of little more than an inch length, and he'll happily eat crickets up to about a third of an inch, though I try to go smaller.)

You could breed your own, but you'd always want to have juveniles of the right size available. It's quite a long process. Most people breed flightless fruit flies for dart frogs. This is a lot easier, and you're always guaranteed to have the right size. The downside in my experience is that fruit flies are frustratingly good at escaping. Bowl feeding doesn't work with them!

[EMCookjb]

Thank you for the information. I was afraid that would be the case. I am planning on using wingless fruit flies and springtails. Just was looking at all options.

John

[Ash]

Pinheads will eventually grow into large crickets. Depending on the dart they can be fed for a few weeks until they get to big. Keeping the crickets cooler than say 72F will slow down their growth cycle. If you have other frogs or pets to feed off any leftover crickets that would be great. Alternating pinheads, fruit fly, and springtails is great. Also Tropical isopods like Dwarf White Isopods are prolific and can be cultured inside and outside of the tank. We dump isopods into feeder bowls and those that escape seed the tank and act ask tank cleaners eating detritus until they are gobbled up of course.