Escapee Crickets and other questions

[lily2521]

How worried should I be if a few got loose in my house?

I am buying pinheads, or 1/4" right now. They are so small, a few of them were able to get out of my cage by crawling right under the white pvc bottom (I have the Zoo Med Reptibreeze)

I do have a feeder cup, so I'm trying to contain them as much as I can, but I accidentally bumped it with my hand today and a few fell out, and within about 10 seconds they were gone and some I couldn't find.

Also, dusting, how do I know how much to dust them? If I'm putting 10-12 crickets in a cup to dust, how much supplement do I put in that cup? I'm using Repashy Calcium Plus.

I have a 3 month old male carpet cham if that helps. We've had him less than a day and he's already been exploring his surroundings and is eating in front of us Thanks.

 

[RyU]

Crickets will get loose in your house no matter how hard you try to contain them. You can set up traps for them using something warm like a heat pad and those sticky mouse traps with some fish food sprinkled on it.

I just put a bit of calcium in a cup throw a cricket inside and shake it around till its covered in the powder.

 

[Mike Fisher]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-recapture-all-escaped-crickets-130502/

 

[lily2521]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-recapture-all-escaped-crickets-130502/

Great idea, thanks!

 

[sanitysake]

sticky trap suggestion

Hey, if you go the route of sticky traps, I currently use this one: Victor M256 Poison-Free Insect Magnet Traps, 12-Pack and it's worked quite well, I recommend it especially if you don't have a lot of room for setting up traps. These are small and sublte, are designed to fit along wall corners and attract insects.

I haven't had crickets escape (I've managed to catch them all when they jump away -- but then again I've only had crickets for a week, in small populations), but these little traps have caught all sorts of other bugs that I didn't know were in my home and I don't doubt that they would work if crickets got out. I live in an 8th floor studio apartment with a separate dining room, where I keep my cham, my feeders, and live plants so I place traps in all four corners of the room. I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

 

[MJKowal]

Get a cat, they do a great job at catching the crickets!

 

[lily2521]

Hey, if you go the route of sticky traps, I currently use this one: Victor M256 Poison-Free Insect Magnet Traps, 12-Pack and it's worked quite well, I recommend it especially if you don't have a lot of room for setting up traps. These are small and sublte, are designed to fit along wall corners and attract insects.

I'll try this, thanks! I like the idea of having these around.

Get a cat, they do a great job at catching the crickets!

I'd love a cat! Unfortunately horrible allergies lead us to only reptiles...which brought me here a few months ago...which lead me to getting a cham No fur no feathers in my home, that's our rule!

 

[sanitysake]

I'll try this, thanks! I like the idea of having these around.

No probs, yeah they're really handy and you kind of just forget they're there after a while so they don't get in the way at all. Good luck!

 

[ChameleonLady]

My English mastiff eats all my loose bugs. Loves them.