damn baby crickets!!!

[ArachnoFreak666]

ok so ive been trying to get rid of these damn baby crickets from my GBB's enclosure forever now and its getting really annoying!
what happened was I put a cricket in her enclosure for her a while back and she refused it at first and the cricket had to have been pregnant and had her babies in my GBB's enclosure because about a week later when I was checking on my Ts, I noticed a bunch of extremely small crickets drowning in her water bowl and digging down in her substrate. ive been trying to get rid of them for a while now and cant seem to get them all no matter what I do. I don't want to put all new substrate in there because that would in turn ruin her nice webbing that she has been working so hard on! is there anyway I can go about getting rid of the baby crickets without ruining her webbing and changing out the substrate?

 

[Nicolas C]

I personnaly don't do anything else than let them drown in the waterdish. After some times, they'll all be dead because of water or the dry enclosure. Your T has nothing to fear in the meantime.


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[cold blood]

ok so ive been trying to get rid of these damn baby crickets from my GBB's enclosure forever now and its getting really annoying!
what happened was I put a cricket in her enclosure for her a while back and she refused it at first and the cricket had to have been pregnant and had her babies in my GBB's enclosure because about a week later when I was checking on my Ts, I noticed a bunch of extremely small crickets drowning in her water bowl and digging down in her substrate. ive been trying to get rid of them for a while now and cant seem to get them all no matter what I do. I don't want to put all new substrate in there because that would in turn ruin her nice webbing that she has been working so hard on! is there anyway I can go about getting rid of the baby crickets without ruining her webbing and changing out the substrate?

Put a piece of dog food in the open, without a food source, they will flock to it and stay there eating. If you don't have a dog or access to kibble, just go to the dollar store and but a small bag for a buck.

 

[ArachnoFreak666]

Put a piece of dog food in the open, without a food source, they will flock to it and stay there eating. If you don't have a dog or access to kibble, just go to the dollar store and but a small bag for a buck.

I will try that, there is a lot though and I don't think I will be able to get them all in one scoop once they flock to it!

 

[Poec54]

Crickets only hatch out on moist substrate. If that's happening in a GBB cage, it should have drier substrate, more ventilation, or both.

 

[ArachnoFreak666]

Crickets only hatch out on moist substrate. If that's happening in a GBB cage, it should have drier substrate, more ventilation, or both.

the substrate is actually pretty dry and the ventilation for its current enclosure could be better, but its fine for now. the only damp spot in the enclosure is by the water dish, from it spilling over or when my girlfriend moves the enclosures to feed, it will sometimes pour some out from the movment. this is where I think the cricket had its babies.

---------- Post added 11-03-2014 at 10:38 AM ----------

I think im just going to stick to discoid roaches from now on to avoid this kind of situation. My GBB seems to like them better anyway!

 

[Poec54]

the only damp spot in the enclosure is by the water dish, from it spilling over or when my girlfriend moves the enclosures to feed, it will sometimes pour some out from the movment. this is where I think the cricket had its babies

That's why I don't like the 'overfill the waterbowl method of moistening substrate, as it keeps one area perpetually moist, and mites, mold, and baby crickets thrive there. I sprinkle water around the cage instead.

 

[Spinster]

I feel your pain! Late last night I dropped a deli container with about 1000 pinhead crickets in it - in my bedroom, where I keep my T's. I spent about an hour stomping around putting them out of their misery, since they'd die a slow death if left to fend for themselves. At that size they are impossible to catch by hand. I had to act fast, since I live in an apartment and the last thing I need is neighbours complaining about a horde of tiny bugs. I guess if someone from afar had been watching me, they'd have found my tapdancing pretty amusing!

 

[ArachnoFreak666]

That's why I don't like the 'overfill the waterbowl method of moistening substrate, as it keeps one area perpetually moist, and mites, mold, and baby crickets thrive there. I sprinkle water around the cage instead.

yeah im probably going to start doing that because the "waterdish" that im using right now is just a plastic cup that I cut about 1/4 and buried into the substrate and put some small rocks in so that my GBB doesn't drown when trying to get some water. and I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be a very small leak that the bottom that causing even more moisture in the immediate surrounding substrate than there should be! still learning a lot though when it comes to this hobby so to get all my enclosures perfect will just come with time, and a little bit of money of course

---------- Post added 11-03-2014 at 11:00 AM ----------

I feel your pain! Late last night I dropped a deli container with about 1000 pinhead crickets in it - in my bedroom, where I keep my T's. I spent about an hour stomping around putting them out of their misery, since they'd die a slow death if left to fend for themselves. At that size they are impossible to catch by hand. I had to act fast, since I live in an apartment and the last thing I need is neighbours complaining about a horde of tiny bugs. I guess if someone from afar had been watching me, they'd have found my tapdancing pretty amusing!

damn im not sure I feel that pain you felt! that had to have sucked! they will eventually die off though! itll be impossle to get them all by stomping around.

 

[klawfran3]

I feel your pain! Late last night I dropped a deli container with about 1000 pinhead crickets in it - in my bedroom, where I keep my T's. I spent about an hour stomping around putting them out of their misery, since they'd die a slow death if left to fend for themselves. At that size they are impossible to catch by hand. I had to act fast, since I live in an apartment and the last thing I need is neighbours complaining about a horde of tiny bugs. I guess if someone from afar had been watching me, they'd have found my tapdancing pretty amusing!

That's the moment where you give up on life and curl up in to a weeping sad ball in the middle of your new cricket room. How long did it take to get rid of them all?

 

[Spinster]

That's the moment where you give up on life and curl up in to a weeping sad ball in the middle of your new cricket room. How long did it take to get rid of them all?

I was actually more of a cursing, angry-at-myself ball! It took about an hour to get rid of most of them. I didn't want them getting into neighbours' apartments, as I don't need complaints or landlord investigation and spraying for an "infestation". It's technically illegal in my city to keep "venomous" T's, even though local pet shops still sell them openly. The city doesn't enforce the venomous pets law unless there's a complaint, so it's best not to attract attention.

 

[klawfran3]

I was actually more of a cursing, angry-at-myself ball! It took about an hour to get rid of most of them. I didn't want them getting into neighbours' apartments, as I don't need complaints or landlord investigation and spraying for an "infestation". It's technically illegal in my city to keep "venomous" T's, even though local pet shops still sell them openly. The city doesn't enforce the venomous pets law unless there's a complaint, so it's best not to attract attention.

aren't tarantulas technically not classified as pets by the law, or something like that? I remember reading something about how they aren't classified as wildlife because they're inverts, which is why they are legal to be taken from the wild in the USA.

Either way, negative attention is not good for anyone's "illegal" collection:sarcasm:

 

[ArachnoFreak666]

aren't tarantulas technically not classified as pets by the law, or something like that? I remember reading something about how they aren't classified as wildlife because they're inverts, which is why they are legal to be taken from the wild in the USA.

Either way, negative attention is not good for anyone's "illegal" collection:sarcasm:

im pretty sure it depends on the state that you live in. different states have different laws for wildlife.

 

[Zigana]

I had this happen once when feeding my A. avic, I let them drown in the water dish. How to keep this from happening when a tarantula may not eat? Feed a male cricket, no eggs. My avic only gets male crickets. If the others don't eat within a few minutes I take the cricket out.

 

[ArachnoFreak666]

I had this happen once when feeding my A. avic, I let them drown in the water dish. How to keep this from happening when a tarantula may not eat? Feed a male cricket, no eggs. My avic only gets male crickets.

yeah but how can you tell if a cricket is male or female?

 

[Zigana]

The female has an ovipositor and a male doesn't. Here is a link to see the anatomy of a cricket.

http://cricketcare.org/anatomy/

 

[ArachnoFreak666]

The female has an ovipositor and a male doesn't. Here is a link to see the anatomy of a cricket.

http://cricketcare.org/anatomy/

damn, those have been the ones that ive been using to feed the most too. because the ovipositor makes it so much easier to grab them with the tongs (or tweezers in my case)

 

[Zigana]

The females are fine to feed to tarantulas that are on bone dry substrate or ones that eat shortly after the cricket is put in the enclosure. For tarantulas on a slightly damp or moist substrate feed males.

 

[Spinster]

I had this happen once when feeding my A. avic, I let them drown in the water dish. How to keep this from happening when a tarantula may not eat? Feed a male cricket, no eggs. My avic only gets male crickets. If the others don't eat within a few minutes I take the cricket out.

LOL this reminds me of that Seinfeld episode about the muffin tops... which begs the question, what do you do with the female crickets?

 

[ArachnoFreak666]

The females are fine to feed to tarantulas that are on bone dry substrate. For tarantulas on a slightly damp or moist substrate feed males.

okay good to know, guess you learn something new everyday! once I remove the waterdish I have in my GBB's enclosure right now and change the substrate out in that spot then I should be fine as far as moisture being in the substrate. I just have to get a more shallow waterdish and refrain from moving the enclosure too much to avoid spilling water out.

---------- Post added 11-03-2014 at 01:36 PM ----------

LOL this reminds me of that Seinfeld episode about the muffin tops... which begs the question, what do you do with the female crickets?

still feed them to your Ts, just the ones that have dry substrate in their enclosure. so the female cricket doesn't lay its eggs.