# First time eating any kind of insect!!



## Nanobitz (Jul 13, 2010)

Gracie, my hedgehog, had her first insect of her life today. It was Flukers freeze dried meal worms and Gracie loved them. She wasnt sure of them at first but ended up really liking them, and got pretty mad when there wasnt any left in her bowl.

I dont want her to eat to many, as its sort of a treat/only so much, and not her regular food. Anyways thought I would share. What do you guys think of the Flukers freeze dried crickets? I think I might pick up some before my long trip.

-Heather and Grace


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Glad she is finally willing to try a few new things  
Lots of people feed the freeze dried insects and love them,I personally don't like nothing freeze dried and if it's not alive I refuse to feed it.


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## Nanobitz (Jul 13, 2010)

LarryT said:


> Glad she is finally willing to try a few new things
> Lots of people feed the freeze dried insects and love them,I personally don't like nothing freeze dried and if it's not alive I refuse to feed it.


See we have a ton of live crickets in our bin in our sunroom, because we have chameleons and geckos to feed, but how do you feed them live ones? You hold it in front of their face or something?

Thanks,
Heather


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## jinglesharks (Jun 15, 2010)

Nanobitz said:


> LarryT said:
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With crickets, you definitely have to kill them first... unless you have a very speedy little hedgie.  I'm sure a determined one could probably catch one eventually, but you'd have to be able to keep the cricket confined, which isn't so easy. That's why I can't feed crickets! They have too much of a face for me to kill them. :lol:


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## Nanobitz (Jul 13, 2010)

jinglesharks said:


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Haha that makes since  Yeah I dont know about the freeze dried crickets they didnt look so good. They were all messed up and not "whole".

-Heather


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Nanobitz said:


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I feed live crickets and my gang loves em  
I have a small hole drilled in each hogs bin that way I can stick a live cricket half way through the hole and let the hedgie grab it  this keeps me from getting bit and keeps the crickets from running rampant throughout the house :lol:


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## Nanobitz (Jul 13, 2010)

LarryT said:


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I dont get that. Do you have a picture?

-Heather


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## jinglesharks (Jun 15, 2010)

LarryT said:


> Nanobitz said:
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Ohh, that's clever. I still don't have the heart for it, but it's a good idea. :lol:


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Here's a few pics [attachment=2:39jyjlyb]cricket.jpg[/attachment:39jyjlyb][attachment=1:39jyjlyb]cricket2.jpg[/attachment:39jyjlyb][attachment=0:39jyjlyb]cricket3.jpg[/attachment:39jyjlyb]


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## Beanie (Jun 9, 2010)

I would be careful of feeding too many freeze dried things. A) They're not very nutritious and B) Their exoskeletons can form a hard ball that can block up the intestines if they have too many of them. Most people prefer live, especially since you can gut load them with nutritious things like potatoes and carrots if you can't get your hedgie to eat those


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## Nanobitz (Jul 13, 2010)

LarryT said:


> Here's a few pics [attachment=2:26sy0rk6]cricket.jpg[/attachment:26sy0rk6][attachment=1:26sy0rk6]cricket2.jpg[/attachment:26sy0rk6][attachment=0:26sy0rk6]cricket3.jpg[/attachment:26sy0rk6]


Omg thats so clever!!! I should try that, or try just giving it to her and see if she bites me.

-Heather


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## Nanobitz (Jul 13, 2010)

Beanie said:


> I would be careful of feeding too many freeze dried things. A) They're not very nutritious and B) Their exoskeletons can form a hard ball that can block up the intestines if they have too many of them. Most people prefer live, especially since you can gut load them with nutritious things like potatoes and carrots if you can't get your hedgie to eat those


Thanks, that advice is very helpful. I think I will start feeding live since we have some already for are other pets. 

-Heather


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Hahaha Larry, I love your way of feeding crickets. That's a great way to do it!


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Thats a really awesome idea Larry  I have a plastic set up for playtime so maybe I will have to try that.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

I never would have thought of that! Larry, you're so clever!


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## GoldfishGirl (Jul 17, 2010)

Couldn't you just rip the legs off of the crickets? 
I know we used to do it when we fed the big garden spiders in our tomato patch, so they wouldn't tear up the web. Thoughts? (Am I being to macabre?)


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

That would probably work, for me though as funny and girly as it sounds it would gross me out to rip an insect apart even though for some reason it doesn't bother me when my hedgie eats them. I think its because they disappear so quick that I don't have a chance to get grossed out lol I've touched crickets before when I had a lizard so I know I could put them through a hole, for me it would just be a preference


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Be sure to pull both legs off or some hedgies will have trouble catching them and sometimes they will get loose in your house. It is fun to watch a hedgie try to catch them though :lol:


Edit to change wording!


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## jinglesharks (Jun 15, 2010)

GoldfishGirl said:


> Couldn't you just rip the legs off of the crickets?
> I know we used to do it when we fed the big garden spiders in our tomato patch, so they wouldn't tear up the web. Thoughts? (Am I being to macabre?)


That would work if you're not squeamish. Personally I'm sad enough about feeding mealworms, the idea of dismembering something with a face even seconds before it dies is just too hard. I love all animals too much- even creepy crawlies! But yes, I see no reason why that wouldn't work.

Wait, what? They can escape without legs, Larry? How does that work? :shock:


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

jinglesharks said:


> Wait, what? They can escape without legs, Larry? How does that work? :shock:


I had that worded all wrong :lol: I meant to say Be sure to pull both legs off or some hedgies will have trouble catching them and sometimes they will get loose in your house.


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## jinglesharks (Jun 15, 2010)

LarryT said:


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 :lol: Okay, that's comforting. I had a really gruesome image in my head!


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