Feeder crickets smell?

[jampen]

I bought 500 feeder crickets online and set them up in a plastic storage bin with a few cut up potato and carrot pieces.

Now after about a week the bin really stinks of moldy vegetables, dead crickets and there is a fairly strong ammonia smell.

I am concerned about using these crickets if they have ammonia on them.

Should I be cleaning the cricket house every week?

Do you take the vegetables out after they start turning bad?

 

[blamb]

thats crickets for you........they always die and stink...but yes throw away the bad veggies

 

[Pure]

Cleaning them out every 2-3 days really helps cut down on the smell and the number of deaths you have. The smell is a chemical, that when released by the dead crickets, will kill off the other crickets. You can help this by cutting large holes in the sides of the bin and gluing in some screen. But even then that only helps with die offs so much. They have to be kept clean!

Some one mentioned here that putting oatmeal (dry of course ) will help cut down on the smell, but in all honesty I didn't notice it help much. Only thing that really seems to help is keeping their bin clean of dead ones.

 

[jannb]

Cleaning them out every 2-3 days really helps cut down on the smell and the number of deaths you have. The smell is a chemical, that when released by the dead crickets, will kill off the other crickets. You can help this by cutting large holes in the sides of the bin and gluing in some screen. But even then that only helps with die offs so much. They have to be kept clean!

Some one mentioned here that putting oatmeal (dry of course ) will help cut down on the smell, but in all honesty I didn't notice it help much. Only thing that really seems to help is keeping their bin clean of dead ones.

I agree. You have to keep the bin clean. You don't want to feed you cham food from a stinky old bin. The dead ones must be removed and I have very few die in a clean bin. I also use a paper plate to feed the crickets. Once a day I load up a paper plate with food and the next day remove that plate with any remaining food and put in a fresh plate of food.

 

[jampen]

Thanks all.

How small do you chop up the veggies?

I'm thinking smaller pieces would be better.

 

[jannb]

I cut mine pretty small and I shave carrots and anything hard. Also collard greens work very well and not allot of odor.

 

[lisa h]

How do you clean out a big container with pinheads/one week olds. They make quite a mess, but I don't want to throw out a bunch of live crickets with the "garbage". Just ran into this problem last night.

 

[jake01]

I use a paint scraper to clean my bin. First I remove the paper towel rolls I use instead of egg crate, then I scrape the bin so the dead crickets, dry and moist food, get scraped to one end. The live crickets avoid the paint scraper so when all the mess is consolidated to one end of the bin I scoop it up using the scraper like a spatula. Between new orders I clean the bin with soapy water.

 

[HairyScaryMark]

Put food in a small dish or and clean it out every day or every second day at worst. This means any mouldy food is restricted to one easily removeable place.

I've never had mine smelling that bad although never had as many as 500 crickets in at once.

 

[Pure]

How do you clean out a big container with pinheads/one week olds. They make quite a mess, but I don't want to throw out a bunch of live crickets with the "garbage". Just ran into this problem last night.

What I do is remove everything from the bin except crickets of course. Being careful to tap the egg crates etc, to make sure no escapees are riding along. Then I put the lid back on. Grab the bin by the side and hold it so one corner (the bottom corner) is pointed at the ground. I then shake the bin vigorously. Set it down, open it up, put the egg crates on the side opposite where the dead have collected. Then take my hand and scare the crickets back to the egg crates. Then I either use a dust pan or a spatula to scoop out the dead crickets. I have a small 1/2 gallon shop vac, I intend on using for this removal, just I've been too lazy to open it from it's packing container.

 

[serenitystarlite]

Some one mentioned here that putting oatmeal (dry of course ) will help cut down on the smell, but in all honesty I didn't notice it help much. Only thing that really seems to help is keeping their bin clean of dead ones.

Has anyone tried using Swheat Scoop cat litter? It's supposed to be all natural. I thought of it when you mentioned the oatmeal. I don't know if oatmeal would so anything about order, but maybe wheat would? Would this be harmful to the chameleon in anyway if it really is all natural?

 

[Garrett]

Most of the smell comes from the dead crickets. I've always had good luck
with keeping crickets alive by using a clip light over the cricket bin to keep them warm, just like your chameleon. The light also has the effect of drying the container so mold and bacteria won't grow as well. Happy alive crickets equals much less smell.
I think the worst smell in the world is a decomposing cricket body

 

[jampen]

OK I removed all of the old veggies, dead soldiers etc. and wiped out the bin with a damp towel.

When you buy criks, how many die before you use them?

I lost at least half of the 500 I bought, probably more like 75%.

 

[nick barta]

Some suggestions:
1) Never put more fresh food than they can eat before the food dries up. Typically this is 2 days, if you have your temperatures up around 70-75 degrees.

2) Have a dry gut load so that when fresh food is too dry, or not there, you don't have to worry about them getting food.

3) Most of the top of the enclosure needs to be screen for airflow.

4) Use water cubes for hydration unless you want to use the vegetables and fruits as the water source. Bowls of water and sponges just don't work for crickets.

5) Start your own Dubia roach colony...best suggestion I can give.

Nick

 

[jampen]

Thanks Nick.

I'll have to try the Dubias. So far Mel won't eat anything except criks.

It may take some time to get him on "new" feeder food.

 

[HairyScaryMark]

OK I removed all of the old veggies, dead soldiers etc. and wiped out the bin with a damp towel.

When you buy criks, how many die before you use them?

I lost at least half of the 500 I bought, probably more like 75%.

I've never lost anything like that much. I have bought locally however.

And i'm yet to hear of any chameleons having crickets as a favourite. My guy has refused to eat them in recent times.

 

[jampen]

Well, I didn't make any effort to take care of the criks.

I just put them in a plastic bin with some cut up vegges and every couple days went in to gather victims.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Well, I didn't make any effort to take care of the criks.

75% of my Chameleon time go's into the care of feeder insects.

 

[pssh]

Oh my goodness! Me too! I spend so much more time cleaning the feeder cages and giving them food. I dont have all that much and it still takes a big chunk of my time. Bugs are a lot of work.

 

[warpdrive]

75% of my Chameleon time go's into the care of feeder insects.

totaly agree with ya Steve.

shoot, if this person thinks crickets require work, I wonder what silkworm care will be like.
to me, I hate how much care silkworms require and I sometimes wonder if it's all worth it...then I just watch my two chameleons eat them like crazy, and forget all the time I invest on bugs.

Harry