crickets???

[NightCrawler27]

ok hope this dont sound crazy ..but im having a hard time keeping my crickets alive more then 2 days...and right now i have a rosie...a chinese water dragon...2 emperor scorps..and come next tuesday or wednesday i have 10 P. murinus's that that im gettin deleivered...thats a lot of lil mouths to feed . the guy at the pet store said put a peice of fruit in there and they will eat it ...well they dont eat the fruit ..it seems they wait for one another to die then have a canibalist type dinner on each other..and with the one's i have here and the 10 babies commin next week i have been thinkin about orderin a tube of 1000 crickets ..but im scared to ..how can i keep 1000 alive if i cant even keep a few dozen alive for 2 -3 days...if any one can help plez im in desprate need..and i seen lots of brilliant minds on these boards and was wonderin has anyone created a big cricket keeper that is easy to build and that works?

thx
jimmy

you all are great and i thank you for all the time and effort you put into replyin to us newbies :clap: :clap:

 

[Rounder]

first thing that comes to mind is, do you have enough ventilation? seems like that could be a primary cause of that many dying over the span of 2-3 days.

 

[Code Monkey]

You don't describe how you're housing the crickets. Crickets require an enormous amount of ventilation - both their wastes and their corpses give off gasses that rapidly build up to toxic levels without adequate ventilation (mass amonia spike - just like a poorly established fish tank). That's the first thing I would look into. If you notice, most pet stores keep them in open topped, deep bins/tanks for this reason. It's also important to remove dead crickets as soon as possible*

Second, they will eat fruit, but your best bet is to feed them something dry, dog food is something that works well and most people have access to, but the best cricket chow you can get economically is unmedicated chick mash from feed store. You can also feed them breakfast cereal, fish flakes, etc. Just don't fall for the joke of paying the marked up prices for cricket chow at the pet store, it's just the chick mash marked up about several hundred times. For water, go with the old standby of polyacrylamide gel but, again, skip the prehydrated stuff they sell in the pet store. For about $12 you can get a nigh lifetime's supply of the stuff from the gardening dept or order it online (www.watersorb.com). If you want to skip all that, try something longer lasting in the container like potato or carrots versus fruit for the water/food combo.

* crickets are a LOT of work in my opinion, it's why me and many other raise feeder cockroaches. Much easier to care for, much less smell, much better production.

 

[NightCrawler27]

as far as i can tell yes we keep them in a big plastic critter keeper and i put them in a cool dry place...george the water dragon dont mind them dead or alive (but hes a pig when it comes to food) but my scorps and rosie wont touch them unless they are alive .(must be the hunt)

 

[knightjar]

Ours generally last a month. We use a reasonably well ventilated tank, some bark strips as hides and a pot filled with gravel and water. Vermiculite substrate. Feed them on kitchen scraps and Rice Crispies. Sometimes end up with some babies, but so far haven't had them survive to adulthood. I guess they are more fragile and have slightly different requirements. Any suggestions on keeping them alive appreciated, as we have some slings at the moment that are out-growing fruitflies.

 

[Bloodletting]

Old crickets

How big are the crickets when you buy them? Crickets don't live very long and perhaps you are buying crickets that are about expired. I have crickets that live well over two months. Put some egg cartons in there, something for them to crawl on. They certainly should live longer than two days. I have netting over the top for ventilation. I throw in a couple apple or carrot slices and I make a mix using different grains. They pile on that.

k, lots of luck

scott

 

[NightCrawler27]

we aint sure ..but they are big fat ones...maybe he is sellin me his ready ti die left overs..lol...thx for the advice ..it is greatly appriated ..maybe ill just order the tube and try my luck ..lol..god knows ill need lots of it

 

[SpiderBait]

carrots? fruits??
Here in Malaysia our crickets can survive on a scrap of crumpled-up paper for 2 weeks :}

cheers!

 

[reverendsterlin]

stupid crickets, smart roaches (my favorite are the dubias). simple to keep and feed. loved by T's and reptiles. much easier, less smelly, more quiet. I'll never keep crix again.
Rev

 

[Wade]

Pinhead crickets (newly-hatched babies) tend to be a lot more delicate. Like the adults, they don't do well in poorly ventilated containers, but they do seem to benefit for some humidity. Kinda makes things tricky! One method that works OK is to use a substrate of paper towels and mist that daily. You don't want to mist pinheads without a substrate, because they can drown in droplets of water!

A slightly soil substrate would probably work very well, but it makes getting them for feeding a pain. For my collection, I buy crickets by the 1000 and raise my own cockroaches.

Wade

 

[jeffh_x]

wat about cookie crumbs? do they feed the crickets well?i alwasy give em leaves..but its hardly eaten

 

[Nerri1029]

I won't argue against the venting issue..
but I'll add my own 2 cents

My routine:

I eat a banana for breakfast throw it the peel = food and moisture..

end of the day I pull it out.. the entire lining is usually gone.. and I only keep about 2 doz at a time..

I vary the size of the peel..

I also use flucher cricket quencher.

hope this helps..

 

[NightCrawler27]

kool thx everyone we will be tring all these approches for crickets....now i have to ask about these roaches isnt there some kinda health board regulations to worry about?..i mean keeping roaches and how do u keep roaches ?..my g/f hates crickets ..but im sure she would hate for a roach or 2 to get out and infest the house..any pics of how you all keep them?

thx again

 

[Code Monkey]

kool thx everyone we will be tring all these approches for crickets....now i have to ask about these roaches isnt there some kinda health board regulations to worry about?..i mean keeping roaches and how do u keep roaches ?..my g/f hates crickets ..but im sure she would hate for a roach or 2 to get out and infest the house..any pics of how you all keep them?

thx again

Oh, what was that button again, oh yeah, 'Search'

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=463 (that one's a sticky ;P)
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=6652
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=13894
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=17475

 

[NightCrawler27]

thx codemonkey those post links really helped me alot now i just got to find those Blaptica dubia...and start to breed for my small army

thx again..

p.s .. have you seen any posts lately about starter conlonys with the Blaptica dubia?or a good place online to get them from?

thx again

 

[reverendsterlin]

try Dave, Roachman out of Wyoming is where I got my starters (last Feb.) from, he's here lurking somewhere. about a $1 each for varied sizes and mine didn't start really breeding until it got warm, but now I got lots going even after feeding off most the adult males (male have wings but don't fly(maybe a little flutter)) for the first couple of months. All vegatable material (red-leaf lettuce is a big fav) goes into the box (couple of dog biscuts and some bread/crackers/oats) and egg crate (I use a cork hotel lol). Simple/ no smell/ no escapes/ little cleaning (crix like really clean homes) only a very few slow switchers.
Rev

 

[Pokie1]

Cricket gut-loading=cannibalism?

I too have been having a hard time keeping my crickets alive long enough to feed my Ts. I changed to larger containers, added a small fan, wet cotton, etc. I thought maybe it was the commercial cricket feed I bought, so I switched to fresh fruit-apples, banannas etc and veggies like lettuce. Still they die faster than they are eaten by the Ts(and stink up the dang house).

Tonight I fed my Ts two crickets each, left for a few hours then came back to find one of the larger crickets cannibalizing a smaller one. I mean I watched it start at the head and it was scarfing down the last bit of leg when I stopped watching. Heck even the T was suprised and just sat and watched.

So, if they are into fruit and veggies, why do they eat each other? Is this common? Instead of removing the dead ones, can you leave a couple in for the others to feed on? Is this a good "gut loading" strategy? I am still kinda shocked as I thought they were vegitarian. LOL

Pokie1

 

[Wade]

House crickets (A. domestica, the main ones used as feeders) are generalist scavangers. In the wild, the majority of their diet may be plant based, but they will also eat protien when it's available, usually in the form of dead insects or other scraps. Crickets deprived of protien may turn cannibal, especially if one of the other crickets is wounded, smaller, or otherwise weaker. They can also turn the tables on the animals we're feeding them to, especially molting arthropods,

I feed unmedicated, dry chick mash as the primary diet. It's extremely cheap and seems to meet their dietary needs quite well.

Wade

 

[james]

Go with the roaches!!!

It takes some time to get them started, but they are easy to keep and in a few months you will be producing your own food source. If you plan of keeping animals for many years your going to save yourself big $$$.
James

 

[Pokie1]

Thanks for the info. I think roaches, while a great idea, would never fly with my other housemembers. They hate roaches. Of course, NOW they hate crickets too. LOL

Pokie1