How to stop cricket die-offs?!

[wmacintosh]

So here is my problem... I house all my crickets for the week in a 27QT/26L plastic container with a hole cut into the top of it for air. I feed crickets my random weekly gut load. Usually a mix of dandelion greens, mustard greens, sweet potato, Repashy super pig, berries and a few weekly things. I also use Flukers cricket quencher for water. Unfortunately I still have quite a few die of daily. Ive tried a few different things but nothing seems to work. Any ideas of what I'm doing wrong?

 

[Carlton]

So here is my problem... I house all my crickets for the week in a 27QT/26L plastic container with a hole cut into the top of it for air. I feed crickets my random weekly gut load. Usually a mix of dandelion greens, mustard greens, sweet potato, Repashy super pig, berries and a few weekly things. I also use Flukers cricket quencher for water. Unfortunately I still have quite a few die of daily. Ive tried a few different things but nothing seems to work. Any ideas of what I'm doing wrong?

How many crickets are kept together? They can die from overcrowding stress, cannibalism, build ups of mold and bacteria if the container stays too humid. Do they have egg crates or paper tubes to disperse themselves in? What's the temperature? Also, you may have gotten a shipment that got temp stressed during transit and more of them are sick on arrival. Then there are contagious cricket diseases that spread through the group, and their age...if you are buying full adults they could simply be old.

 

[wmacintosh]

How many crickets are kept together? They can die from overcrowding stress, cannibalism, build ups of mold and bacteria if the container stays too humid. Do they have egg crates or paper tubes to disperse themselves in? What's the temperature? Also, you may have gotten a shipment that got temp stressed during transit and more of them are sick on arrival. Then there are contagious cricket diseases that spread through the group, and their age...if you are buying full adults they could simply be old.

I usually buy 150 at a time for the week, its filled with both egg crates and paper towel rolls, temps around 26c id say. I pick them up at my local petstore when they arrive in town. Its not humid in the container either.

 

[svs421]

Sounds like you are doing everything right EXCEPT for that blasted cricket quencher! Every time I have tried to use it I have huge losses. I now use cut potato as a way for them to get moisture and I now have very few losses!

My cricket bin is a Tupperware container with a big section cut out of the lid and screening glued to it for ventilation. Egg crates for them to hang off of to prevent them squishing eachother. I feed various green and the pig load from repashy and potato for moisture. I keep them in a cooler area because I like that it slows them down a bit. I keep at least 150 at a time and wouldn't keep more than that in one tub.

 

[TnEvs]

Hmmmm I'd like to say I could help you there but I don't think I can...
What I can say is I have had this exact problem and it's been irritating me too!! So I started my own experiment.

Before my crickets had a pretty big container with a vented lid (I noticed a lot of them will stay up there on the roof??)
Bug grub mix
Bug grub gel (for water which I have seen them using)
I used to feed hazel leaves buy I was unsure if this was ok so I feed butternut squash sweet potato and recently swede leaves (as we grow our own veg.)

Now I used to get a lot of deaths....more then he'd eat... Not saying much really as he isn't keen on crickets anymore really.
So I decided to put a spare small heat lamp I have other them dangling a bit of a distance above the cage there in....
I bought three boxes of small locusts from pets at home as I needed them straight away..

That would be roughly....75 locusts....
Now I've had them a good while and hardly any deaths at all....
And there now out growing there use!!!! As I said he doesn't really like them much!! Fussy chameleon. About to make a separate post on this issue.

Now the things I have changed are
A small heat lamp raised above there enclosure, three bits of egg box that I left in the cage with them (didn't try this before)
And these swede leaves are a reasonably new addition too....
and now there growing too fast and eating like crazy they really seem to love those swede leaves.

I always Try to remove moldy food and bug gel ASAP and as much droppings as I can with a slightly damp piece of tissue...

I don't know if you can get any useful info out of that but it's my experience to date....
my next problem is what do I do when these locusts are just too big for my chameleon?!
I've resorted to switching the light off for the majority to curb there eating a little.
oh. P.s the heat light is on the same timer as my chameleon cage.

 

[TnEvs]

Ahhhhh you say crickets not locusts hahaha!!
Now I have always found crickets a lot hardier and they last a reasonable time in comparison with my locusts.
I don't use a heat lamp for crickets and just bug grub bug gel and the same kind of enclosure I do for the locusts.
I feed my crickets bits of squash and carrot etc.
My crickets seem to manage ok but I don't buy them often anymore as he hates crickets even more then locusts.....