Crickets dying?

i use a flat storage bin, it slides right under my cham shelf and i just pull it out when i need them, works good for me, I use cricket crack and its AwESOME hope you fix your problem
 
Lizardlover said:
i use a flat storage bin, it slides right under my cham shelf and i just pull it out when i need them, works good for me, I use cricket crack and its AwESOME hope you fix your problem
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I use cricket crack, water gel, along with vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, apples, oranges, mangos, banana peels
when I have alot of crickets I also use some of another cricket food by a name brand but its not nearly as good as the cricket crack and I'll just use it til I run out.
 
I think a important fact is being overlooked in these cricket treads. I think I've only heard this mentioned once before: Keep lots of surface hiding places for your crickets. If your crickets come with eggcrates, use as many as will fit in the bin your using. Crickets don't deal to good with being overly crowded, and only huddle together for warmth (body heat). Too many with nowhere to go can overheat and die. Eggcrate provide alot of surface space for the cricket to crawl over, and feel secure. Not overly crowded. Paper towel rolls, cut up cardboard, newspaper all work if you don't have access to eggcrates.
 
Well apparently Im just incapable of keeping things alive!! Grr!::confused:
 
Room temp? I stick em in a critter keeper with some paper towel rolls, some food and gel water and fresh greens.. and let them go as they may.. and within an hours, sometimes minutes, up to half are dead..Sigh...
Btut If i put them in my frog tank, they do fine (until they find the water hole and commit suicide..why ARE crickets attracted to water and drown themselves!?) COuld it be humidity? I keep my frog tank pretty good and it has a sunlight bulb on it in daytime too.. I keep the hornworms in there as well.. I think that critter keeper might be contaminated. I got it used when we purchased Ben.. Heres the story:

I saw Ben on a local website for sale. I inquired about his condition and the lady was acting weird but I went anyways. Found him in a closet blah blah blah, can read that on another thread.. well, she tossed (literally) Ben into a carrier and we took him the car. She then brought out his "home" which was a 40 gallon tank on its side (supposedly he was three years old and lived in this all his life..well, he's not even a year old although Im still unsure of his exact age, and HE is a she...)...well, when I get home, inside the tank is the critter keeper and inside that.... a bibrons GECKO.. Dang thing was mean as could be too (gave it to some 10 year old boy..had no interest in keeping it..)..but yea, and the container was filthy..so I moved the Bibrons into the 40 gallon tank and cleaned out the critter keeper and used it for crickets..but apparently its cursed...
 
The biggest thing I've noticed in my crickets is the temp. I ket around 50 or so for about a week which was the best I've ever done. It's because I started cleaning it more regularly. But I left it outside overnight one night and they nearly all died. I used to use wet paper towels for moisture but they would dry out too quickly. now I use orange slices and they work great.
 
Is the orange slice for moisture or food? I see people use potato slices but they mold very quickly..

I think soeone had a cricket habitat up somewhere that talked about the bottom being gone to help the gross stuff filter out.. I might try that sometime.

Thanks guys are ALL the incredible helpful tips and experiences...

BTW, one more q: are you supposed to feed superworms? I but a small amount from the petstore and they last about a week for 35..but I never take them out of the container and just feed them straight like that.. SHould I be gutloading them?
 
I have noticed that the airflow with the cricket keepers is not as good as putting them in a bigger open air container.

I am hoping these supers work out. It seems like a much more fool proof feeder.
 
IO think my setup was mentioned at some point in the thread.. Shrug.. Hubby is trying to con me into letting him drill holes in the dining room floor to set up a fish filtration downstairs, which will also include a reptile room. Not for keep of reptiles but their food sources so we can attempt to breed them without the worry about the dogs knocking them over or space somewhere in our now overcrowded bedroom. I will not let him drill seeing how we plan to move in a few years and not sure how I would explain holes int he hardwood???!! But maybe I can figure something out to have a small but better ventilated system. I thought it was me dusting them first but I didn't do that this time around...Like I said, arrived alive after 2 days int he cold from Dave, and into the critter keeper and Poof, within an hour, about half (50) were dead.....

Maybe YOU can help...Solve a Mystery...


Rachel: What are you feeding them?
 
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blackbetty said:
I do use egg carton..and i use a toilet paper roll or half of apapertowel one. this makes for easy dispensing. I only use hot water and let it air dry, no chemicals. I move them into a temp tank while Im cleaning theirs and when its dry, they go back.. This happens no matter what. I dont mind roaches I have tried them yet. My chams eat superworms, which I dust as well. Any other alternatives. A friend recommended Georgia bugs but they seem to be sold out of everything or Im a big idiot. LOL.. Shipping just seems so crazy these days.
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I bought a 1000 3 week-old crickets from Flucker's. With shipping it was like 22 bucks. That's like 1000 for the price of 200 at Petsmart. Because it was so cold, many of them had died, but there are still plenty living and growing in my tank. I have a 10 gallon tank that wasn't needed anymore and gave it to them. I used two of the egg cartons that came with them in there, two toilet paper rolls, a kidney bowl for fishfood, and a mini-loaf pan full of cotton balls soaked in water. They seem to be doing awesome. I'm not great at cleaning out their space, and they do stink, but they live happily on fish food and water.
 
lyanlynn said:
I bought a 1000 3 week-old crickets from Flucker's. With shipping it was like 22 bucks. That's like 1000 for the price of 200 at Petsmart. Because it was so cold, many of them had died, but there are still plenty living and growing in my tank. I have a 10 gallon tank that wasn't needed anymore and gave it to them. I used two of the egg cartons that came with them in there, two toilet paper rolls, a kidney bowl for fishfood, and a mini-loaf pan full of cotton balls soaked in water. They seem to be doing awesome. I'm not great at cleaning out their space, and they do stink, but they live happily on fish food and water.
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Cottonballs..They dont try to chew on that? Never thought of that...

Yea, I know crickets are 12 cents each here..
 
lyanlynn said:
I bought a 1000 3 week-old crickets from Flucker's. With shipping it was like 22 bucks. That's like 1000 for the price of 200 at Petsmart. Because it was so cold, many of them had died, but there are still plenty living and growing in my tank. I have a 10 gallon tank that wasn't needed anymore and gave it to them. I used two of the egg cartons that came with them in there, two toilet paper rolls, a kidney bowl for fishfood, and a mini-loaf pan full of cotton balls soaked in water. They seem to be doing awesome. I'm not great at cleaning out their space, and they do stink, but they live happily on fish food and water.
Click to expand...


From what I understand fish food is not that great of a gutload for your crickets. I would search the forums for cricket crack or at least find a food that is meant for them. You can also give them fresh fruits and vegies! :)
 
Hm, we have those cricket keeper balls somewhere around here, I need to dig em out and think I think I might just use plain ol water (Ro Filtered)..

I just cleaned out Ben(ita)s cage and it smells like BUTT>. NO exaggeration. I cant place it, but im assuming there is a cricket somewhere that I cant find that has decomposed. I took it completely apart and spray down everything with hot water yet I still get a whiff when I walk by..
 
There's a really good article floating around somewhere from someone who had the same problem you did. This person put vents on the bottom sides and his cricket mortality was less than %5 a week. Ventilation is the one biggest thing you can do to prevent cricket deaths. So, vent on the bottom sides, not on the bottom (ground). If i find it, i'll post a link to it. Try that; i.e, cutting a rubbermaid container on the sides and just taping mesh screen on the cut panel. This should work and I guarantee you won't have your mass crix deaths.
 
Build a good keeper

I keep anywhere from 600-1500 4 week old crickets and have very little die off with my cricket keeper. I use Cricket Crack for gut load and a water dish to water the crickets. I hardly notice a smell.... but when i use the vacuum to clean up the dead... it smells pretty ripe.:eek:
 
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