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PAGE 3Issue #7 Volume #3 |
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Herp FoodSome tips on breeding your own crickets and mealworms and a recipe for a homemade herp treatBreeding Mealwormsby Walt Williams of the Greater Cincinnati Herpetological SoocietyAbout Mealworms: Mealworms are actually the larvae of a beetle. The worms eventually pupate and then hatch into the ½" to ¾" long black beetle. Begin your breeding colony with several dozen mealworms, more if possible. The mealworms themselves cannot breed, only the adult beetles, so you need to let some of the worms metamorphose into beetles. A mealworm requires four to seven months to become an adult breeder beetle, but once they mature, the beetles breed like crazy, and the eggs hatch into larvae in only six days. You need only keep several adult beetles on hand to insure a steady supply of worms. Materials Needed for Breeding: Begin with a plastic container, 16" x 10" x 6", lid optional. Fill the container half way with chicken mash or bran that can be purchased from any feed store. Cover this food supply with a thin layer of newspaper. Feeding: Essentially the bran or mash on which they live is the worms' food supply. For water supply add pieces of potato, sweet potato, carrots, or apple cores every two to three days as they disappear. You should have a thriving colony of feeder worms in a few months.
Materials Needed: Use a plastic container with a snap-on lid: holes should be drilled in the lid for ventilation. Plastic sweater boxes work well. Cover the bottom with newspaper and then add egg cartons or toilet paper roll cores for hiding places. Adding the Crickets: Add as many crickets as you want. Crickets aren't picky; they will breed anytime, anywhere. Just make sure that you have at least six males to twelve or more females. The females are easy to distinguish from the males by the long center ovipositor tube protruding from the abdomen. Feeding: Feed the crickets fruits and vegetables (apple and orange slices, pieces of raw potato, lettuce, etc.) for a water supply. Also feed dry oatmeal or dry dog food. Replace the food every few days. Breeding: Fill a 2-4 inch plastic flower pot with damp, not wet, sand/peat moss mixture (the proportions don't really matter). This is where the crickets will lay their eggs. Place the pot in the container with the crickets for 4-5 days. Then remove it and place it in its own container, set up the same way as the first one. The eggs will hatch in 7-10 days. Nymphs (baby crickets) mature in 7-8 weeks. By using eight to ten containers and flower pots, cycling a flower pot into your breeding colony every week, you will have crickets of all sizes within two months. If you can stand the chirping you will never have to buy crickets again!
"Herp Loaf"
Kids, get your mom or dad to help you, and only make a small batch to try. I freeze it in small amounts in ice cube trays!!
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User FriendlySome pet care tips from our usersDogs and ThunderstormsSheila Wills, 100wills@mentor.edcm.wits.ac.za, offers the following advice for owners with thunderstorm-weary dogs.Many people do not wish to continually use drugs to calm a dog who is afraid of thunderstorms. A very good idea is to obtain a tape or a CD of a thunderstorm. To "condition" the dog you must first play the tape/CD quietly, while the dog is in the room. Over time you can increase the volume until the dog is comfortable with the thunderstorm played at full volume. This method may take from a few days to a few weeks but it will certainly work.
Hedgehog Feeding and careLynda Lawrence, Lynda Bunnies Plus & The Hedgehog House, Ont, Can, bunnies@barint.on.ca, has the following advice to offer on the care and feeding of pet hedgehogs.I would like to add in a comment on feeding hedgehogs and their care. I have been feeding my h-hogs Technical kitten or cat kibble, depending on their age. My hogs seem to be the happiest bunch going. They start right on the kitten Technical as soon as they leave their mother and do fine. They do get some supplement treats such as raisins, peanuts, niblet veggies, and crickets or meal worms. At four and six weeks old they are given an oral dose of Ivomec to treat for internal parasites. Twice a year the whole herd is given an Ivomec oral treatment. There has yet to be a parasite problem. I have seen many a sad case of peoples' h-hogs with parasite problems simply due to the fact they keep the hedgehog on shavings. My guys are kept on newspaper only. And never do I use kitty litter due to the fact the small stones can lodge in the urinary track. There is a new h-hog food out that I have been using with my guys. It is called Hedgehog Complete. It contains everything the h-hog needs in it's daily diet.
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