A little cresty from Daytona...

[Hurley]

I couldn't resist this little guy/gal while I was at Daytona. Unfortunately, the pics aren't that great, but I'm gonna share them anyway. ;)

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/PhoenixWorm3.jpg

[Hurley]

Here's the first attempt...

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/NoCresty.jpg

[Hurley]

...and the second. ;)

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/YesCresty.jpg

[Hurley]

And one through the new cage:

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/FirstPic.jpg

[Hurley]

I think he/she will go well with this one I'm getting from Pangea:

http://cccorns.com/freepics/DarkHarlequin.jpg
(Photo is by Pangea)

[Crested Lady]

Congrats! Great gecko... both of them. :wink: :D

[palex134]

Very nice Finger! oh and the geckos just ok :wink:



Nice Geckos!

[Sanskrit]

So you're the one who snagged that awesome gecko from Matt!!! That's a sweet crested you got from Daytona too. I love the "second attempt" photo. Great composition. :D

[gcxbrian]

pine stripeeeeeeeeee :) gotta love it

[FrozenGecko]

They're going to make a nice pair when they get older

[Hurley]

Oh, and wouldn't it be sweet if Murphy would let me sneak by on this one and have them end up being a male and female?

Well, I've got a 50% chance of it...25% chance of 2 females which I wouldn't cry about...we won't think about the other 25% right now, but hey, if it happens, I'll have the coolest pair of studs ready to go. ;)

[FrozenGecko]

sorry if I sound stupid and it's a bit off topic, but what are Phoenix worms?
I've never heard of them

[kenster]

Hey Connie, are you giving us "the finger" :lol:

[Hurley]

Just you, Ken, just you. ;)

The phoenix worm cup you see is a tub of them I picked up in Daytona. Evidently they have a superior calcium to phosphorus ratio (1.52:1) to the other feeder insects on the market. The amount of calcium (at 8155 ppm) is many times higher than that of crickets (345 ppm), mealies (133 ppm), and superworms (124 ppm). They are the larva of Hermetia illucens, a fly somewhat resembling a wasp in body shape.

Evidently they are supposed to last up to 6 weeks in their cup of grain-based diet, only requiring a couple drops of water if the diet dries out. Evidently you're not supposed to refrigerate them because it takes so long for them to recover and start wiggling to entice reptiles.

That's what I gathered from the pamphlet and talking to them at their booth. I suspect we'll be hearing a lot more on them in the future. I believe they've secured the website phoenixworms.com and will have a site up there soon, but don't quote me on it. ;)[/u]

[Hurley]

A picture of the adult fly:

http://insects.tamu.edu/images/insects/common/images/cd-43-c/img226.jpg

[Hurley]

And a picture of the worms, themselves:

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/PhoenixWorm2.jpg

[kenster]

Just you, Ken, just you. ;)

Sweet I have this itch in my left nostril :twisted:

I've heard nothing but good things about those worms. I wonder if they are going to have them avail at Tinley...

[Hurley]

I'm not sure if they will, but I hope so. I like the sizes available, now I just hope my crestie will like them. He/she's not too sure of the new digs yet. LOL

[kenster]

Can I ask how much 150 cost ya?

[MintyHippo]

that bug thing is very interesting and by the way great crestie.

[Hurley]

Not sure, Chuck bought them...I'm thinking 2-3 bucks?

And *dah!* I can't see which is the preview key and which is the submit key. The white on grey bar isn't gonna work. LOL

...guess that was the preview button, ok, SEND.

[kenster]

Well it's nice that he bought you something. Nothing says "i was thinking about you" like a tub full of worms :wink:

Submit is on the right..lol took me a couple of tries as well

[max power]

yes those re an amazing new diet. i will definetly be getting some of those. they mean the end of dusting and buying repcal. i brought one of the pamphlet home to look over a little better. they have a better fat content and comprable protein. and the calcium is off the scale compaired to crix.

[Crested Lady]

Hmmm... I wonder how they'd be if I added them to the smoothies for my geckos. Mmmm... blended worms.... :D :shock: :P

[gcxbrian]

are tehse worms breedable to create a colony?

[max power]

thats the million dollar question

[lilroach56]

Do your animals eat the worms?

[(v)@tt]

thats one bad ass picture of a fly

[Airsoftingyness]

can they fly?

[FrozenGecko]

Thanks a bunch for the info on the Phoenix worms. They definitely look like something to check out whenever they become available up my way. I hope my guys like them, which I suspect they will. They go ga-ga for wax worms and these look similar. All that and more calcium too, how can you go wrong :D

[gcxbrian]

hey hurley, do u tihnk u can send me some info on these guys from an official site or something? i couldnt find these dudes anywhere on google

[lilroach56]

Grubco.com Has them, but they don't have information on care and gutload. They just say keep refrigerated. I e-mailed them and asked how you breed them.

[gcxbrian]

i thought it was advised not to freeze them? :roll:

[Hurley]

Their website is under construction, so I've got the address (http://www.phoenixworm.com/) but there isn't anything there yet.

Here's some pics of the pamphlet they were handing out...

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/Pamphlet1.jpg

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/Pamphlet2.jpg

[MintyHippo]

I going to get those they look pretty cool!

[DDReptiles]

I just got into roaches I'm all bugged out :)

But they do look tempting :)

Oh and that is a lovely little pinstripe (both of them)

[G&MGeckos]

That is a great looking gecko! Congradulations on the new baby! That worm seems to be pretty promising. I have been trying to talk Mendie into the roach thing all season (she aint buying it) LOL this could be the answer! Thanks for the information!

[gcxbrian]

hm.. these seem very promising.. i thikn i should get a few. wherec na i buy thesE? do u think petco sells them?

[Hurley]

Thanks for the compliments, I love the little bugger to death already. Must...resist...pestering it while it's adjusting. LOL, but I can stare and watch it crawl-crawl-pause...*doink!*. I swear that noise should accompany their jumping.

As to where to find them, they're just starting to distribute them. Supposedly the website will be up soon.

[lilroach56]

The website is still in developement from the looks of it.

How do your cresties like the worms?

[gcxbrian]

the only thign suspcious to me is.. why werent tehse big and popular a longer time ago.. i mena it almost seems toperfect? not perfect. but to good to be true

[lilroach56]

I'm guessing they are hard to come buy. But as more insect breeders start to carry them and herpers learn how to breed them (that is IMO the biggest thing to overcome for any potential feeder) they will become more widespread. I've already decided that i'm buying some when they become available and see if you can breed them. After looking at that pamphlet those worms apear different than the ones at grubco.com (however they both seem similar) with the phoenix worms have tons more calcium.

[lilroach56]

Do you have the contact info for that company?

[Crestie11]

I cant wait for those to become avalible here. It would be fun to watch the gecko catch a fly in midair. Plus you would never have to dust it with calcium so thats a bonus.

[gcxbrian]

if im no tmistaken, the high calcium levels are only during the larvae stage.. due to the larvaes need to make a strong cyrsallys or w/e.. cacoon haha i dunno. but im pretty sure the calcium levels go down right? i can be mistaken

[clarksgeckos]

Connie, That Crested that you bought from me in Daytona is a real looker but best of all you take super shots with that camera! I would like to see you prove out the striped sides on that one whenever it grows up. Keep me posted next year on the offspring if you find a nice mate for it. I actually hatched a Creamsicle Line Crested this month with those striped sides.
Clark Tucker @clarksgeckos

[Hurley]

Clark, I thought you might enjoy these pictures. Echo just shed and is nice and dark on the sides and orange dorsally. Thank you so much for this gecko, he's beautiful!

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/Echo04.jpg

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/Echo05.jpg

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/Echo06.jpg

http://cccorns.com/freepics/05Aug/Echo07.jpg

[RangerGrrl]

The Grubco website is wrong; I spoke for a while to the seller at Daytona and he says definitely don't refrigerate them--they take too long to warm up and can also have some die-off if left in the fridge all the time. They were selling for $3 a cup. I put some in an escape proof bowl in my female's cage, and she cleaned them up. (They crawl pretty well and I didn't want them all over the cage).

They are so wiggly that they always catch the gecko's attention immediately. I like that they don't bite like a superworm, they don't feel over-soft like a waxworm that I could crush by accident, and they don't jump or stink like crix. They feel dry and sort of muscle-y when you pick them up by hand--even the squeamish should be fine. All that nutrition and palatability and not gross either!

As for breeding, the vendor said it wasn't easy. I don't know if he was just trying to cut competition or if they really have a difficult portion of breeding cycle to get through. And no, I don't think the adult flies are quite as nutritious as the larvae; they use all that calcium for their pupal shell.

[FrozenGecko]

great pics...love those lateral lines!

[clarksgeckos]

Thanks for the compliment on the lateral lines on this Crested. I am actually working with many Harlequins with the lateral lines which I am trying to breed out a solid lateral lined offspring. I have found that it is a trait that is passed along to some extent. I have produced a good number of partially Lateral Pinstriped offspring from the lines I am working with. I hope to produce a 100% Lateral Pinstriped offspring this year. Connie will have 2 lateral pinstriped (partially striped) from me this season. She will have the possibility of producing some really nice Harley's in 2007 with this trait.
Clark Tucker @clarksgeckos