Experimented with Crickets

[LilyPad]

I got some medium boxed crickets for the tree frogs tonight, and when I dumped them out, there were a lot of tiny ones in there, I mean, really tiny, just above pinhead size. I decided that I would let the 3 big toads try their hand at crickets.

It was almost comical! I wish I had videotaped it! They were very excited as soon as they saw them jumping all over the place. But those crickets were a far cry from slow flightless fruit flies! They were jumping on each other and shooting their tongues out left and right, even trying to eat them off of each other if a cricket made it's way on top of a toad! After about 15 minutes of this, they had all managed to get at least one down. There are a few wanderers in the tank, hopefully they'll get them tonight. I put a cucumber slice in the tank so the remaining crickets don't bother the toads.

All in all it was fun, but I really wish the smallest toad (who my kids insist is Bob Marley, apparently they know who is who!) would catch up on growth and join the fun. I'm happy to get some variety in though, over the next few weeks I'll do the small crickets, fruit flies, and worms. They are growing so fast that I think this will be good for them!

[DonLisk]

Thats awesome. Funny how they will climb all over each other t get to a cricket before the other one does.

:-)

[nicodimus22]

Sounds like fun. Wish mine would grow a little faster so I could try that.

Do you use a separate feeding container, or just feed them in their regular tank?

[kueluck]

How big are your toads? I've had mine since the end of July, the little one was no bigger than a finger nail. I fed them mini meal worms, since I couldn't locate fruit flies, then moved to pinhead crickets. I love to watch them chase down the crickets. And they still eat small meal worms. I put them in a dish at night and they know where to go to get to them. To add more fun to mix, after you dust the crickets, turn off all the lights and shine a black light in there. As you can see, mine are growing quickly.

[LilyPad]

Pete, you could probably do it now, these crickets were just above pinhead size, VERY SMALL yet. If you can find any, it'd be fun to try. I fed them in their regular tank. I still have the small one in the critter keeper by itself so I didn't have to worry about that one.

Kueluck, those are looking great! Mine started off the size of a dime. They are much bigger now, I will have to get an updated picture of them. I have one that is lagging behind on growth, but she is still with me and still eating, so hopefully she'll come around soon.

[nicodimus22]

Yeah, the main thing stopping me is that the smallest crickets I can find are 2/3 the size of my toads...just too big yet. I'm hopeful that they will hit a crazy growth spurt soon.

[kueluck]

Amy,
How do you know the smaller one is a female and not a male? I would love to know at this point how to sex them. I was just going with the throat color to determine what sex they are and both are the same shade of ivory.

[LilyPad]

I have no idea, my kids call it a "she" so it has kind of stuck. Easier than calling them "it" all the time.f