crickets are starting to get on my nerves...

[dudeman728]

I don't understand why they keep dying. I provide them with food/water, plenty of ventilation, and an egg crate to hide in. What more do I need to do? I also dispose all the dead crickets to try and keep the tank clean. The dead ones smell really bad and the overall experience is starting to get to me. Thanks for the help

 

[Jonas]

They do have a short lifespan, how old are they?

 

[dudeman728]

the ones i currently have are small ones. probably 1/4 or a little bigger

 

[Chuck G]

Try roaches instead.

 

[AJA]

The little ones are tough. A drop of water could kill them.

You didn't mention your temps. Keep the temperature constant and in the 70 degree range (sorry don't know celecius or how to spell it. )

crickets will huddle up if cold but an extreme temp fluxuation can kill them off. Heat will kill them off too

Keep your food 'dry'. I provide greens like mixed salad or a piece of corn on the cob or like ONE slice of apple. You need to check on them regularily like every third day to maintain. Throw away disgusting food immediately.

Also avoid over crowding and provide lots of egg crates to avoid crushing.

I have my guys in a large plastic bin with lots of egg crates. I provide a dry food (gut load) and a 'moist' food like ground carrot or the things I mentioned above.

Hope that helps.

 

[dudeman728]

ah i see so its the little ones that are tough! will my habits be enough for the bigger ones to survive? thanks for the help

 

[Psi]

little ones, big ones, medium ones. They're all tough.
All comes down the the enclosure is what I've found.

I managed to keep 500+ (3/4s) in a 10g aquarium tank with 4 egg crates + some smaller crates with next to no deaths.

I throw in a good amount of carrots and sweet potatoes every few days, but provide no water.

 

[AJA]

Another hint is to place the egg cartons sideways and not flat, this way the poop and dead crickets will drop to the bottom and keep the live ones nice and comfy up above, the same as you do with roaches.

Also young crickets won't chirp, some people can't stand the noise, but I like it.

The gut load is nice because it provides all the micro nutrients that you may or may not get with food. There are two people on the forum that sell it that I know of. One person is Nick Barta and the other guy is Ssimsswiss they both had ads in the Classifieds for pricing.

 

[Chameleon Company]

Keep the temperature constant and in the 70 degree range ....

I am not sure the reason for the above advice. Crickets typically thrive at temps in the 80's F, and peak out their growth rates at temps in the upper 80's. Temps in the 80's do not contribute to premature death in any way, except to grow the animal to adulthood quicker than temps in the 70's. They also can handle temps that fluctuate as one would expect in a normal summer day-night without any adverse problems.

Could be several things. If there is excessive moisture, or you are not replacing the moisture source every 2-3 days, mold and bacteria can become an enemy. Smaller crickets also will succumb quickly if fed too much fruit, melons, etc, as in high moisture content, than if fed greens. For lack of a better description, they get too much diarhea. In example, watermelon or cantelope will kill off small crikets in just a day or two, as they spend too much time eating it, and not other available dry food, while larger crickets seem to manage it better.

In addition to a vegetable-moisture source, you can raise crickets on inexpensive cricket or worm food available through many feed stores. Only need scatter a layer of it in the bottom of their cage. It needs to stay dry is all. You would then want to gut-load them better in the hours before feeding your chams, but there is no need to raise them (the crickets) on the expensive stuff all the time. Good luck.

 

[Garrett]

Jim is right, crickets like it warmer than room temperature.
I keep a 60 watt bulb with a hood over mine (10 gallon aquarium)
and they grow like crazy with hardly any die off. Keep them clean and warm, and you shouldn't have any problems.
Or just forget the crickets and switch to roaches

 

[Digby Rigby]

First 2 weeks

For the first two weeks of their life crickets need higher humidity than afterwards. Low humidity and high heat after the first two weeks. You know you are doing it right when the adults start flying!

Digby Rigby [email protected]