Feeding live food - Should I avoid crickets

[BlueThunder]

I've been feeding my 5 month old Northern a mixture of veg, premium cat food, Dubias and Snails (not all at the same time!). I 've just ordered some earthworms and mealworms to add to the menu too.

However, I have been contemplating crickets for a while. I thought a cricket might provide a bit of enrichment in terms of hunting. However, I've read that they are poor in nutritional valiue (which doesn't bother me too much) and that there is the risk of pinworms (which does worry me).

Is the pinworm risk overstated? I'm aware that all live food could potentially have parasites, but there seems to be more of a risk with crickets. If this isn't true then I might get a few a go, but I'd rather not risk it if there is a decent chance.

Cheers!

[splashy07]

Crickets are fine occasionally, but as I have stated many times I breed my own insects. Pet shop crickets cannibalize, eat their dead cagemates, and therefore are a parasite/disease risk. I can't even imagine the amount of pathogens in a pet shop cricket tub. Commercial cricket farms could be a better choice, but you have to buy in bulk and if you just have a few reptiles who needs 500+ crickets, they're a nuisance to care for. If you do choose to feed crickets, I would cycle them first for a few days in a container feeding them something you would want your lizard to eat. Bearded dragon pellets are my choice with fresh kale. I would also feed with tongs, as escaped crickets in your lizards cage could be annoying to him.
Or you could incapacitate them and put them in a shallow bowl. The juveniles seem to like them more than the adults.
Dusted with vitamin supplements and once in a while as a treat, ok.

[kingofnobbys]

My BTs (both adult easterns) love crickets , but I need to slow the crickets down for them to be able to catch them ( I pluck off the cricket's back legs , and squash their heads to make them easier for the BTs to catch them , don't need to do this for my water skink or beardie ).

Be sure to only deposit one or two crickets in the BT's tanks at a time , let the BT find / catch and eat these, then offer more.

Also best to gutload the crickets with fresh calcium rich greens & other nutritious foods (ie carrot chunks (also helps give a source of water) and Repcal Adult Bearded Dragon Pellets (straight from the bottle) work well as good nutritious dry food for the crickets - they seem to love the pellets (much more than the dragons do).

I
I buy medium sized crickets for my gang (my order is always 1000 crickets) and I keep my crickets in old used / cleaned Piscus Cricket Tubs , about 80 per tub , this way if any crickets are sick , I don't loose my entire batch , just 1 or 2 tubs.
I drop a handful of bearded dragon pellets (maybe 10 - 12 pellets) in the tub and chunk of raw carrot and check them every few days (usually need to replace the carrot and may need to top up the pellets).
If I see any sick or dead crickets in a tub, I remove them and if not rotten, they are given to either my superworms or to the wild skinks & geckos & dragons and birds who visit or live in my garden , in my garage or under my house.
2 days before I use a tub of crickets , I'll add a leaf of buk choi or puk choi to gut load them.
As said , don't feed the crickets anything you don't / wouldn't feed to you pet lizard.

think better feeder insects for a BT are silkworms and live snails. I give my two BTs a large silkworm each day and they occasionally get snails as treats ( I buy a punnet of live food snails in for them every now and again (pricey but also top quality and fit for human consumption so I know they are clean).
A medium sized silkworm will be about 2in long and is a lot of protein cf a medium sized cricket


A 30mm long silkworm is 0.5g = 2-3 medium crickets (12x MED = 3g)
A 40mm long silkworm is 1.3g = 5-6 medium crickets
a 2 inch long silkworm is 1.8g
a large silkworm about 3in is 2.3g = 8 - 10 medium crickets

My silkworms are home raised (I buy fresh mulberry leaves to feed them for most of the year , and when I run out of fresh and frozen (blanched) mulberry leaves I feed them silkworm chow (for a month or two over winter). I harvest my own silkworm eggs (I always have up to 10 moths mating and laying eggs , which I harvest and chill for hatching as needed , my hatching dragons and my water skink love the surplus moths too.
I find a silkworm vanishes fast when I deposit it on a mulberry leaf in the BTs' salad bowls , usually I come back and all that's left is maybe a green stain on the BT's lips or snout and I'm getting a cheesy grim from said skink (more please).
Sometimes some of the mulberry leaf is eaten by accident too …. which is fine as mulberry leaves are edible and have Ca/P about 10.

[BlueThunder]

Thanks guys. I'll probably stick to the other live foods I mentioned.

[splashy07]

Good idea. Crickets are just not worth bothering with. Another reason I ceased my bearded dragon breeding operation.

[Susann]

If you are just looking for some activity/entertainment for your skink, just stick with the Dubias --no need to incapacitate and are excellent nutrition.

[mb606587]

Yes to Dubias! Better insect feeders and they have the added benefit of not keeping you up all night with their chirping!

[splashy07]

Yes! I've got a colony, and there are times when my guys just love them. I squish their heads anyway. They run too fast!
Way better than crickets. No noise or cannibalizing, and they just don't die.

[Raven_Vivi]

My guy loves butterworms and hornworms

I've also dug up some earthworms and night crawlers too.

I worked at a pet store a long time ago. Wouldn't take those crickets even if you paid me xD