Crickets escaping and ruining my life!

[jamest0o0]

No don't chop the worms. Go by the width of the worm not it's length(I used to be so confused by that personally lol). I mix them, I usually offer some crickets or roaches and after they eat that I hand feed a couple worms.

 

[shawnschameleon]

Your welcome. It does work great and is very cheap. You can get a huge roll of screen for about 6 bucks and my container was only 5.. it's worth it.. especially to not have them all over the house anymore

 

[ChameleonTide]

To the OP: I ordered 250 Banded crickets from Josh's Frogs on Amazon. Banded crickets have been a ton better! They arent noisy. They dont smell as bad. And they dont die very often at all. The only con is they have been more difficult to catch for feeding time.

My problem....
So what are your methods of getting crickets out of these bins. Thats my biggest problem. I waste way too much time during the work week in the morning trying to get them out and into a shaker so i can dust them first. I even bought one of those tubes with a boxy filter at the end they use in the pet stores. But its still difficult because crates get in the way and when you try to scoop them into the corner they still get away. I want to hear about your methods.

 

[Anastasia_k]

I get them out with a pair of long tweezers. Was hard at first but now I learned to do it faster. It's probably still not the best method of all and I sometimes accidentally tear some legs off which makes me feel awful

 

[ChameleonTide]

I get them out with a pair of long tweezers. Was hard at first but now I learned to do it faster. It's probably still not the best method of all and I sometimes accidentally tear some legs off which makes me feel awful

I used that method with the big brown crickets i use to get from our local pet store. They seemed to have long wing tips at the back that could be snagged with the tweasers. These banded crickets are nearly impossible to grab like that.

 

[jamest0o0]

Yeah the Banded are great, but they are always one hop ahead of you it seems

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Get a cat, that will solve your loose cricket problem in no time . Seriously though the glue traps work wonders - that said, crickets drove me nuts, so I finally switched to discoids, to supplement the supers and horn worms. Good luck. Oh, and there are always earplugs!

Yes! Cats are bomb at catching loose feeders. My cat even found a rogue female dubia and patiently kept an eye on her until I got home and was able to put her back. Cat must know i hate crickets because they don't get the same treatment lol crunch.

 

[absolutbill]

When I had crickets, I'd use a dedicated dustbuster that wasn't used for household cleaning. Just suck up a bunch of crickets, and then empty them into your dusting container. If you suck up too many just dump them back in the main container.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

I use paper towel rolls. It makes it super easy to pick up a tube and shake them into a dusting cup. You want to have the correct ration of tubes to crickets, so there's plenty of crickets in each tube or you'll be shaking 20 tubes for a dozen crickets. I stack about 5-8 tubes on top of a couple egg crates and the tubes are stacked under the ceramic heater, so the crickets naturally congregate in the tubes. That's for about 2,000 adult banded crickets.
I also keep them in a plastic tote, with a ventilated lid.

 

[Catanncam]

Hi guys, I'm wondering where you all keep your crickets. I had one of those regular cricket pen boxes but the crickets keep escaping from the air holes or somewhere I don't know but they at running around the apartment and I'm afraid I'll have to call pest control services if they reproduce too much and will get in trouble with my landlord... There was one hiding in some crack under the window making unbearably loud noises all night, and the other day I found one in my bed... This is awful and I'm starting to despice those little creatures for causing so much stress plus making me feel all guilty when I have to feed them to my pet. I'm mostly writing this because I feel frustrated and seek some reassurance. I decided to keep them in the small boxes in which they sell them in the shop for now, but it makes it harder to feed them or get the right amount out since it's easier for them to escape from that little thing. If you have any suggestions about enclosure,or have experience dealing with cricket infestation in your home, please do let me know!

Get a bucket and a cover that seals at Home Depot. Cut the top and tape or hot glue metal screen, they will eat through plastic. , about 5 inch.square. Put egg crate for them and food. Use cup to get them out by hitting egg crate gently on cup

 

[Anastasia_k]

No don't chop the worms. Go by the width of the worm not it's length(I used to be so confused by that personally lol). I mix them, I usually offer some crickets or roaches and after they eat that I hand feed a couple worms.

Hi, so I just got worms in the shop today, they only had one kind, then I googled a bit and it turned out to be mealworms. I gave my guy just one as a treat, but now I've been reading and apparently a lot of people advice against them. Is it ok to give him one every other day or should I just throw them away and order some silk or super worms instead?

 

[jamest0o0]

Every other day would be even too much for superworms which are better as treats. Personally I don't feed mealworms at all and see no reason to. I know all the pet stores sell them unfortunately. If your cham is healthy, feeding one or two mealworms shouldn't hurt him, but it's also not good for him. They have pretty much no nutritional value and hard shells. I wouldn't waste my time with them. I suggest getting some silkworms, butterworms, BSFL and hornworms. Crickets or roaches with a few of those each feeding and you'll be set. I like to use superworms (2-3) once a week on saturday to dust with my D3 or vitamins.

 

[Anastasia_k]

Every other day would be even too much for superworms which are better as treats. Personally I don't feed mealworms at all and see no reason to. I know all the pet stores sell them unfortunately. If your cham is healthy, feeding one or two mealworms shouldn't hurt him, but it's also not good for him. They have pretty much no nutritional value and hard shells. I wouldn't waste my time with them. I suggest getting some silkworms, butterworms, BSFL and hornworms. Crickets or roaches with a few of those each feeding and you'll be set. I like to use superworms (2-3) once a week on saturday to dust with my D3 or vitamins.

Got it. Thanks! Unfortunately they only seem to have mealworms in the shops here. How long the worms you use normally live? There will be a reptile expo in my city this weekend so maybe there will be more types of feeders there. Would it make sense to buy a big bulk to last for a month or would they die sooner?

 

[jamest0o0]

Bsfl last pretty long before turning to soldier flies, you can feed those off too. Silkworms and hornworms last a few weeks with cleaning and food. Butterworms can go in fridge and last a month or so. Why not order your feeders, that's the best way to do it. Online is better with pretty much anything living. Majority of pet stores are inadequate with ignorant people running them.

 

[Anastasia_k]

I'm trying to find where to order online, but can't even properly translate the names of the worms in the language of the country I live in, at least google doesn't show any results for it. Do you maybe know some websites that deliver around Europe?

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Back to the noisy crickets... I thought about you @Anastasia_k and this post. Ophelia must have thought it would be a good prank to leave one of those nasty things alive in her enclosure overnight. Maybe she wanted to be serenaded (with vibrations, not actually sound, right? lolol) I don't know. Either way, in my room, all. night. long. there was a cricket freaking out. Not a normal crickety noise, no, some frenetic high-pitched wailing. I almost felt sorry for the poor thing. It was having a major melt-down. All. Night. Long. I thought about sleeping on the couch but earplugs were my go-to solution haha and in the morning, it had drowned itself in the drain pan. Thank heavens. I would NOT have survived 2 nights of that nonsense.

 

[Anastasia_k]

Back to the noisy crickets... I thought about you @Anastasia_k and this post. Ophelia must have thought it would be a good prank to leave one of those nasty things alive in her enclosure overnight. Maybe she wanted to be serenaded (with vibrations, not actually sound, right? lolol) I don't know. Either way, in my room, all. night. long. there was a cricket freaking out. Not a normal crickety noise, no, some frenetic high-pitched wailing. I almost felt sorry for the poor thing. It was having a major melt-down. All. Night. Long. I thought about sleeping on the couch but earplugs were my go-to solution haha and in the morning, it had drowned itself in the drain pan. Thank heavens. I would NOT have survived 2 nights of that nonsense.

Haha, I feel your pain! So chameleons actually can't hear sounds? I was wondering I disturb him when vacuuming the room. By the way, here is my new improvised cricket home made from an old can of dog treats and that round screened thingie that you put tea in.

 

[Catanncam]

Got it. Thanks! Unfortunately they only seem to have mealworms in the shops here. How long the worms you use normally live? There will be a reptile expo in my city this weekend so maybe there will be more types of feeders there. Would it make sense to buy a big bulk to last for a month or would they die sooner?

You can refrigerate the worms and they will keep longer. I have a small mini fridge that I keep at 50 degree F