Mostly moths

[lancaster1313]

When I walk outside, there are hundreds of small moths in my yard. I have been feeding mostly moths to my St. carolina. They are so convenient, for me to catch daily. I do give him the occasional fly, and he wont touch grasshoppers. I have also been throwing them in for my chinese nymphs. This really works for ME but, is it bad for them to have mostly moths as a diet. I bought some crickets at the Pet Supermarket and I am feeding them some food that I made for them: oatmeal with some honey, mixed in with crushed dry dog food, then slightly moistened. I am keeping an eye on the crickets to make sure they look healthy, before feeding them off. How long should I wait before I use these crickets, to be safe.

 

[Rick]

Moths are fine. I wish I could catch as many as you. For the crickets I would give them at least a few days. I am not sure about feeding crickets honey though. I use the oatmeal as a substrate for them and they do nibble at it. The dog food is good though.

 

[lancaster1313]

I mixed just a touch of the honey in with the oatmeal, before adding the crushed dog food, hoping that it will inhibit mold. I also used dry oatmeal as a substrate, I have been reading alot on this forum, I am hoping that the honey wont hurt, because I read that it was used to feed other feeders. I didn't use enough to make the food that sticky. Now I'm just watching to see if the crickets start dying, looking, or smelling bad. I do have plenty of moths :lol: ,just in case I screw up the crickets. I just walk through the yard and sweep my net side to side quickly, just above the grass and weeds(always more in the weeds), while turning it in a certain way, to trap the moths. I get the most from shady parts of the yard at morning and evening times,(just before it starts getting dark), but not so many in the middle of the day.

 

[Colorcham427]

I mixed just a touch of the honey in with the oatmeal, before adding the crushed dog food, hoping that it will inhibit mold. I also used dry oatmeal as a substrate, I have been reading alot on this forum, I am hoping that the honey wont hurt, because I read that it was used to feed other feeders. I didn't use enough to make the food that sticky. Now I'm just watching to see if the crickets start dying, looking, or smelling bad. I do have plenty of moths :lol: ,just in case I screw up the crickets. I just walk through the yard and sweep my net side to side quickly, just above the grass and weeds(always more in the weeds), while turning it in a certain way, to trap the moths. I get the most from shady parts of the yard at morning and evening times,(just before it starts getting dark), but not so many in the middle of the day.

Crickets need their space. Over crowding leads to cannibalism.

What are your cricket's water source?

Rick,

I've tried using oat meal as a substrate for crickets, but from experience and reading on other forums that use crickets more than mantid keepers, keeping a cricket bin's floor spotless is the key to healthy crickets.

Dog food is great, IF you're breeding them.

"Gutloading" with dog food, is not so great.

Keeping crickets healthy and keeping their stench to a minimum takes a simple "card swipe" every other day.

Get a card, a metal ruler or something that is thin but firm, and scrap whatever is on their container's floor. Dead skin, poop, old dried up food, dead crickets etc. Get that out of there, don't spray a paper towel and whipe it afterwards, wetness is a bed for bacteria that is inviting them to.. you know lol.

Heat, and a water source is very important. A very thin slice of orange will not only hydrate them, crickets love oranges and the citrus smell lowers the stench of the crickets.

ALWAYS use some sort of lid, or cardboard, plastic plate... something of that sort to put there food on. Keep the wet and dry foods separate for crickets.

Crickets bring the meaning "poop where you eat" and they're by far more disgusting than blaptica dubia roaches IMHO.

If you're planning on feeding the crickets to specifically mantids only, I would gutload with bee pollen powder mixed with a touch of honey to only thicken it into a dry paste.

Water source could be a very small piece of paper towel that is wet with good clean water. Not sure how the acid of an orange would effect a mantis?

 

[lancaster1313]

I am using 2 small stainless steel condiment dishes, obtained from the friendly waiter at my local sports bar. There are cottonballs in the waterdish. I am not planning on having a huge cricket colony, so I don't have a very large container. I have other more convenient feeders right outside my door. The cricket experiment is just for a little variety, just in case. I don't have a bug room, nor do I plan on having a huge collection of mantids,(under 15 indoors, after hatchlings are weeded out, will satisfy me, for now.) :lol: . It is day 3 with the crickets and I have not found any dead, I only got around 20. I stuck my nose in the container and it actually still smells pleasant, like oatmeal. Being that my container is rather small, changing out the oatmeal, when cleaning, is affordable for me. Thank you for the advice, I will try different methods, like yours, if I start to have problems.

 

[Rick]

Crickets need their space. Over crowding leads to cannibalism.

What are your cricket's water source?

Rick,

I've tried using oat meal as a substrate for crickets, but from experience and reading on other forums that use crickets more than mantid keepers, keeping a cricket bin's floor spotless is the key to healthy crickets.

Dog food is great, IF you're breeding them.

"Gutloading" with dog food, is not so great.

Keeping crickets healthy and keeping their stench to a minimum takes a simple "card swipe" every other day.

Get a card, a metal ruler or something that is thin but firm, and scrap whatever is on their container's floor. Dead skin, poop, old dried up food, dead crickets etc. Get that out of there, don't spray a paper towel and whipe it afterwards, wetness is a bed for bacteria that is inviting them to.. you know lol.

Heat, and a water source is very important. A very thin slice of orange will not only hydrate them, crickets love oranges and the citrus smell lowers the stench of the crickets.

ALWAYS use some sort of lid, or cardboard, plastic plate... something of that sort to put there food on. Keep the wet and dry foods separate for crickets.

Crickets bring the meaning "poop where you eat" and they're by far more disgusting than blaptica dubia roaches IMHO.

If you're planning on feeding the crickets to specifically mantids only, I would gutload with bee pollen powder mixed with a touch of honey to only thicken it into a dry paste.

Water source could be a very small piece of paper towel that is wet with good clean water. Not sure how the acid of an orange would effect a mantis?

Oatmeal works great. My crickets are always healthy and I keep them by the thousands some of the time. I also don't put their food in a dish. I only give them enough that they can eat it before it spoils. I feed leafy greens, some fruits and veggies and sometimes some dog food. Do what works best for you, I don't always worry too much about what other says, if I know it works for me I don't change it.

 

[lancaster1313]

My cricket container still doesn't stink, all I have done is change out the food and water. I have fed some of the crickets to my mantids the other day. Nothing terrible has happened, the crickets look good. I am loving this oatmeal substrate, this is the first time I have had crickets for more than a couple of days without alot of dead crickets and an awful stench. :clap: