Does this sound like a good DIY project?

[MeTree]

Hey guys. Malcolm is a ferocious predator, but he usually can't catch the crickets. They go "out of range" and don't come back until I manually scoot them over, then they run away and in the meantime, Malcolm is super annoyed because the crickets keep leaving and my hand is in there.

If I could make a barrier to keep the crickets close, then maybe Malcolm could eat them faster. Unfortunately, moving a Pacman Frog stresses them. Putting a barrier in the tank would make Malcolm not feel at home...unless maybe the barrier was glass?

Do you guys think that if I had a 5 sided cube (the bottom side would be missing) that would go over and around Malcolm that I could trap the crickets in, do you think Malcolm would be Ok with the glass barrier? It would be siliconed with aquarium-safe, clear silicone with some...maybe 1/8" glass (the stuff they use for 10g tanks).

Does that sound like a worthy DIY project? No more worrying about crickets drowning, or getting away. No worryies about them eating anything out of the designated area. My only concern would be Malcolm running into the barrier, but I'd be watching better than that. I am thinking maybe a 7" or 8" cube (I think that would be 245" squared to 320" squared total of glass, but that is probably wrong LOL) would be fine. I want Malcolm to have a little bit of...tounge room?

Anyway, what do you guys think? Sounds worthy? I figure I am looking at maybe somewhere around $10 for the glass and $6 for the silicone. Do you guys think that that will be as effective as it sounds?

[Baelari]

I've just been herding crickets with those giant feeder forceps. Lump doesn't seem to mind them moving around in the tank when he eats. After he eats a few, I just put an orange cube near him for the remaining crickets to chew on, and they're usually eaten by morning.

[MeTree]

Yeah, I use the tongs also. Malcolm only eats them when they are moving (that or crawling under him, that is fun to watch), but he will not chase after them unless he is really hungry. I herd the crickets toward him, but if they rush him/charge at him, Malcolm freaks out and stays perfectly still.

They actually have to do a deal of movement before Malcolm even sees them (or at least looks up, sometimes I think he is sleeping when a cricket walks by and....yeah).

As far as the orange cube, are you talking about the commercially made cricket food/water cubes? I really need to get some anyway. Just curious, do the cubes ever disappear? I wouldn't want malcolm licking one of those and then have it sucked into his mouth and create impaction issues. If they never eat them, I guess that would be a great idea. I will probably try that (so long as it is fine).

Still, I am wondering if this DiY feeding cube thing sounds worth-while. Malcolm isn't as active as hungry pacs I watch on Youtube sometimes. I mean, 1/8 glass would be hard to brake if it was packed into substrate. I could just set it over Malcolm and put some crickets in.

Oh, I probably would make it four sides so that 1) I could drop crickets in and 2) (more importantly) Malcolm wont suffocate! Why didn't I think of that?? I guess that is the advantage in having a forum!

Opinions?

[Baelari]

Yeah, the commercial cricket food. I haven't had it for very long, but Lump hasn't accidentally eaten any so far. The crickets seem to like it well enough. I don't know what the impaction risk is, maybe someone else could tell us if a pacman could digest one or not.

[MeTree]

I have been wondering about those food blocks. Do the crickets tear through them, or do they last a pretty long time? How many crickets are you feeding with them? I am about to get some because I am tired of leaving rotting veggies in the bug habitats.

[Baelari]

I picked up about 25 crickets, and they tore through the first cube within a few hours. I guess PetCo starves their crickets. It takes them a few days to go through the second one, maybe they don't like it as much when it's dryer? They dry out pretty fast, so I had to put a moist paper towel in the cricket keeper as well. You have to look at them to make sure they don't spoil, too.

[MeTree]

I picked up about 25 crickets, and they tore through the first cube within a few hours. I guess PetCo starves their crickets. It takes them a few days to go through the second one, maybe they don't like it as much when it's dryer? They dry out pretty fast, so I had to put a moist paper towel in the cricket keeper as well. You have to look at them to make sure they don't spoil, too.

So about how long do the cubes go before they spoil? Do they only spoil when they dry, or do they just spoil anyway? When I get my crickets at Petsmart, they have about 3 food dishs completely packed with those cubes. At least 15 in each small dish. Weird.

[Baelari]

I've only had the cubes for about 4 days, and haven't seen one spoil yet. You do have to keep them in the fridge, so I would guess they mold.

Crickets seem to want to turn their cage into the battledome, still. There's another dead one with all its legs strewn across the bottom of the cricket keeper. Maybe the cubes don't have protein? Since it takes them so long to eat the second cube compared to the first one, I wonder if they really like it so much. I suppose I'm still undecided on the orange cubes.

[LilyPad]

Can you break the jumpy legs off the crickets so they are slower and but still moving? I cut up an actual orange and put it in with my crickets (I freeze the pieces that I'm not using.) That way they get some vit c in them and pass it on to froggy. I also have a mixture of kale, carrots, and fish food that I feed them to gutload...again, the extras are in the freezer so I just have to thaw them out and put them in the cricket keeper. I make a bunch at once and then freeze it in egg cartons so I can just cut a chunk off when they're hungry. That way, if they dont finish it, I can easily pull it back out of there.