9 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

Over at the Ant Keeping Reddit, there is a pinned post concerning the canned crickets by the brand Flukers.

Apparently, the colonies of several ant keepers died after feeding these canned crickets.

I have seen these popping up on Amazon.

Anyone on here had any experiences with this product?

I personally prefer to avoid it after these reports, but maybe it was just a bad charge or something.

[The_Gaming-gate]

The crickets look like they have something added to them, as if they'd been peppered. The mealworms look normal and otherwise very good, although it doesn't seem like ants like those too much either. (I'm testing Fluker's meal worms with my S. invicta.) I think it was probably just a bad batch though, considering they are known to go bad quickly so that is likely what killed the ants, not the food itself. If it does really kill ants, we know how to get rid of invasives now!

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, April 4 2024 - 2:59 PM.

[Locness]

I have not tried that product, but I would recommend buying and freezing your own crickets.

[AntsCali098]

I've seen these before and maybe they have some kind of preservative that may be toxic to ants. Could be wrong, be sure to let us know what happens with your invicta

[The_Gaming-gate]

Got it. I’ll share results when I check on the invicta this evening.

[Mushu]

I know bout that reddit thread and from my understanding it's just crickets that are pasteurized. There were also a few reports of beetles that  died after feeding this. It just doesn't sound better than freezing live crickets for storage so I never bothered to look into it further but I wouldn't use it with these reports until there's more information.

[toe_biter606]

I had been feeding my Camponotus novaeboracensis a vacuum-sealed pack thing of mixed insects from Fluker's like https://www.reptiles...ety-mix-0-7-oz/ last year, and never had any negative effects. The main reason I did this was because I had heard roaches could contain the urea that might help Camponotus survive, but it's too expensive/illegal to get any fresh roaches in Canada. They haven't even touched it this year though. Maybe these don't contain the same preservative or mine just hadn't gone bad yet??

Edit: I just noticed these are labeled as preservative free, unlike the canned crickets

Edited by toe_biter606, April 5 2024 - 11:21 AM.

[Artisan_Ants]

I use Fluker’s canned mealworms (and crickets) myself. My Camps love them and all the other species I keep love them, and devour them; but don’t really touch the cricket. It can’t be smell as they hunt crickets in the wild themselves so it must be something else. Maybe taste? I also use the probugs Dubai roaches which work really well. Use them for my Camps and they are still devouring that thing. Like said before; it’s best to freeze them as they last longer than in the refrigerator.

[Ernteameise]

Yeah, I agree wirh all of you, I will keep well away.
I also buy crickets, freeze them and then dip them in boiling water before feeding.

Just for the giggles I have ordered some of the insanely overpriced blanched crickets from Antstore ( seriously, 3x as expensive as fresh live ones), I was just curious and Messor harvester keepers say the ants really like them. I will try them out and report back. No bad reports for them by the way, but it is antstore so one asumes they know which preservatives are toxic for ants.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Glad to report that my S. invicta are doing fine, although the queen is seeming a bit "sleepy," this could just be due to morning temperatures. The worker in the colony also seems very active, more so than before I fed her Fluker's. One thing to note is that it turned grey and fuzzy very quickly, which is probably not too good.