Reptiles love their insects! But you may not be so fond of live creepy crawlies in your house. Especially ones like crickets, which can escape into the house if you don’t pull off their legs before giving them to your pet.
The solution? Zoo Med’s Can O’ Crickets (and other Can O’ products).
They’re real crickets, but they’re not going anywhere! And they’re not dried or frozen, which can affect taste and texture. Instead, they’re cooked right in the can to preserve that yummy cricket flavor for your boxie (or other reptiles).
And the cooking also softens up the insects’ exoskeleton, so it’s easier on your pet’s digestion.
Keep reading for more about Zoo Med’s Can O’ Crickets:
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Sizes & Ingredients How to Use Will Boxies Eat Them?
Pros & Cons Where to Buy
Can O’ Crickets Sizes and Ingredients
These cans contain one simple ingredient: Crickets! They’re farm raised and then cooked in the can. So they’re about as fresh as you’re going to find unless you catch live one yourself … And if you’re here, you’d probably rather avoid that. 🙂
Zoo Med sells two different sizes of cricket:
- Mini crickets, which are 3-week old insects. You get 200 per can.
- Regular crickets, which are adults (and thus bigger). You get 60 per can.
In both cases you get 1.2 oz of farm-raised crickets per can.
According to Zoo Med, the crickets are at least 20% crude protein and 1% fiber. The cans are 75% moisture.
How to Feed Zoo Med’s Can O’ Crickets
Nothing complicated here. Pop open the can & give your pet a few.
Don’t feed the whole can in one sitting, though. That’s too much for one turtle. Or even two. The can is resealable, so close it up and store the left-overs in the fridge.
No guarantees, but they should last a week or so without molding. (Obviously throw them away if they do mold). If you can’t use them up before they go bad, consider freezing them instead. Freezing might affect texture after they thaw, so you might have to experiment to see if your pet will still eat them.
Now box turtles are naturally hunters of insects, so yours might be confused by ones that just lay there. If so, try dangling them in front of him so he has to “catch” them. Use a pair of tweezers so you don’t accidentally get bit (or if you’re squeamish).
It’s a good idea to coat the crickets with calcium or vitamin powder, just like you would with any other foods.
Will Your Box Turtle Like These Crickets?
As we mention in most of our foods reviews: Turtles have their preferred foods, just like humans. So some turtles will gobble them up and others may ignore them completely. But sometimes it just takes a little coaxing to get them to try it.
You know, kind of like little kids. You often have to try a new food a few times before they’ll try it. And then they love it. Or not.
Luckily these things don’t cost much, so you won’t lose much if your pet doesn’t like them. And you’ll have a new food to add to his rotation if he does.
Now some reviewers didn’t like the smell of these crickets (others said it was about the same as dog food), so be warned you might not either. But strong aromas can actually be enticing to a reptile. So just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean your pet won’t.
Many reviewers whose pets (not all box turtles) like these crickets say they’ve been feeding them for years and love the consistent size and quality of these crickets.
Pros and Cons Summary
For the most part, as long your box turtle or other reptile will eat them, there’s not much to dislike about this product (except possibly the smell). If he doesn’t like them, well the pros don’t mean much.
So basically, you’re going to have to let your boxie make the final decision.
Pros:
- No live crickets in your house!
- Fresh & nutritious
- Cooked crickets are easier for your pet to digest
- Can is resealable for easy storage
Cons:
- You may not like the smell
- Some reptiles don’t like dead insects (although sometimes they’ll eat them if you dangle them in the cage)
- Sometimes stored crickets mold faster than expected
Where Can You Find Zoo Med Can O’ Crickets?
A lot of stores (online and offline) sell the “Can O’” products. But they don’t all sell all varieties. We found the Can O’ Crickets at these online stores.
(You can also try using the Amazon or Ebay search boxes in the upper right of this page to see if any sellers on those sites have any)
We’ve linked to the mini sizes, since that’s probably the size you’ll want for your boxie.
- Entirely Pets only sells the mini-sized crickets
- Pet Mountain sells mini and regular size, if you prefer the larger size
- We found a pack of 3 cans on Amazon