how long in a separate cricket feeder cage?

[abc]

I read a bunch of posts about feeding crickets, the right sizes, the gut-loading and calcium dusting, and have opted to take my gecko's out and have them feed on crickets in a separate "feeder" cage.

One question: how long do I keep them in the "feeder" cage before returning them back to their regular terrarium? Can I leave them in the feeder cage all night? I have 2 baby crested geckos, and was thinking of leaving 4 tiny crickets in there with both of them, thinking they'll eat 2 each or one hungry gecko might get 3 and the other 1. Does this sound OK to you?

[IndyCrestie]

I would not leave any kind of baby gecko in a small container with crickets overnight.

An hour or so should be more than enough. Initially they may stress a bit at having been moved (may not even eat at all), but I'd imagine that before long they'll eat ASAP upon being put in there.

IMHO a better idea would be to use a deep bowl in the cage so the geckos can eat out of it (rather than on the substrate, assuming you are worried about impaction) and not have to be removed from the cage in the first place.

[CrestedLove27]

If you would leave them in the container all night, then why not feed them in their own enclosure? This isn't true of all cresteds, but some may stress being in a new environmant and may not eat for you right away.

For my hatchlings and juvies I offer crickets once a week and only throw in about 2-8 per gecko depending on how many they feel like eating at a time. With small geckos, instincts will usually kick in when they see the movement of the crickets and the geckos will pounce the second they see them coming their way. I like just being able to do this because I can watch them eat and hunt without disturbing them in the process.

However, everyone has their own methods. Maybe someone who preferably feeds in a separate container can share findings. May I ask why you decided to go with a separate feeding enclosure?

[abc]

Thanks for the replies. Hmmmm... from the posts I read when I did a search for "crickets", the plus of having a separate enclosure is simply finding the uneaten crickets. If the terrarium is elaborate (and mine will be when it's done but I guess I can start putting some in their current plastic-plant 10g tank), then crickets can hide indefinitely (or their lifespan), lay eggs in the substrate, bite geckos when they are hungry, etc, etc.

I want to get the geckos used to eating crickets in a separate container so that don't have to worry about the above when they go into the planted terrarium.

But sounds like overnight is a bad idea, so I'll go with a few hours and put them back in their cages before turning in tonight.

If anyone has taken this approach, could you please give your 2 cents on your method and what works best for you?

[CrestedLove27]

With my adult cresteds, so far I have kept them in nothing but naturalistic planted enclosures. I haven't had any problems with the crickets hiding indefinitely from the geckos and I have a lot of plants. I've also never seen a gecko chewed up by crickets. Should the situation arrive that the crickets even climb on the geckos foot or tail, they're abruptly shaken off. The crickets are more likely to knaw on plant vegetation or eat leftover gecko food and poop then they are to do much damage to a healthy adult crested.

That being said, everybody should be allowed to do their own thing, and I can definitely respect your decision. Better to be safe than sorry.

[abc]

Thanks for the anecdote, CrestedLove27! I may just venture to try releasing the crickets in the terrarium when they get sub-adult size.

Well, I timed it... 15min flat. It took only 15min for 2 baby crested geckos to eat 6 small crickets. I was so surprised at how fast they move. One climbed up the wall of the cage (7 inches up) and jumped from the side of the wall to the middle of the floor to catch a cricket.

I don't want to overfeed them but I'm so tempted to throw in some more crickets to see them in action but I'll stop for now. I can see their bellies bulging. And it just so happened that it was an even 3 each for the geckos.

It took me longer to catch the crickets and dust them than it did for them to chow down. wow!

[marigold]

ABC: I feed crickets in a separate container. since this is all relatively new to me as well, (my son got two crestie adults in early January, but now we have 12 cresteds), i want to do it this way until i am comfortable with cricket feeding. my geckos who eat crickets eat them right away. yes, 15 minutes in the separate cricket feeder is enough. my best hunter is Zafira, our special little Cicada Hollow crestie who is now almost 7 months old. man, she eats 6 small crickets in 3 minutes! i like watching her. i think that eventually i will just pop the crickets into the enclosure... (since it's getting time consuming to feed, one at a time, cleaning the enclosure in between, or having two or three going at the same time...) i like feeding calcium dusted, gut loaded crickets because i'm excited to give extra calcium! but i have 5 adult geckos who will *not* eat a cricket!!! that amazes me. they were not brought up on the crickets, so they don't get it if i put them in with crix. i don't even try with them anymore. i am just surprised that the instinct to hunt does not kick in!
happy cricket feeding!

[IndyCrestie]

With my adult cresteds, so far I have kept them in nothing but naturalistic planted enclosures. I haven't had any problems with the crickets hiding indefinitely from the geckos and I have a lot of plants. I've also never seen a gecko chewed up by crickets. Should the situation arrive that the crickets even climb on the geckos foot or tail, they're abruptly shaken off. The crickets are more likely to knaw on plant vegetation or eat leftover gecko food and poop then they are to do much damage to a healthy adult crested.

Same here. I no longer feed crickets though, so it's not an issue at all.