crickets out of the box

[John33871]

well i got my order of 1000 crickets today, and i think i lost about 50 or so getting them out of the box. i also tried getting all of the dead out so there would be none in there little box. what i did was dump them all in a bucket and scoop out some crickets and throw them in there box, i got most of them out but not as much. im going to wait form them to get on the egg cartons and try to get the dead ouot, maybe it will be easier. anyways does anyone have any tips on how to get the dead crickets out, and keep as many live ones as possible? thanks

 

[Phatturk]

What I do is kinda shake the box or container a bit so all the debris collects in one corner. The live ones will just walk away and leave a pile of dead ones in the empty corner, then I scoop it out. Every couple weeks I move everything to a temp. container and wash everything down good.

 

[John33871]

yea i did that too, but in the bucket and the live crickets crawled to the front and i would brush them in. but that didnt work to well for me, lol. i think i might get one of those bug vacums, and just suck up the dead crickets or something like thank, anyways thanks for the info

 

[cowchick]

I put my crickets into a deep rubbermaid bin...they can't crawl out and have lots of space to move around this way!

 

[Kent67]

When opening the box put it in a big garden size trash bag and then open it. Shake everything out into the bag, shake the crickets free from the egg carton, and remove the box and egg crates. You'll end up with a huge bag of crickets that you can sorta pour out/let them crawl out, leaving much of the debris in the bottom of the bag. And hopefully there won't be many dead ones in your next order.

 

[John33871]

wow great idea! ill try that next time

 

[Phatturk]

Sounds like you may need a bigger container. Mine is about 24"W x 16"L x 10"D the corner that I shake the debris to has nothing else near it so as soon as the live ones end up there they usually run for cover asap back to the egg cartons. Of course I always lose a couple crixz every now and again cuz they are so small but I never really worried about it. 5 out of 1000 is pretty small percentage!

 

[jesseesperto]

I havnt bought crickets in two almost 3 weeks now. They smell and never shut up once you start with adults. They get away sometimes during feeding.They are so much more work and maitnance. I love roaches now and so does Oliver. They can be a little bit more pricey but Instead of having him eat 10 to 20 crickets. I give 2 or 3 fat roaches. He loves his worms and the ocational moths from the bug napper as well. Roaches are such a better feeder. They dont jump,smell, and they have lots of babies. I get dubias from mulberry farms. So much easier they cant clmb on containers. just wanted to share this cause I have had such a hard time with crickets. I am wondering if it is bad to cut them out of his diet totaly?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

You can always buy a handful from the petstore, gut-load them and give him some variety.
I agree though....got the smelly crickets out of this house as well.

-Brad

 

[jesseesperto]

Thats what I was thinking..