charly1954
New Member
I am new, searched the net and found no info on this subject. I was wondering if its safe to reuse dried up water crystals after my crickets drink up all the water.
reuse dried up Water Crystals safe
- Thread starter charly1954
- Start date
MSMorgan
Avid Member
You can, but........the crystals pick up feces while in the cricket tub and may contaminate your new feeders if you re-use. I just use new crystals each time to be safe. The crystals are literally a "dime a dozen." I purchased a 1 lb. bag 6 mo. ago and still have 1/3 of a bag left. That's after using them for my dubia colony, crickets and a couple of handfuls on the lawn in the past 6 mo. I though $12 for the 1 lb. pouch was a lot when I bought the crystals at HD, but they've lasted longer than expected. 
What I do to prepare them is I put them in a Tupperware and add water. Let them sit until I need them and go from there. The crystals get HUGE. A little amount goes a long way. Plus, the buggies get a lot of their moisture from wet gut load like apples, oranges and dandelion greens. To reiterate, use new ones each time so you do not contaminate your feeders.
What I do to prepare them is I put them in a Tupperware and add water. Let them sit until I need them and go from there. The crystals get HUGE. A little amount goes a long way. Plus, the buggies get a lot of their moisture from wet gut load like apples, oranges and dandelion greens. To reiterate, use new ones each time so you do not contaminate your feeders.
charly1954
New Member
ya thats what I thought I was just checking what others did. I add crystals about every day or two and clean the lid each time so there's not allot of dropping. I don't have allot of crickets, maybe 4-500 feeders and they use about a teaspoon/day so the 12oz bag I got will last a while.
absolutbill
Chameleon Enthusiast
The other thing to keep in mind is that if you have fresh veggies in your cricket tank, they probably will hatch out fruit flies, which will lay eggs in a moist medium, ie, your crystals. So, you could potentially get maggots crawling around. I throw out and thoroughly clean my dish that I keep the crystals in just to avoid this issue.
