# Save the Pumpkins!



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

No, they aren't endangered. I pulled a piece from our Jack O Lantern last year to test with the Isopods. They loved it! I will be chopping some up for the freezer this time. Great free food for your isopods! Don't forget to scrub the skin for pesticides.


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## Zoomie (Jul 3, 2011)

Great, now I'll have to steal a pumpkin from the neighbors. Start gathering bail money.


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## Dendroguy (Dec 4, 2010)

hahahah!^


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Sorry Zoomie, I never meant for your addiction to lead to theft and jail time. I'd tell you it might be time for you to go "cold turkey" but knowing you, soon enough you'd be knocking over a 7-11 for your next cold turkey sandwich!


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## freaky_tah (Jan 21, 2009)

sweet, now I have a use for this tiny pumpkin that is sitting on my desk


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

My daughter says we should be baking them into teeny, tiny, bug sized pumpkin pies.


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## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

Pumilo said:


> My daughter says we should be baking them into teeny, tiny, bug sized pumpkin pies.


Well, that would be good husbandry.... and/or..... wifery


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

Great seasonal advice. Will definately have to give it a shot.


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

and here i was about to post how you can use a spare repti-fogger to make your halloween pumpkin very appealing, lol.


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

I wish I had read this about three hours ago before I tossed my jack-o-lanterns in the trash.


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

Pumilo said:


> No, they aren't endangered. I pulled a piece from our Jack O Lantern last year to test with the Isopods. They loved it! I will be chopping some up for the freezer this time. Great free food for your isopods! Don't forget to scrub the skin for pesticides.


I used the search bar for "pumpkins" and your thread came up. I put a few small slices of pumpkin in with my springtails and iso cultures yesterday. I just opened up the lid this morning and BINGO, so many springtails on the slices!! Unfortunately Doug, I got this idea from someone else on the board and just wanted to make sure that others were in on this!! Thank you for sharing this with others. It does work


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## trdlabs (Sep 23, 2011)

Great! Thanks for the info. I still have mine by the front door.


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Albertsons had the smaller pie pumpkins on sale for 99cents so I grabbed 3. Gonna chop them up into chunks small enough to feed and freeze a bunch. I used the scraps from our halloween pumkin and the iso's in my culture are making short work of them.

My wife officially thinks I've lost it, buying pumkins to feed bugs.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

We froze a gallon ziplock stuffed full of small pieces.


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## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

Great tip Doug,do you think butternut squash,organic of course grown by yours truely will be good as well,and just to reinforce ,we have a native springtail here,that we have fed to our frog on and off since the summer,some of our bits of pumpkin are already being composted they are covered with springtails.Of course too late for our cultures but,should be able to get some off fellow allotmenteers,as a food store for the freezer,wonderful tip Doug should have thought that one out myself,kudos sir
regards
Stu


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## Eric Walker (Aug 22, 2009)

Stu, iv fed a few types of squash to my bugs and they all worked well.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

yes, agreed.


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## Venus Smurf (Nov 7, 2011)

trdlabs said:


> Great! Thanks for the info. I still have mine by the front door.


Ditto. This is good to know, though. Thanks for the tip!


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## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

Eric Doug thanks guys,will be especially useful for extra in viv top ups,for me,because of the way i'm going about this some vivs will be set for a good while before getting frogs,in some cases i have to remove isos,as i pop in the frogs, as i worry that the numbers are just to high,and the frogs will also not get a properly balanced diet,it will be good to have another organic feed stuff i can use both prefrog,and whilst the viv is inhabited,
much appreciated!!
Stu


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## Tadbit (Jul 16, 2010)

A great timely tip Doug. Thanks!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Bump for free bug food!


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## milkman (Dec 15, 2011)

ZookeeperDoug said:


> My wife officially thinks I've lost it, buying pumkins to feed bugs.


My wife has come to this conclusion several times since I've started this hoby.


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

We had a harvest party at our church last night, so I will be getting a few pumpkins. My bugs love them!


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Worked like a Charm Doug!
I slid a few piece`s under the leaf litter in 2 of my tanks and in a few hours the pumpkin was covered in Dwarf Whites and springtails. I also put a piece in a area where I knew there were few if any bugs hanging out. Sure enough they found it and were going to town.

Ahh yes, the things that excite a frogger.

John


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Bumping for Halloween.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Thanks Doug, I completely forgot about that.

John


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## RibbidyReptiles (Jul 14, 2012)

Love this! Just went to the store and the pumpkins were five cent a pound!!! Not a typo, 5 CENTS A POUND!!! I got 20 pounds


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## jdgators (Oct 27, 2012)

Wow! Great price. Last year I fed my crickets pumpkin scraps, and they loved them, but only small pieces at a time, and you have to take them out before they mold, but the crickets definitely liked them, I'll have to try with my isopods.


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## Fantastica (May 5, 2013)

Didn't even think for the crickets, good for my RETF!


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## Tricolor (Jun 12, 2009)

Great idea, never thought of pumkin. My springs, isos love them. Maybe I can finally raise crickets to. My freezer is full of pumpkin. Thanks Doug


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## Tricolor (Jun 12, 2009)

wonder if it works for dog as well he sure is staring at me while cut this dang pumpkin up.


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## xIslanderx (Dec 8, 2012)

Just wanna bump this good idea from Doug... excellent seasonal food!


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## Brian317 (Feb 11, 2011)

Thanks for the bump! Definitely saving some pumpkin this year!


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

yeah I have about ten of them different sizes. thanks to my neighbors putting them out on their walls and on hay bales that they have. I wonder why they are getting rid of them now. they all still look fresh, no rot.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Tricolor said:


> wonder if it works for dog as well he sure is staring at me while cut this dang pumpkin up.


I'm a little late, but pumpkin is great for dogs. It's good for their digestive system, and of course is rich in vitamin A. It's a very highly recommended "people foood" treat. Sasquatch loves it, but the wife's pug won't touch it.


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## Dendroflex (Oct 25, 2012)

That's a great idea. I'll save a few pieces. 
Even wild fruit flies love pumpkin. 
I remember last year when my kids carved the pumpkin too early and left it outside, there were tons of fruit flies inside the pumpkin. What a mess.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

wonder if you get the teeny tiny ones and cut off the top and place in the viv how interesting that might be......hmmmmm


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Judy S said:


> wonder if you get the teeny tiny ones and cut off the top and place in the viv how interesting that might be......hmmmmm


We used to do exactly this for enrichment for the zoo animals. I made a small feeding station for the zoo PDFs with the smallest pumpkin I could find. We'd also carve them and give them to just about every animal you could think of. Watching our Galapagos tortoises demolish you average jack o lantern was always a treat. And of course the elephant pumpkin squash.

For use for feeders, I cut up one medium sized pumpkin around Halloween into inch to 1/4 squares and freeze in gallon bags. It's very easy to grab a handful now and then, toss in the microwave to thaw, then distribute into Vivs and isopod cultures.


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## SDK (Aug 11, 2014)

Speaking of zoos, I have seen at least two public aquariums that dropped pumpkins into their reef and fish only marine display tanks.

Both were torn to pieces almost immediately. The inhabitants seemed to really be enjoying them....


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Judy S said:


> wonder if you get the teeny tiny ones and cut off the top and place in the viv how interesting that might be......hmmmmm


Judy's finally gone off the deep end. Anybody else picturing her carving itty bitty, snarling faces into her "teeny tiny ones" so her little froggies can enjoy Halloween, too? 
Hey Judy, if you cut the bottom 3/4 off of a birthday candle, you can light those bad boys up and really make it a party! 

ridiculous disclaimer--Do NOT put itty bitty candles in your frog vivs!


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Reason #75 you`re a frogger:

Don`t throw out those pumpkins!!!
Give em to the damn isopods!!


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## Brian317 (Feb 11, 2011)

Pumilo said:


> I'm a little late, but pumpkin is great for dogs. It's good for their digestive system, and of course is rich in vitamin A. It's a very highly recommended "people foood" treat. Sasquatch loves it, but the wife's pug won't touch it.


Thanks! I gave a little bite to my 1 year old Golden Retriever and he is watching me closely now while I carve pumpkins 

Just cut up a bunch for the isos as well.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Well now here's a thread that needs dusted off and bumped. Free isopod food!

Judy, this is for you.

Save the pumpkins!! The plight of the poor pumpkins is real, and it's happening on YOUR VERY BLOCK! Every year, on November 1st, pumpkins, sometimes lovingly referred to as "Jack-O-Lanterns" face a horrible fate. They are mercilessly slaughtered by the millions, their faces caved in by baseball bats, boots, and boys bare hands, and it's done while they sleep, no less! 
And why? Aren't we supposed to have risen above the fact that their skin is a different color than yours? We're ALL the same on the...wait, scratch that.
Is it because they, "swing on a different vine", than you do? 
Is it a religious thing, because they worship Sol, the great sun god?
It's time to move beyond such messages of hate. Do your part before it's too late! They are on the brink of extinction...(for the year)
You know you want to. Just reach out, and hug a pumpkin, before it's too late! You can be the one to give a precious him or her (or it), one more year of life.

If, for any reason, you are unable to save a pumpkin of your own this year, good news! You can still do your part. Just send a cash donation to Save The Pumpkins. I'm, um, on the board, so if you can just send it to me, that'd be great, yeah.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

"swing on a different vine"......now THAT's classic Pumilo....HAHAHA.....And how PC of you....I had totally forgotten about the teeny weeney pumpkins...never did try it....but this post is timely...and amusing of course....and this is my first post in ages....Doug...you bring out the worst in me....


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

i agree save a pumpkin, kill a cucumber they are always sad because they are green.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

omg this is still alive lol


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

as it should be...


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