2 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

Just for the giggles I ordered a small glass of the pretty overpriced Blanched Crickets by the German AntStore.

They got good reviews, saying that Messor ants liked the crickets.

They are however 3 times as expensive as fresh live ones from the pet store, which one can also freeze and then blanche oneself.

The ready-made blanched crickets keep 5 days in the fridge and one can also freeze them (which I did, since my ants will not eat the whole tin in one go).

Here is what happened after I offered this product to my ants.

 

 

The usual suspects took an interest:

 

Temnothorax acorn ants (no surprise, they will eat anything)- one of them even made off with the cricket head, as you can see in the bottom right corner:

 

 

Lasius niger also liked it

 

 

But they now have to feed a larvae avalanche (here you can see bits of cricket fed to the babies): 

 

 

And of course my Messor barbarus liked these crickets:

 

 

So in conclusion:

This appears to be a well made product which is well accepted by different ant species.

It is however pretty overpriced, for the small number of crickets you receive.

This is pretty much the same amount of crickets that come in a live packet from the pet store, which is one third of the price.

Edited by Ernteameise, April 8 2024 - 12:10 PM.

[Antcube]

Hello,

Thanks for purchasing blanched crickets and for the review.
Compared to live food, our product development has a decisive advantage, nutritional values and flavour are retained, especially the proportion of usable protein is almost 100% here, with simply dried and frozen around 40%. Important amino acids are also retained. The chitin armour is also softened and can therefore be processed more easily. In addition, our crickets are fed with organic waste from sustainable and local cultivation. So nature is happy too. The packaging is plastic-free and everything is filled by hand. Made in Germany!
Last but not least, our product is absolutely mite-free. Even frozen crickets will not kill the mites & bacteria. Some can even survive -18 degrees.
We have tested the product for over a year in product research, and only released it with the excellent favourable evidence from lobarists.

 

[Ernteameise]

Hello,

Thanks for purchasing blanched crickets and for the review.
Compared to live food, our product development has a decisive advantage, nutritional values and flavour are retained, especially the proportion of usable protein is almost 100% here, with simply dried and frozen around 40%. Important amino acids are also retained. The chitin armour is also softened and can therefore be processed more easily. In addition, our crickets are fed with organic waste from sustainable and local cultivation. So nature is happy too. The packaging is plastic-free and everything is filled by hand. Made in Germany!
Last but not least, our product is absolutely mite-free. Even frozen crickets will not kill the mites & bacteria. Some can even survive -18 degrees.
We have tested the product for over a year in product research, and only released it with the excellent favourable evidence from lobarists.

 

Yeah, I am aware that you had to do some R&D.

As I said, it is a good product.

It is accepted by all of my species (even the Camponotus ate from it in the end, they always take longer).

And I am also aware (as has been discussed on this forum) that freezing does not kill mites.

I am very paranoid concerning mites- so the live crickets I buy, I will freeze them, and then before feeding, I will blanche them myself by holding it in boiling water with a forceps.

This is of course more work, and your blanched crickets will save time on that extra step.

It really depends on the individual ant keeper, how much time they have and how much care they take with food preparation.

I only have a handful of colonies, so the amount of time I need is small, so I do not mind blanching several individual crickets.