If I use the vitamin enriched crickets, should i still supplement?

[xkatiexkaboomx]

I found a site that sells nutrient-enriched crickets. They got good reviews and it seems like an awesome idea. My question is, if I started using those, should I still use the calcium supplement with them?

Here's the link to the crickets I found:
Vita Crickets for Sale

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks everyone! :grin:

 

[Dinosaur!]

i personally wouldnt rely on those crickets for all of my geckos vitamins and such, but i am a control freak with my geckos, and i like to know exactly what they are getting, how much, and how often. i would wait to see some actual studies on the crickets first before i decided to stop supplementing, just to be safe.

well thats my two cents, but really its up to you whether or not you want to try those crickets

 

[tb144050]

I agree with Dinosaur^^, but I have a general question that I would consider. They are "Vita-crickets" because they are pre-gutloaded "from birth." .........but if you buy 500 crickets, won't they have digested/used-up all the pre-gutloaded nutrients by the time you feed them?

Assuming you have 5 juvie geckos, eating 5 crickets daily: 500 crickets is a 20day supply. So that is 20 days for them to lose their nutritional value.

If you have a lower daily-need (quantity), then the supply will last longer...and that is even more time for them to lose nutritional value.

If you have a higher daily-need, then I would probably start my own cricket colony instead of spending $70+/month...especially since you will have a "colony setup" in place just to house this many crickets.

Overall, you will still have to gutload and dust because of the suspected nutritional-loss. I would pass on the extra expense of "pre-gutloaded crickets".

 

[Olympus]

Short answer: Yes.

If these crickets are fed a high-quality diet their entire lives, then great, but we still need to gut load them with high quality food once they arrive and still need to compensate for the naturally high phosphorous level in crickets with calcium supplement. And D3, since crickets don't have any mentionable levels of vitamin D, and our geckos don't produce any naturally from UV.