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Serbia, Belgrade
1 Level
463 Review
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Review on 6-Pack of Zilla Reptile Food Cricket Water Pillows by Melissa Gonzalez

Revainrating 1 out of 5

My crickets swarm on them like a junkie on a punch!

Have you deleted my photo? Cricket Tip - I have learned that when crickets die they release gas which is toxic to other crickets causing more deaths and they release even more gas and more crickets die. Cricket breeders don't share this information because it just means more sales to them. So if you see dead crickets in the trash can, remove them or turn on a constant flow of air to remove the gas. I finally settled on Dubia Roaches for my bearded dragon. MUCH less exoskeleton to mess with my bearded dragon's gut and MUCH less odor. It's not easy for them to jump or run away, and when they do, they're native to the tropics of Central America, so indoor temperature and humidity aren't conducive to their survival once they get out of their container. Too cold and too dry. Too cold means they grow slower, and when the house is around 30 degrees they almost stop growing and won't reproduce. Low humidity means they dry out quickly and die quickly. And much better for bearded dragons and other pets than crickets (almost in all cases). Long term review - will be posted when I have it a little longer. - Okay, I've had them for a week or so and I've decided that I definitely don't like them. The idea is great, but needs improvement. - After some use I found these problems. - 1) get dirty quickly. - 2) There is no way to really clean them. So if you have multiple containers of crickets, be sure to rehydrate each in its own container or you risk cross-contamination. Not a big concern, but worth considering. - 3) Pillows swell so crickets can't get to the top to get drunk unless you build them a way to climb to the top. - 4) For the same or less money I'd rather buy a small can of Flukers Cricket Quencher. At least when I'm done I'll have a reusable lid. - 5) For the price, it is better to buy polymer crystals and add your own water and liquid calcium to stress the intestines. - 6) Polymer crystals are three times more expensive but they last a year or more if I stop lugging around small batches for my daughter to play with, that is (she loves them and water polymer beads). - 7) I seriously wonder if Zilla adds some sort of pheromone or something to make the crickets swarm in the water pillow as soon as you put them in the bins, for the customer's "WOW" factor. After about a week of use, the crickets are no longer as interested in drinking from the pillows as they were when I took the attached photo. hour) my crickets love them way more than water filled Soil Moist pellets. I put one of those water pillows down and the crickets came flying towards it. The water crystals were hydrated but to be fair I added more water and they hydrated quickly so I took this attached photo an hour later after my 5 year old dropped the second pillow in the drawer. I had these 1000 crickets for 6 days and the food and water were always in the same spot so they habitually know where the food/water is but they still swarm almost exclusively on two water pads. These crickets are about 1/2 grown. I've put a water pillow along with my fully sinister brood crickets, but in the last hour I haven't seen adult crickets fetch water from any source, but again, they can get moisture from growing soil, as I did. at the moment it is not covered. I almost wonder if Zilla added some cricket with flavor to these pillows. Pros: They love BBQs (photo proof) - literally "standing room only"! Moistens in less than 30 seconds in warm water Cheap - about $0.50 per pad Cons: See long timeline chart above. TIP: I'm not sure how many of you do this, but I take water, add liquid calcium and add that to my water crystals in the trash can. To avoid spilling, I take the bottle and punch a tiny hole in the cap so I can put my finger on it, turn it upside down and slowly and carefully add water to rehydrate my crystals for a few days until I'm... feel the need to change them.

Pros
  • Decent performance
Cons
  • Some flaws