Crickets dying too fast

[falconut]

I sometimes get them in 500 bulk and sometimes locally at 120-150 at a time. The 500 bulk ones are Brown crickets and the 120-150 ones are Banded.

I keep them in a 10 gallon aquarium with a full screen top and have plenty of toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls cut in half. I have two 3" diameter lids (about 1/4" tall), one has water crystals and the other has food (mustard greens, collard greens, kale, carrots, etc.) I moved them down to my basement, since the larger crickets have been noisy. I added a 100W ceramic heater in a caged fixture, placed on the screen top to keep them warm enough.

It's been a few months of doing this and it seems that I can only get half of them to live. The last time I purchased the 500, they lasted a hair longer than a week and about half of them died. So, I went with the local Bandeds to see if the Brown were the problem, but about half of the 150 died in just over a week.

It sucks cause I haven't been able to keep them much longer than a week. Is there something that you can see that I'm doing wrong or suggestions? I've got another order of 500 coming in, that I'm hoping can last longer than a week.

 

[Remkon]

I'm no cricket guru but I have no problems keeping them alive so I will tell you what I do...

I'm keeping them in a 8"x12"x12" plastic container, I've cut a 4" x 6" window out of the lid and replaced that with screen.
Inside I've stacked eggcrates on the side (but on top of eachother will be ok too) to create surface. I have a 15W heatingcable under the container for heat (it also runs under my dubia container so actually it's just half.)

Food, fresh fruits and veggetables, I make sure I buy pre-washed (3x washed in icewater) vegetables and peal all fruits to avoid pesticides.
I recently started to mix the fruits, veggies and repashy superload in a blender...
Dubias seem to go crazy over it, crickets not so much but will take it....
I also throw some dry food between the eggcrates (dubia pallets).

 

[nick barta]

Temp your container with a heat gun, too hot or too cold will kill 'em.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

Temp your container with a heat gun, too hot or too cold will kill 'em.

CHEERS!

Nick

Yum, I agree, it sounds like your feeding them right. So I would assume your lights too hot and the don't have enough room to regulate. Also give them the egg crate because they get shade better with those than all tubes. I've tried both and I do think they like both but only have one or the other can create traffic jams to getting around and even if they have food they might cannibalize eat other a lil bit. Anyway, I have 65-75 degree temps in my house and I use NO heater for the crickets and I only have maybe a max of 10 out of 500 die on me! So Heats not actually needed much though it helps them breed.

 

[falconut]

I wasn't even thinking about pesticides on the greens. Maybe I should wash it really good before putting them in. I usually just rip off a piece and throw it in.

I'll have to check the temps, but before I moved them to the basement, I didn't use the heater and the house temps were around 70 and I still had the issues. With the heater in the basement, I can feel the glass is cool on the opposite side.

How often do you guys clean you cage and with what? Since they've only been lasting about a week, I've just been doing it before adding the next batch and using just a wet paper towel.

 

[Remkon]

you should think of pesticide since your cham will ingest it trough it's feeders and that could cause problems eventually...

 

[Link]

I sometimes get them in 500 bulk and sometimes locally at 120-150 at a time. The 500 bulk ones are Brown crickets and the 120-150 ones are Banded.

I keep them in a 10 gallon aquarium with a full screen top and have plenty of toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls cut in half. I have two 3" diameter lids (about 1/4" tall), one has water crystals and the other has food (mustard greens, collard greens, kale, carrots, etc.) I moved them down to my basement, since the larger crickets have been noisy. I added a 100W ceramic heater in a caged fixture, placed on the screen top to keep them warm enough.

It's been a few months of doing this and it seems that I can only get half of them to live. The last time I purchased the 500, they lasted a hair longer than a week and about half of them died. So, I went with the local Bandeds to see if the Brown were the problem, but about half of the 150 died in just over a week.

It sucks cause I haven't been able to keep them much longer than a week. Is there something that you can see that I'm doing wrong or suggestions? I've got another order of 500 coming in, that I'm hoping can last longer than a week.

I use big plastic bin with holes. Also depends on where you get your crickets from. I had orders of 500 completely dead all the time from some places. I use Josh's Frogs now I don't lose one cricket. I pretty much just feed them bug Burger

 

[WAMBO]

Careful with food. Try feeding veggies from another store. My crix live over a month. A friend raises stick bugs and said that greens from Shoprite killed them all, but greens from Wegmans were OK. So some store must sell greens with pesticides.

 

[ChamLB]

Crickets need to be warm, I use a 18" wide 2 foot long andv2 foot tall bin with 1/2 inch holes drilled in the top. I feed them with carrots, cactus paddles, water crystals and dry cricket food. Keep the food on opposite side away from the heating pad.

The most important is keep, them warm. Go to Walmart and buy a heating pad, set on timer to go on at 7pm and off at 7am. You will have crickets for weeks.....

Hope this helps

Take care

 

[falconut]

Careful with food. Try feeding veggies from another store. My crix live over a month. A friend raises stick bugs and said that greens from Shoprite killed them all, but greens from Wegmans were OK. So some store must sell greens with pesticides.

Shop rite is were I get my greens from, it's the only store nearby. There is a Wegmans, but it's about 1/2 hour away. I thought they were sold clean, but even my wife is telling me she cleans them before eatting. I just rinsed the whole bunch and will make sure to rinse them really good before feeding. Maybe that was my problem.

 

[falconut]

Crickets need to be warm, I use a 18" wide 2 foot long andv2 foot tall bin with 1/2 inch holes drilled in the top. I feed them with carrots, cactus paddles, water crystals and dry cricket food. Keep the food on opposite side away from the heating pad.

The most important is keep, them warm. Go to Walmart and buy a heating pad, set on timer to go on at 7pm and off at 7am. You will have crickets for weeks.....

Hope this helps

Take care

What temps are you keeping yours at? Without the heater my cage is 72 degrees, I have it off waiting for the next batch of crickets.

 

[WAMBO]

I don't even use heat. The basement is 73 degrees. That's all they get.

 

[ChamLB]

What temps are you keeping yours at? Without the heater my cage is 72 degrees, I have it off waiting for the next batch of crickets.

70 to 95 is good, I have a large heating pad that heats half my Dubai roaches and half crickets. It works perfectly.

 

[Andee]

If you live in the United State unless your produce specifically says certified organic or gmo free, it has pesticides on it and likely in it as most 'regular' produce in the state is heavily coated in pesticides through out growing and especially harvesting.

 

[falconut]

I have an old container of this Fluker's food. Maybe for a test, I will try to use this stuff exclusively with this batch and see how they do.

 

[absolutbill]

How large of crickets are you getting? If you are ordering full grown ones (1" or larger), their lifespan just won't last terribly long. When I order crickets I order 1/2" and just feed a few more, because I only have 1 cham right now, and he can't go through hundreds of crickets in time. Also by ordering smaller sizes they won't chirp until they are over 3/4", so you'll have fewer left by that point and therefore will have less noise. Good luck!

 

[falconut]

I get the 1/2" crickets in bulk. But locally they only have small or large, so I get the large, small are just too tiny. They're probably between 1/2" - 3/4". Definitely some are chirping.

 

[falconut]

Thank everybody, it must have been the food. It's been two weeks since I got the new batch of 500 and there's still loads of them left and not seeing the dead ones this time. I've been exclusively feeding them the flukers and the water bits.

 

[Lulu6603]

I found that a large tote works the best. I modified the lid with screen using a hot glue gun. Space is very important so I just pile up the egg create using pieces and whole egg create. The more space for them the better. I feed them very well topping their food off daily. I use a premium chow and veggies. I find that a sponge soaked in a dish works best for me for water. I buy by the 1000's and don't lose any. Also normal household temps

 

[JLP474]

Another thing to consider is cleaning the tank they're in...I get about 50-100 at a clip...Flunker's Gut Load and shredded carrots, with a small sponge kept wet, piece of egg crate...BUT what I also do is clean their container every other day...the excrement they produce is crazy, I can't even imagine how much 500 produces lol