Purchased crickets

[BDBHam]

Now that Kiki is eating 50+ crickets a day, I decided to buy in bulk rather than pay 11 cents a piece.  I bought 500 crickets for $9 (you can get 1000 for $14 too) from Reeves Cricket Ranch in Everson, WA.  They are within driving distance for me, so I went out there to get them.  Kiki's distance between her eyes is a half inch at the most, so I ordered 3/8 inch crickets.  When I opened the box, they are 3/8 minimum and some are about 1/2 inch.  Thats fine right now, but I figure I have a week to 10 day supply, so how much will they grow in that time?

If they grow too much then I worry about impaction.  What would you do:  keep the main supply of crickets on the cool side with minimal food to keep thier growth down?  I have another cricket container that I can keep the next 24 to 48 hours with feeders that I can feed to make sure they are gut loaded for Kiki.  That is my plan.

Next time I order, I think I should go for 1/4 inch crickets to account for growth.

What is your experience with this?

BTW, they were really nice people at "the ranch" and also had geckos and monitors (I think) in thier office.  They used to have beardies, but don't right now.

Thanks,

Mark

[BDBHam]

Hi Crystal,

It was a nice drive out there.  It probably burned a gallon of gas each way, but the weather was nice and all the mountains were out:  it was beautiful.

Kiki is doing great, I think.  Thanks for your ealier advice although I haven't done the fecal yet.  The vet is out in Lynden.  If I were thinking, I could have swung by there on my way out to Everson.  Apparently that is the only herp vet in the area.

Here are a couple pics of Kiki that I just took.



Mark

[BDBHam]

She seems to be doing well, but I'll probably bring her in to the vet in the next couple months.  Lynden takes about a half hour to get out there, so I really have to be motivated, plus it probably has to be done during my work hours, so that is difficult unless necessary.  I had to go across the border this morning, so I couldn't work that into the trip.  I hit the ranch on my way back to Bham.

I need a scale to keep track of her weight.  She is actually starting to have some weight to her when I pick her up.  She was like a feather before.  She has grown about two and a half inches since we got her one month and one week ago.  She will occassionaly eat greens from my hand.  She really ripped into a couple leaves of cilantro yesterday.  She likes collard greens too.

Mark