Where To Keep My Roaches and Crickets

[MCSEB]

Hey everyone,
So I've decided for now I am going to get myself dubia roaches and crickets for my vieled chameleon. I just have a problem. I have no idea where to keep the roaches and crickets. What should I do in order to keep them alive and give them a home until they become food for my chameleon. If you could give me tips and show me some pictures of where you keep your crickets and dubia roaches, that would be great thank you.

 

[crocky]

I have a couple of large colonies of dubias that I keep in large Rubbermaid totes in a closet upstairs. No one ever goes up there and it is also a good dark place for them. I also keep a heat source in there for them for breeding purposes but just to keep and feed you can use a smaller Rubbermaid tote and cut the top out and put screen in place for ventilation. I use lots of egg crates as well. For my crickets I keep them in a large Rubbermaid tote with the top cut out as described above. They are simply just sitting in the floor in the upstairs room. I found that the smell is MUCH less with the crickets in larger containers with the top open/screened for ventilation.

I provide gutload food and water crystals around the clock

 

[MCSEB]

I have a couple of large colonies of dubias that I keep in large Rubbermaid totes in a closet upstairs. No one ever goes up there and it is also a good dark place for them. I also keep a heat source in there for them for breeding purposes but just to keep and feed you can use a smaller Rubbermaid tote and cut the top out and put screen in place for ventilation. I use lots of egg crates as well. For my crickets I keep them in a large Rubbermaid tote with the top cut out as described above. They are simply just sitting in the floor in the upstairs room. I found that the smell is MUCH less with the crickets in larger containers with the top open/screened for ventilation.

I provide gutload food and water crystals around the clock

Cool thanks for the feedback! I'll definitely try this out. Do you know where I could get water crystals? What is the purpose of water crystals?

 

[crocky]

I use water crystals to keep the critters from drowning. It is also much cleaner. I got mine off eBay but I would bet there are some sponsors that sale them. All it is, is a crystal form of water that when you mix the crystals with water they expand and hold moisture.

 

[MCSEB]

I use water crystals to keep the critters from drowning. It is also much cleaner. I got mine off eBay but I would bet there are some sponsors that sale them. All it is, is a crystal form of water that when you mix the crystals with water they expand and hold moisture.

So how do I use it? Do I just lay it in the container with them or do I put it in water?

 

[creddjobs]

Yea I used to use water crystals or the fluckers stuff. I gutload using oranges. For my bugs that usually enough hydration they need. I dont buy in bulk during the winter. I buy crickets weekly now.

 

[crocky]

So how do I use it? Do I just lay it in the container with them or do I put it in water?

You soak about a teaspoon in 1/2 gallon of water and they absorb the water. Not 100% on the measurements as I use the same amount each time. Typically a half gallon will last me a few weeks and that is with about 10k roaches. After it has absorbed the water (about half a day) Then you use it in the container keeping the feeders. You can buy it from the pet stores but typically they include calcium, I prefer to use plain ole water crystals not to mention they are cheaper to get them dry and hydrate them your self. I think I paid about $8 for a packet that I have been using for a few months now

 

[cubanbee]

Welcome to the forum, I have been reading your posts and am impressed with the thought you are putting into all of this. Good job!

Some helpful links on keeping crickets:

Cricket Enclosure Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgW4-FFTDRs (from forum sponsor Josh's Frogs)
Crickets 101: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ferretinmyshoes/734-crickets-101.html
Feeding your Insects: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Some other notes:

About water:
Not sure if this was stated specifically, but crickets are weak and dumb and will drown themselves in the tiniest amount of standing water. So folks use the water crystals (either the dehydrated ones you add water to or the gummy looking ones you buy that already have the water added). In my case, I use a wet gutload as described in Sandrachameleon's nutrition blog above which is providing adequate water (my crickets thrive just fine).

About that wet gutload:
It seems like a pain to rally up a million ingredients every time you need to feed those crickets. What I do (at the suggestion of some genius here) is take all of the wet ingredients and blend them up (I happen to use a food processor, blender is good too). Then take your nice yummy slurry and scoop it into ice cube trays and freeze them. Once frozen, empty the cubes into a ziplock bag and put them back in the freezer. I microwave my cubes for 20 sec to thaw and put them on a short sided lid (from a fritos bean dip can...) in the enclosure to keep the mess down.

Cheers!
Kevin

 

[ubhuti]

Welcome to the forum, I have been reading your posts and am impressed with the thought you are putting into all of this. Good job!

Some helpful links on keeping crickets:

Cricket Enclosure Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgW4-FFTDRs (from forum sponsor Josh's Frogs)
Crickets 101: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ferretinmyshoes/734-crickets-101.html
Feeding your Insects: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Some other notes:

About water:
Not sure if this was stated specifically, but crickets are weak and dumb and will drown themselves in the tiniest amount of standing water. So folks use the water crystals (either the dehydrated ones you add water to or the gummy looking ones you buy that already have the water added). In my case, I use a wet gutload as described in Sandrachameleon's nutrition blog above which is providing adequate water (my crickets thrive just fine).

About that wet gutload:
It seems like a pain to rally up a million ingredients every time you need to feed those crickets. What I do (at the suggestion of some genius here) is take all of the wet ingredients and blend them up (I happen to use a food processor, blender is good too). Then take your nice yummy slurry and scoop it into ice cube trays and freeze them. Once frozen, empty the cubes into a ziplock bag and put them back in the freezer. I microwave my cubes for 20 sec to thaw and put them on a short sided lid (from a fritos bean dip can...) in the enclosure to keep the mess down.

Cheers!
Kevin

cubanbee,

thanks a ton for putting those links and notes together. this is a huge help to us newbies!

 

[spawn]

Please don't tell me you plan to breed crickets...smelly, messy, damp mess. Roaches on the other hand can be kept in tubs on egg crates without problem.

 

[MCSEB]

Yea I used to use water crystals or the fluckers stuff. I gutload using oranges. For my bugs that usually enough hydration they need. I dont buy in bulk during the winter. I buy crickets weekly now.

Alright thank you so much. I'll probably feed them oranges for a while.

 

[MCSEB]

You soak about a teaspoon in 1/2 gallon of water and they absorb the water. Not 100% on the measurements as I use the same amount each time. Typically a half gallon will last me a few weeks and that is with about 10k roaches. After it has absorbed the water (about half a day) Then you use it in the container keeping the feeders. You can buy it from the pet stores but typically they include calcium, I prefer to use plain ole water crystals not to mention they are cheaper to get them dry and hydrate them your self. I think I paid about $8 for a packet that I have been using for a few months now

Oh that's cool. I didn't know that. Thanks for the tip

 

[MCSEB]

Welcome to the forum, I have been reading your posts and am impressed with the thought you are putting into all of this. Good job!

Some helpful links on keeping crickets:

Cricket Enclosure Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgW4-FFTDRs (from forum sponsor Josh's Frogs)
Crickets 101: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ferretinmyshoes/734-crickets-101.html
Feeding your Insects: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Some other notes:

About water:
Not sure if this was stated specifically, but crickets are weak and dumb and will drown themselves in the tiniest amount of standing water. So folks use the water crystals (either the dehydrated ones you add water to or the gummy looking ones you buy that already have the water added). In my case, I use a wet gutload as described in Sandrachameleon's nutrition blog above which is providing adequate water (my crickets thrive just fine).

About that wet gutload:
It seems like a pain to rally up a million ingredients every time you need to feed those crickets. What I do (at the suggestion of some genius here) is take all of the wet ingredients and blend them up (I happen to use a food processor, blender is good too). Then take your nice yummy slurry and scoop it into ice cube trays and freeze them. Once frozen, empty the cubes into a ziplock bag and put them back in the freezer. I microwave my cubes for 20 sec to thaw and put them on a short sided lid (from a fritos bean dip can...) in the enclosure to keep the mess down.

Cheers!
Kevin

Absolutely great information! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it

 

[MCSEB]

cubanbee,

thanks a ton for putting those links and notes together. This is a huge help to us newbies!

i agree! :d

 

[MCSEB]

Please don't tell me you plan to breed crickets...smelly, messy, damp mess. Roaches on the other hand can be kept in tubs on egg crates without problem.

Well this is my first chameleon I'm getting and my first time doing this. Tomorrow I have 500 crickets coming in along with 25 small dubias. I'll see which one I like better. I am disgusted by roaches and I get goosebumps just by looking at them. I heard a lot of bad things about crickets so maybe after these I won't plan on getting anymore and I'll probably have to man up and just stick to dubia because I heard they have great protein. I just hope my chameleon doesn't get tired of them haha.