Am I killing the crickets?

[Julirs]

When I get the crickets out of their cage and put them in the cup with calcium powder, is it possible to "over coat" them with powder or am I "swirling" them too hard and killing them??? I never had any issues with the smaller ones, but now my Veiled is eating 1/2 size crickets, and I am finding them dead on the bottom of the cage within 15 minutes.

 

[Laragail]

If your shaking them around in a cup i guess it could be possible to hurt them.


I use a bag- and never have that problem.

it really doesn't take much shaking to get them coated with the vitamin powder.
When I use cricket keeper tubes i just turn them end over end a few times very gently.

 

[FaunaBgirl]

I try not to get the calcium dust in their eyes. I have killed some by coating their faces, so I aim for each back.

 

[curly]

Since they dont breath through there mouth and they breathe through there abdomen, If you overcoat them it will clog the pores that let the air pass through and suffocate them.

 

[FaunaBgirl]

All I know is that for sure it hurts their eyes and I don't want to do that. I have noticed that when I coat too thickly, they do die. Now I know why. The breathing chambers on top or bottom of abdomen?

 

[lele]

all insects "breathe" through a series of holes along the sides of their abdomen called spiracles. These are most noticeable in caterpillars and larger insects such as grasshoppers and roaches.

Don't over dust your feeders, not only out of concern for killing them but your cham just does not need that much. You do not want to end up with Hypervitaminosis or too much calcium which can cause some serious internal damage.

When I dust for a cup-feeder I put a pinch in the cup and the insects will pick it up as they move around. For non-cup feeders (like Cyrus) I place the feeders into a cup with some dust, GENTLY swirl them (we are not doing shake and bake here! ) then I strain them so any excess dust comes off (I have perfect size cups and strainers so they do not get loose. Don't just put feeders into a strainer - they will just hop/run off.

Hope this helps!
lele