Best way to keep Crickets

[ColorCham427]

Hey all,

I'm really trying to keep my crickets as clean as possible!

Any ideas on how to keep them super clean... without loosing a bunch in the process???

Different methods on the how to would be cool to here and much appreciated.

thanks,
-Brian

 

[Brian]

Well, I have a few of the same size cricket bins...I change them daily The egg cartons are glued together, vertical so all the garbage falls down to the bottom of the container. All I do is lift the egg cartons and transfer them to the other container. If theres a few still in the plastic container I just go ahead and grab them by hand

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

This is from the Kammers ... It is the breeder I got my three Chameleons from. I hope it is helpful.

CRICKET CARE AND KEEPING


Housing Tips:


1. House crickets in a 10-15 gallon glass aquarium with a full screen top.

2. No substrate on the tank bottom. Simply keep it clean and dry.

3. On one end of the tank, stack clean egg carton pieces. Placement should allow for gaps in between so that the crickets have room to hide.

4. Be sure to position a spot light directly above the egg cartons so that the temperatures beneath are 95-100F. Crickets are cold blooded and need to "warm up" so they desire to eat and metabolize their food properly. If not kept warm, die offs will occur quickly. Lights should be on, 24/7.

5. On the opposite end of the tank, place a clean paper plate with cricket food. Since crickets will eat "around the clock" be sure to have food available at all times. In addition to the cricket food, they will require something to drink. We like to use cut up orange slices which provide not only liquid, but added vitamin C as well. Oranges are one of their favorite foods and they will often eat the slices all the way down to the rind.

6. CLEAN the tank bottom at least every other day (daily if you have many crickets you are housing). Crickets eat and produce waste nonstop. Regular cleaning deters the opportunity for bacteria and disease.


Cleaning Tips:


1. Remove the paper plate and egg carton pieces (tapping the pieces against the tank glass to loosen any debris). Now you should just have crickets and waste on the aquarium bottom.

2. Use a wide "paint scrapper tool" to scrape everything to one end of the tank. As you are doing this, if there are any live crickets, they will run back over to the cleaned end. Use the flat edge of the scrapper (as you would a spatula) to lift out the waste and/or dead crickets that have accumulated.

3. Once the tank bottom is clean, add back clean egg carton pieces and cricket food.

4. Once every 2-4 weeks when you've fed out all your crickets, wash the tank thoroughly with antibacterial soap and water. Rinse well.

 

[arkist]

Two words to make cricket keeping super easy: disposable containers.

 

[Brian]

I forgot to mention, I use a 10% bleach solution for the containers that need to be washed. I just spray the container well... leave it overnight. The next day, I rinse it well with the hose and let it dry in the sun.

 

[ColorCham427]

thanks all for the advice.. good stuff.

 

[ColorCham427]

Hey all again, is it OK for me to use the styro foam egg crates? i only see the cardboard ones on the example pages... just curious.. thanks again!

-Brian

 

[summoner12]

This is what I keep my crickets in. I have a 12vdc computer fan hooked up to keep the air moving. I also place the egg crate uprigth so the poops falls downward. (just not pictured upright...)

sometimes the screen gets a bit gunky... When I clean out the tank I cacuum the screen . Be sure to use metal screen..... or you'll have escapees lol. You can see a whole in the second photo... and an esxapee on the ground there. I have since fixed this problem.

 

[Cham King]

Bio Shield protection Awsome !

We use Bio shield with our crickets and works great and keep bacteria from entering . We also use itall around our home and in water dishs for other reptiles. We just used it for our tortoise outdoor pond we used to get mold and mildew around the water edge and after cleaning it out good and letting it dry we applied Bio shield and we dont get it anymore.

Read about it here

http://www.repti-racks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=50

 

[Kecleon]

Hey all,

I'm really trying to keep my crickets as clean as possible!

Any ideas on how to keep them super clean... without loosing a bunch in the process???

Different methods on the how to would be cool to here and much appreciated.

thanks,
-Brian

http://skylab.org/~chugga/cricket/

Hi there,

Take a look if this can help you?

 

[spatulars]

Don't bother with water troughs. The water crystals made from powder are the way to go, although oranges and squash and melon all provide adequate hydration. If they are hydrated, they are much less likely to die in my experience.

 

[BocaJan]

ColorCham. That cricket website is really informative on how to raise crickets. I know someone with 180 baby chams that sure could benefit from reading it. LOL