Cricket pen

[Peps230]

So recently I’ve noticed a lot of dead crickets in the tub which makes feeding time quite tricky as I have to sit and pick out the dead crickets, they tend to be dead when we buy them and then the surviving I gut load and feed to the cham, I’ve been thinking about getting a cricket pen because surely it’d be easier to remove the dead ones and feed the live ones? Will post a picture of what I’m on about, I’m just wondering if anyone else has experience with these instead of leaving them in the plastic tubs they come in?

 

[NickTide]

How many crickets are we talking about? The pet shop I used to work at just put paper towel tubes and egg cartons in the cage. The deads just fall off. At the end of the week you just have to get the last of the living ones and clean it out.

 

[Katacara]

How many crickets are you getting at a time and how often? The basic rule of thumb is not to buy crickets at a pet store, especially the big name pet stores! They are low quality and over priced to start with, even more so if you are buying dead ones! There are MUCH better options!

 

[Peps230]

I think at the moment she’s going through about a tub a week, she eats around 40 or 50 a week which is probably about 2/3 of the tub and then the rest are dead, she likes to eat out a dish so when I put the crickets in the dead ones always fall out into the dish and I have to pick them out and then she gets annoyed waiting for her food haha, I get them from a small family run pet shop in the town centre but have been thinking about buying online and maybe in bulk, I was thinking about the pen because it has removable tubes which the crickets sit in and it makes for much easier feeding time, it’s the first time I’ve owned a cham and the first time I’ve owned a reptile that eats insects so the only food I’ve ever had to deal with in the past is dead mice haha

 

[Katacara]

I really want to help you, and I will as much as I can. There are a few things you said in your last post that are red flags for me. So I think to better help you not only with your cricket questions, but with care in general you should fill out the "how to ask for help" form. Here is a link. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

People here can take a look and see if there are things that need improvement or tweaking. Please use as much detail as you can! The more information we have the better we can help you and your cham! Pictures are always helpful also. I will be able to look it over tomorrow.

 

[Peps230]

What is it that you find worrying?

 

[Katacara]

I didn't say I was worried. I just said there where red flags going up in my head.

1) It sounds like you are only feeding crickets, and 2) You said: "it’s the first time I’ve owned a cham and the first time I’ve owned a reptile that eats insects".

I just thought it might be a good idea to fill out the form to make sure your girl is on track.

 

[Peps230]

Oh no haha she eats other insects too, she had a check up at the vets a few weeks ago and the vet says shes perfect and to carry on the way we’re doing things although I’m not too sure on whether or not she’s overweight

 

[Katacara]

Ok point made, you have everything under control, 100% know what your doing, and have no other questions or want any other help.

Here is what I use for my cricket bin. Best of luck to you and your cham.

 

[hopps31]

So recently I’ve noticed a lot of dead crickets in the tub which makes feeding time quite tricky as I have to sit and pick out the dead crickets, they tend to be dead when we buy them and then the surviving I gut load and feed to the cham, I’ve been thinking about getting a cricket pen because surely it’d be easier to remove the dead ones and feed the live ones? Will post a picture of what I’m on about, I’m just wondering if anyone else has experience with these instead of leaving them in the plastic tubs they come in?

I use 10 gallon tanks with screen covers. The cricket pen in the picture stinks in my opinion.
1- The tubes are hard to clean and they are useless at actually transferring the crickets.
2- The pen is to small to add proper amounts of gut load and have the space crickets need to move around.
I usually don't have that many dead crickets, it they are gut loaded\hydrated they should last well over a month, depending on what size you are getting. Also like @Katacara said where you get the crickets from makes a huge difference in how long they will last. I have had really good luck with rainbowmealworms.net, I get most of my feeders there except silkworms, I get them from @Katacara!

 

[timw1]

So recently I’ve noticed a lot of dead crickets in the tub which makes feeding time quite tricky as I have to sit and pick out the dead crickets, they tend to be dead when we buy them and then the surviving I gut load and feed to the cham, I’ve been thinking about getting a cricket pen because surely it’d be easier to remove the dead ones and feed the live ones? Will post a picture of what I’m on about, I’m just wondering if anyone else has experience with these instead of leaving them in the plastic tubs they come in?

Get yourself a real tub, like a large 35 gal plastic tub from a large chain store such as Walmart. Cut a hole in the top and glue screen to cover the hole. Place egg crates for the crickets and use plastic dishes to hold the water (crystals) and foods, dry and wet. Take care of the crickets and they wont prematurely die. Remember that crickets only live about 52 days or so. I buy crickets 1000 at a time and I only have one cham. Don't buy only adults.

 

[Ceycham]

Having taken the advice of the wonderful people of this forum, I started purchasing a months supply of BANDED crickets online. They are ever so much hardier and without doing much different I am hardly having any deaths at all and a BIG PLUS is they don't seem to smell! So far I am buying 250 at a time of the half inch to 3/4 inch crickets. My cham can eat full size crickets now, but by feeding higher numbers of smaller crickets in the beginning of the month, by later in the the month the remaining crickets are grown to size. Because of the numbers I stopped using the cricket pen and went to a medium sized bin that I hot glued aluminum screen to the top for ventilation. I'm really amazed that I'm not hearing any cricket noise either. Is this a banded cricket thing or is it lack of maturity given the size I'm getting? Whatever it is I couldn't be more happy about it.