Im just confusing myself

[Kerry]

Hello and merry christmas to everyone,

Right Im back with some more questions again, I'm gonna have to stop browsing on internet as I just seem to be getting more and more confused. I have 2 baby leos which were bought last weekend and obviously want to make sure I am doing everything properly

1) I read on one site that you should be feeding your leos anywhere between ten and twenty crickets a day yet my local shop said that three or four per gecko would be fine who is right?

2) I'm coating crickets in T-Rex leopard dust and again, website said to use once or twice a week and shop said to use everyday.

3) Local shop gave me a spot bulb to use as a basking light however they don't use it. At the minute they like hiding under a piece of bogwood which I have in the middle of the heat gradient with a hide at the hottest end and a large artificial plant thingy at coolest end which they can hide under if the want. The basking light is also at the coolest end over the plant

Oh and one last thing, roughly how long would you expect a box of crickets to live, my local shop told me to keep them warm and put in some apple or summat for them to eat but with christmas round the corner I dont want to run out while shop is shut.

It's like a bleeding essay I know but hopefully you will be able to stay awake to read it all and give me your expertise.

Thanks

[Bev]

well first why is the light at the cool end?
surely that will just make the cool end too hot.

i feed mine between 5 - 10 crix each a day if i have enough lol, im out today so i'll have to get more tomorrow. one box of crix lasts me about a week or sometimes a week and a half.
i dust every 2 days, i have a red bulb to bump up my ambient temps over the hot end but they dont really need the extra light so if you can get the right temp without a bulb then you dont even need one really as leo's are nocturnal, thats why i have a red bulb

[clareinashby]

I've also been told recently that you should feed green veg to crix, and also use vitamin powder to gut load them.

[Bev]

yeah, any green veggies, well more or less any veg really, not too much watery ones tho, too much humidity kills the lil critters so not loads of cucumber, vitamin powder sprinkled over the food when you put it in is fine, veg n such should last a day or 2 and then you can put a bit more in, if ya dont feed them enough they will eat each other but if you feed them too much it will go smelly an rotten an the lil gits stink enough already, ive been feedin mine spinach this week

[dracowoman2]

Stink would be an understatement I'm seriously considering the benefit of changing over to Silk Worms for my beardies, apparently the have a better protein to fat ratio than crix, no chance of impaction, they don't smell, are easy to keep and best of all they don't bite your bd's if there are any left in the viv at night.

My girls think I'm nuts, coz every few days I shove the mini vac into the viv and suck the little buggers (crix that is) out of the log and then stick them back iinto the crix keeper It really worries me watching the little sods crawling all over my babies at night. I've rigged a terracotta plant pot up now and at night I put loads of veg and cricket diet plus under it to attract the little sods! It seems to work, but I still feel like I'm dicing with death. The best of it is the viv can be swarming with crix, but they still demand I put more in at feeding time, hence the hoovering ritual

[nicky]

tropical fish food is great to give your crickets good nutritional value, and an apple or orange slice is good because thats where they get their fluid from, dandelions from the garden another good one for the greens and free!!

my girl rarely actualy basks but the lamp keeps the correct temps at the hot end...bev asked ealier about why the basking lamp in the cool end..the shop really hasnt explained very well have they..you need a hot end and a cool end so your geckos can regulate their heat by moving around, if the basking bulb is at the cool end then it isnt the coolend anymore!!you need to decide which end is which and all your heating stuff goes one end then nothing the other end...everyones setup is slightly different because of different equipment used but always a hot end and a coolend...i use a heat pad which is taped to back of viv and insulated with polostyrine so the heat doesnt escape and a heat bulb hanging above viv, both are on during the day and this gives good daytime temps and i just have the heatmat on at night for lower night temps...you should have a hide at both ends of the viv and the one at the hot end can be used as your moist hide this is very easy and a must to help your gecko's shed proberly if you get some kitchen roll and spray it with warm water put it under the hot end hide and away you go some people use spagnum moss but i find kitchen roll just as good and cheaper, ive got in to the habit of damping it everynight at feed time....now for feeding your best to wait till the evening as this is when they'd feed naturally they are nocturnal! anywhere between 2-5 cricks anight sounds about right to me, i use the gecko powder you mention and i use this daily and once a week replace it with a pure calcium powder.. you dont feed this to the crickets which is what i thought you were saying but pop the cricks you need to feed in a little tub pop a little powder in a give it a shake, it is refered to sometimes as the shake and bake method and away you go..my gecko used to eat more when she was younger but now she has cut down a bit (i think shes a fussy girl,im moving her onto silkworms which have a higher nutritional value and less likely to cause impaction as their nice and soft) so dont panic sometimes they do seem to go a day without wanting to feed....i dont know if your using a strip light aswell not nessercary i just use it to give daylight hours as my basking bulb is a red one but i usually turn this off then feed, ie: its now night time....i hope this helps a little i know ive waffled on ....

[dracowoman2]

Nicky, it would never of occured to me to feed the crix with fish food Good tip, and I like the FREE Dandilions even better

[nicky]

yeh draco just make sure there tropical....

[dracowoman2]

That's a bugger, I've got goldfish Oh well, another tub of fish food cn't hurt