Cricket tip

[DeLgAdO]

makes sense, matters how long you freeze them for. hmmm.....vacum seal and freeze would be better, but seems like plenty of work though. Good ole' live gut loaded crickets for me still. Mei, toilet rolls are a great idea.

well if they get freezer burn yea you best toss em out. but once an ice cystal form inside the cells of the cricket some it its nutrition quality is lost.

so plenty of work eh?

i can do that in less than 10 seconds!


btw glad to know you still feed live miguel.

 

[Miguel]

I 've never stopped feeding live, Delgado...staple in my aro's ( and all other fish ) diet..

 

[T1KARMANN]

all this taking the legs off the crickets 1st is rubbish who takes them off for the aro in the wild

i use locusts with their legs still on they are bigger and dont sing like crickets

 

[DeLgAdO]

yeah, i'd like someone to explain it to me too? in food research, experts will tell you that freezing food decreases nutritional value only marginally. don't know why crickets would be any different.

I think one of the big factors - frozen or not - is what you gutload the crickets with in the first place. I keep old world chameleons and for their crickets, experts place a lot of emphasis on what to gutload them with. I've read that crickets that aren't gutloaded properly have almost no nutritional value at all. for chameleons - they really emphasize using greens like lettuce (not iceberg - no nutritional value at all!) beet greens, radish greens, kale etc.

Anyone ever tried chapulinas? mmmm.

windsurfer

thats not true, but gut loading does enhance there N value though.

and crickets are high in protein

 

[DeLgAdO]

Great idea!

I can't seem to get them to breed. I've been trying, but they just die off. I like the idea of a pie pan full of dirt. What's the temp req's? I read somewhere that to keep them alive longer, you should keep it cool, but to breed them to provide a heat rock? What's the setup for breeding the buggers?

it is a good idea to keep a heat source.

crickets will do better with a place to warm up and get there metabolism going.

 

[unknownuza13]

well if they get freezer burn yea you best toss em out. but once an ice cystal form inside the cells of the cricket some it its nutrition quality is lost.

so plenty of work eh?

i can do that in less than 10 seconds!


btw glad to know you still feed live miguel.

You went from saying that frozen crickets have almost no nutritional value to saying once an ice crystal forms inside the cells the cricket loses some of its nutrition quality. Did you read this somewhere? I'm not trying to bust balls just want correct info. Here is some info I found on nutrional value of frozen insects. I'm not sure if this is per one insect or what the sample size was and I also cannot vouch for the credibility of the site. But it is very apparent that the protein to fat ratio in crickets is in our favor.


FROZEN SAMPLE

Crickets Mealworms Waxworms Superworms Fly Larva
Moisture 68.96 62.89 60.97 58.91 69.02
Ash 1.52 1.20 0.97 1.29 1.24
Protein 20.72 18.65 15.40 18.92 15.32
Fat 5.74 13.64 20.12 15.07 5.96
Carbohydrates 3.06 3.62 2.54 5.81 8.46
mg/100g Calc. 21.53 3.28 13.14 10.80 17.73
mg/kg Vit. C 105.90 38.10 23.60 9.80 9.80
Dietary Fiber 2.80 2.00 1.60 2.20 2.70
Calories/Fat 51.66 122.76 181.08 135.63 53.64

 

[señor_pescados_felices]

I have crickets in a 20g long with about 2" of moist dirt and just recently they laid eggs (you can see thousands of them from the side,about 1 inch under the soils surface) so we'll se if they hatch (i dont know how long it takes).

I feed them NLS,Krill, and cricket "gut load" and I use egg crate for housing.

The biggest problem I have with my crickets is their constant fighting.20g seems like enough space for maybe 60-80 crickets at a time, but no,they go to war with eachother.Constant battles...for the first few days I can feed my aro off the slain crickets alone.

 

[DeLgAdO]

You went from saying that frozen crickets have almost no nutritional value to saying once an ice crystal forms inside the cells the cricket loses some of its nutrition quality. Did you read this somewhere? I'm not trying to bust balls just want correct info. Here is some info I found on nutrional value of frozen insects. I'm not sure if this is per one insect or what the sample size was and I also cannot vouch for the credibility of the site. But it is very apparent that the protein to fat ratio in crickets is in our favor.


FROZEN SAMPLE

Crickets Mealworms Waxworms Superworms Fly Larva
Moisture 68.96 62.89 60.97 58.91 69.02
Ash 1.52 1.20 0.97 1.29 1.24
Protein 20.72 18.65 15.40 18.92 15.32
Fat 5.74 13.64 20.12 15.07 5.96
Carbohydrates 3.06 3.62 2.54 5.81 8.46
mg/100g Calc. 21.53 3.28 13.14 10.80 17.73
mg/kg Vit. C 105.90 38.10 23.60 9.80 9.80
Dietary Fiber 2.80 2.00 1.60 2.20 2.70
Calories/Fat 51.66 122.76 181.08 135.63 53.64

those numbers dont tell me anything! lol


my bad, i had to look further into it.




In meat there is little change in nutrient value during freezer storage.

the freezing process itself does not destroy nutrients.

when defrosting anything though it should be done gradually.

my source:http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp#3

 

[Behemoth]

The coin rollers from Wal-Mart work as well. They are $1.55 for several. I get the quarter rollers...my wife and kids never think to save the toilet paper rollers.

I have my crickets in a large plastic container: coin rollers, potato, carrot, zuchs, and many cherping entrees!