How to best keep crickets alive but MORE IMPORTANTLY get them to stuff their faces!

[rajon1080]

I think I'm loosing way too many crickets to the reaper. I'm I usually put a different food or vegatable shaved with a cheese grater or cut up real small in a sufle cup that i've cut in half every time i feed them. I've been keeping a wet paper towel in there folded up into a small cube (not wet enough that the water is leaking and spreading elsewhere in the cricket keeper). I've been trying to put very small ammounts of food in at once attempting to monitor how much they are eating for the peace of mind that they are gutloaded properly. Aside from seeing the occasional one or two in the suffle cup, i havent been able to tell for sure that they are eating the food, and it seems way too many are deing. From what i understand they only have about a 2 week life span ( could very well be wrong) and im feeding my baby panther pinheads, so it seems to me that i should be able to keep them alive for at least a week and a half given the food and moisture I am providing.

Any imput is well appreciated!

 

[Rottsko]

hey kevin,
where are you getting your crickets from how much are you getting and what size? your guy should be eating 1/4inch crickets at a minimum. as far as gut load, there are a lot of different methods.

i use a dry gut load as well as a wet gut load. you need a lot of ventilation in your cricket keeper and it needs to be cleaned often. as soon as you have a lot of die offs, you need to dispose of the dead crickets. tell us as much as you can about your cricket keeper and we'll get you keeping your crickets for weeks!

 

[broderp]

I want to know this too.

I have a fairly large fallout of crickets as well. Right now, all I gut load them is with several different types of Flukers cricket food, orange cubes and some other get stuff for moisure.

I buy crickets (about 50 at a time) from the local pet store and they last me about two weeks.

At teh two week mark, the bodies on the floor are evident. I couldn't keep fresh gutload vegis and other stuff long enough to use up without a lot of waste and $$$. I bought them a heater, but it only helped a little. My house is about 66F at night, probably slightly warmer in the cricket keeper do to the heater.

 

[Rottsko]

I would start buying in bulk. When I had 1 Cham, I bought 1000 crickets and they last me an entire month. You should ditch those flukers orange cubes and start providing fresh veggies and fruits or repashy bug burger as the wet gutload. As for dry gutload, I use cricket crack...i sell it on my website. Idk how much you're spending on your crickets but you can find 1000 crickets from crickets farms for $20-30 shipped. Also, get the crickets 1 or 2 sizes smaller so they last longer.

 

[MelissaB]

For the fresh gutload, I take the fruits and vegetable and chop them up in the food processor. Then I put it into zip lock baggies and freeze it. It works great, and no more waste. It works the best if you remember to occasionally mush the bag while it's freezing, so it stays in small pieces instead of a large chunk. Some people use ice cube trays, and that sounds like it would work well, too.

 

[zsazsa85]

In the "Food" section there is a thread about how to keep crickets. There is a video, I'll try to copy the idea,exept the ventillation system. It is greaf idea but I know myself,I couldn't do it. I just cut holes on the container and mesh on it. I'll get 500 cricks today. will see

 

[ridgebax1]

I think there are a couple of things you could do. First is to buy from one of the bug sponsers here or Ghann's. I like Ghann's product, it is a Jamaican Field cricket instead of the domestic house cricket. They are very healthy and even with buying a thousand at a time, I usually have very little die off. When I bought from a local pet store, I lost at least 50% or more in a very short time. I buy in bulk and get two sizes so I have a longer lasting supply. I keep them in a container and have cut out the bottom of the tub and replaced it with screen, so it is easier to keep clean. The frass falls right through onto a mat that I then just dump outside. It the container has poor ventilation it will contribute to higher die off. Even though crickets can be really stinky, having them set up this way makes it much less stinky. Having a lot of poop and dead crickets in the tub makes the environment toxic to the other crix and you just perpetuate die off. I put in a large shallow dish with dry gutload and I have a water dispenser that I bought from Ghann's. Even though you may not see them eat, trust me they do. If you add some pieces of fresh fruit or veggies and check on them in a couple days, it will be devoured! That may be reassuring to you that they are eating, rather than trying to gauge how much dry food they eat. So my advice is to get healthy insects and focus on keeping them in a clean environment and use a good commercial gutload if you don't want to make your own. And yeah don't use the orange cube crap!

 

[broderp]

I would start buying in bulk. When I had 1 Cham, I bought 1000 crickets and they last me an entire month. You should ditch those flukers orange cubes and start providing fresh veggies and fruits or repashy bug burger as the wet gutload. As for dry gutload, I use cricket crack...i sell it on my website. Idk how much you're spending on your crickets but you can find 1000 crickets from crickets farms for $20-30 shipped. Also, get the crickets 1 or 2 sizes smaller so they last longer.

1000 crickets, assuming they would live would last me about over a year at my guys current rate of consumption!

Again, buying fresh vegies would mostly go bad due to the size I would have to buy (minimum) at the store. and usage. I don't eat a lot of vegies.

I buy 50 large crickets at a time and they run about $4. So I spend maybe $8 a month on crickets.

How does getting a smaller size last longer? wont my cham eat more as he is not full? My cham attacks his food as soon as it's in the enclosure. After he is done, he walks away. Those that survice the masacre, are spared until next time. So I know he eats his fill. He also only eats about one every other day. I have left crickets to see if he wants more later and I have dead crickets in his tank due to heat and humidity.

Are you sure this isn't a ploy to get me to buy Cricket Crack on your web site? (I'll go check it out.)

Sounds to me that the BEST solution is to BUY ANOTHER CHAM so I can buy in BULK!

 

[broderp]

For the fresh gutload, I take the fruits and vegetable and chop them up in the food processor. Then I put it into zip lock baggies and freeze it. It works great, and no more waste. It works the best if you remember to occasionally mush the bag while it's freezing, so it stays in small pieces instead of a large chunk. Some people use ice cube trays, and that sounds like it would work well, too.

How large of pieces do you chop it into? or is it a puree? I had not thought to freeze.

In the "Food" section there is a thread about how to keep crickets. There is a video, I'll try to copy the idea,exept the ventillation system. It is greaf idea but I know myself,I couldn't do it. I just cut holes on the container and mesh on it. I'll get 500 cricks today. will see

I have not seen this....will definatley search better for this!

 

[zsazsa85]

It is a great video! It's worth it to watch!

 

[MelissaB]

How large of pieces do you chop it into? or is it a puree? I had not thought to freeze.

I just chop them into little pieces, but not puree, that way (if I remember to fluff/mush/shake the bag while it's freezing) it'll be a bunch of loose bits that I can grab. I forgot last time, and have to break up the chunks. Some people make it more of a mush and put it into ice cube trays, but I'm happy with the small bits.

 

[ridgebax1]

1000 crickets, assuming they would live would last me about over a year at my guys current rate of consumption!

Again, buying fresh vegies would mostly go bad due to the size I would have to buy (minimum) at the store. and usage. I don't eat a lot of vegies.

I buy 50 large crickets at a time and they run about $4. So I spend maybe $8 a month on crickets.

How does getting a smaller size last longer? wont my cham eat more as he is not full? My cham attacks his food as soon as it's in the enclosure. After he is done, he walks away. Those that survice the masacre, are spared until next time. So I know he eats his fill. He also only eats about one every other day. I have left crickets to see if he wants more later and I have dead crickets in his tank due to heat and humidity.

Are you sure this isn't a ploy to get me to buy Cricket Crack on your web site? (I'll go check it out.)

Sounds to me that the BEST solution is to BUY ANOTHER CHAM so I can buy in BULK!

Crickets live for several weeks. I think between 12-16. Buying them smaller makes them last longer because they are younger and have more time for growth. I am confused by your description of your chameleon's eating habits. You say he attacks his food as soon as you put it in the enclosure, then you say he only eats one. On one hand it sounds like he eats a lot and the other not so much. It really doesn't make any difference whether he eats one big one or two smaller ones. If you buy 50 a month that is more than one a day. I will put in more or less depending on the size. Do you cup feed or free range feed? I do both. One guy likes to free range and the other eats from a cup.

 

[rajon1080]

hey kevin,
where are you getting your crickets from how much are you getting and what size? your guy should be eating 1/4inch crickets at a minimum. as far as gut load, there are a lot of different methods.

i use a dry gut load as well as a wet gut load. you need a lot of ventilation in your cricket keeper and it needs to be cleaned often. as soon as you have a lot of die offs, you need to dispose of the dead crickets. tell us as much as you can about your cricket keeper and we'll get you keeping your crickets for weeks!

I'm getting them at a local exotic pet shop. Getting about 50 "smalls" at a time, which are mostly right around 1/4, maybe some a bit bigger. I have the regular old small "Kricket Keeper" brand one with the two plastic tubes. I've only been buying 50 because I have such a small keep. It is well ventilated. I've been waiting to buy in bulk until I'm more successful in keeping them and I know they wont grow too big for him.

As far as the die offs, I haven't been removing the dead ones and now that you mention it, it did seem like the more died the faster the res of them started going.

So far I've tried gutloading with lettuce, carrots, romaine lettuce, sweet potatos, apple and orange. What do you recommend for a "dry" gut load?

Also, any tips on how to actual "dust" them? So far I've just been using the bag the crickets came in from the store, putting a tiny splash of calcium in there and shaking out as many as I need into the bag from the cricket keeper tubes and tapping the bag then trying to somehow get the crickets but not the residual powder into the sunny d feeder cup I use. Seems like there's got to be an easier way lol

 

[shmeenakoz]

Im having the opposite problem My crickets are immortal (til feed off of course) but my dubais are suffering They are getting to big and can't feed to my baby cham. Im about to try them for extra protein for myself…ya know some spicy crunchy bits for my salads,lol

 

[broderp]

Crickets live for several weeks. I think between 12-16. Buying them smaller makes them last longer because they are younger and have more time for growth. I am confused by your description of your chameleon's eating habits. You say he attacks his food as soon as you put it in the enclosure, then you say he only eats one. On one hand it sounds like he eats a lot and the other not so much. It really doesn't make any difference whether he eats one big one or two smaller ones. If you buy 50 a month that is more than one a day. I will put in more or less depending on the size. Do you cup feed or free range feed? I do both. One guy likes to free range and the other eats from a cup.

I don't believe I said he eats just one. He gets several (5-10 large). As soon as he hears them hit the food container in is terrarium, he climbs down and eats. (quite briskly I might add) he sometime eats 5, sometimes 8 or some other random number. Sometime one or two. What ever is left after he goes back up is put back into the collective for the next day. On average I go through 100 a month, but probably less than that as I have lots die.

I cup feed. (Actually is a small critter tote that I drop his crickets into. They can't get out and my cham knows to go to the bottom, lean in over the top and go at it. when I bough smaller crickets, he would eat twice as much and I would go thru twice as many crickets, with the same fall out. The small ones were only 1 cent cheaper than the large, so financially they didn't make sence at the time. I was paying .12 cents per for large and .11 cent per small. The new petstore (pet supply plus) in my area sells them 50 for about $4. They actually are lasting longer, but I am still seeing fallout. I need to try something else for food and see if it helps.

 

[broderp]

Also, any tips on how to actual "dust" them? So far I've just been using the bag the crickets came in from the store, putting a tiny splash of calcium in there and shaking out as many as I need into the bag from the cricket keeper tubes and tapping the bag then trying to somehow get the crickets but not the residual powder into the sunny d feeder cup I use. Seems like there's got to be an easier way lol

I have a plastic container that has a screw on lid that came from some walmart cheap ice tea mix.

THIS:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Natural-Lemon-Flavored-Iced-Tea-Mix-26.5-Oz/10415989
Any such container should work, this is just small enough, has smooth edges, the label came off completely,is white (not transparent) and hs a large opening to pour out crickets easily. It's also somewhat ergonomic if that makes any difference, it feels comfortable to hold.

I toss in my vitamin or calcium, (it doen't take much) in first and then dump the crickets in using the tube from my cricket keeper. I then close the lid and "swish" them around in a circular motion to coat. (not shake! )

The crickets come out perfectly evenly powdered. My son calls the "Ghosts" becuase they are 10 shades whiter.

I found this MUCH easier and cleaner than using the bags.

 

[Rottsko]

I'm getting them at a local exotic pet shop. Getting about 50 "smalls" at a time, which are mostly right around 1/4, maybe some a bit bigger. I have the regular old small "Kricket Keeper" brand one with the two plastic tubes. I've only been buying 50 because I have such a small keep. It is well ventilated. I've been waiting to buy in bulk until I'm more successful in keeping them and I know they wont grow too big for him.

As far as the die offs, I haven't been removing the dead ones and now that you mention it, it did seem like the more died the faster the res of them started going.

So far I've tried gutloading with lettuce, carrots, romaine lettuce, sweet potatos, apple and orange. What do you recommend for a "dry" gut load?

Also, any tips on how to actual "dust" them? So far I've just been using the bag the crickets came in from the store, putting a tiny splash of calcium in there and shaking out as many as I need into the bag from the cricket keeper tubes and tapping the bag then trying to somehow get the crickets but not the residual powder into the sunny d feeder cup I use. Seems like there's got to be an easier way lol

i sell cricket crack on my website and that is a great dry gut load. if you can get a hold of a 32oz cup, that's a great and easy way to dust crickets. just place your crickets in the deli cup and then dust them in there.

 

[ridgebax1]

I use tall clear deli cups. I put some dust in the cup, then the crix. I made a filter from another cup by cutting the bottom out and gluing screen on the bottom. I put the cup with the screen bottom inside another cup, dump the dust and crix into it and the dust falls through and the dusted crix stay in the cup with the screen floor. Then I either dump them into Omar's feeding bin or right into C's cage (he likes to free range hunt). Omar's feeder is a keeper bin too.

 

[ridgebax1]

He also only eats about one every other day.[/B]

Here is your quote where you say he only eats one, but now that I am re-reading I bet you meant to say he only eats "once" every other day! That makes more sense, I was worried about your poor baby with no appetite!

As for the dry gutload, SandraChameleon has recipes on her blog.

 

[broderp]

Here is your quote where you say he only eats one, but now that I am re-reading I bet you meant to say he only eats "once" every other day! That makes more sense, I was worried about your poor baby with no appetite!

As for the dry gutload, SandraChameleon has recipes on her blog.

Yep, my bad. It's a typo. I reread it, but didn't catch it.

I'm definately going to look into fresh, but I'm really concerned about waste. But I see I can freeze, so this will definatly help. Thanks for your concern.