Feeder cricket keeping tips

[H3R3T1K]

I'm looking to introduce some kind of substrate in order to reduce odor and enclosure cleaning intervals with my crickets. I'm guessing that vermiculite is the top choice. Do you agree? Which size in mm should I get? I was gonna get the bigger kernels (3-6mm) in order to be able to remove leftover food more easily.

Also do you dust your crickets prior to feeding them to the T? I bought this and am not quite sure if it's for dusting only or if I can feed this to the crickets regularly. I guess I could do both but I'm not sure if it's good as the whole food source. Also too much vitamins and minerals could be detrimental to the T's health if I'm not mistaken.

Introducing substrate would make it harder to shake the box to coat the crickets without hurting them but I'm getting a bigger enclosure and plan to add just a little vermiculite instead of covering the whole enclosure bottom.

To date I've been feeding the crickets veggie and fruit pieces as well as water gel placed in cut down bottle caps.

 

[Neonblizzard]

The odour shouldn't be too bad as long as you are vigilant in picking the dead crickets out. I wouldn't recommend dusting the crickets with anything, that sounds like something you might do with a reptile that's not necessary/could be harmful with T's.

Just keep the crickets nicely fed with veggies regularly, provide them with water (bug gel is fine if you want) and that will be more than enough.

 

[l4nsky]

IME crickets are just smelly in general. That, and their short life span means you'll need to pull dead ones practically every day to keep the odor under control. Before I switched over to lateralis, I would only purchase what I needed and try to feed them all off to avoid this. As far as supplements, there's no need for them (they might actually cause more harm then good with the added calcium, but I'll let other people with more knowledge weigh in on that). Just ensure your crickets are gutloaded prior to feeding and that will be more than sufficient for a healthy tarantula.

 

[Dry Desert]

IME crickets are just smelly in general. That, and their short life span means you'll need to pull dead ones practically every day to keep the odor under control. Before I switched over to lateralis, I would only purchase what I needed and try to feed them all off to avoid this. As far as supplements, there's no need for them (they might actually cause more harm then good with the added calcium, but I'll let other people with more knowledge weigh in on that). Just ensure your crickets are gutloaded prior to feeding and that will be more than sufficient for a healthy tarantula.

Yes, no need to dust feeders - this is a carry over from the reptile world, calcium supplements to aid bone or shell development for VERTEBRATES, not required for invertebrates.

PS. Crickets do stink in general - they just seem to have a smell, without adding anything to them. Havn't used for years, never will again.

 

[Smotzer]

Don’t dust them that’s unnecessary for tarantula keeping.

using vermiculite should be fine for substrate. Feed fruits and veggies.

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Hi all
I keep my crickets without substrate.
A little cheaper porridge oats in one corner (or thin layer on bottom as food.Water cristals as water source changed every 4-5 days in bottle caps or small plant pot dish.
No vegetables at all and no deaths or smell.
They last for ages kept this way and the oats is full of goodness so they are well gut loaded.
Regards Konstantin

 

[KaroKoenig]

No substrate here either. Easier to clean. Just enough egg carton for them to hide.

I do feed vegetables, though. They absolutely love it, and I think overall, it makes them healthier and keeps them hydrated. They live several weeks after their final molt in my care, they don't really smell. Every two weeks or so, I change the egg carton and move them over to a clean kritter keeper. Denpends on how many are left. They are fun to observe. Underrated pets, if you ask me .

View attachment 20210620_130524.mp4

 

[sk063]

Our nearest crickets are a 30 minute drive for us, so we don't use them every feeding. I put 2 dozen " usually " in a well vented 32 oz. deli cup with some egg crate or toilet paper roll, and feed them just a pet store bought cricket food/water gel. We keep a dubia and meal worm colony as well. I have noticed that some of the T's don't really go for the dubia's.

 

[viper69]

I'm looking to introduce some kind of substrate in order to reduce odor and enclosure cleaning intervals with my crickets. I'm guessing that vermiculite is the top choice. Do you agree? Which size in mm should I get? I was gonna get the bigger kernels (3-6mm) in order to be able to remove leftover food more easily.

Also do you dust your crickets prior to feeding them to the T? I bought this and am not quite sure if it's for dusting only or if I can feed this to the crickets regularly. I guess I could do both but I'm not sure if it's good as the whole food source. Also too much vitamins and minerals could be detrimental to the T's health if I'm not mistaken.

Introducing substrate would make it harder to shake the box to coat the crickets without hurting them but I'm getting a bigger enclosure and plan to add just a little vermiculite instead of covering the whole enclosure bottom.

To date I've been feeding the crickets veggie and fruit pieces as well as water gel placed in cut down bottle caps.

Dusting is not for Ts

 

[Craig73]

I keep mine on vermiculite and I don’t even smell anything until I put my face in the bin. Before I used it I could smell them easily across the room.

As far as cleaning a bin with vermiculite I just get a cup and skim the surface and toss that out. Works well for me.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

provide them with water (bug gel is fine if you want)

I know this is a T site, but since there are only like three exotic animal forums on the entire internet that are any good (and this is one of them), keepers of all sorts of exotics pick up tidbits here.

So: sodium polyacrylate water crystals (which I assume is 'bug gel') should not be used with feeders for any animal that swallows their crickets. The dried crystals stick to the crix, the animal eats them, gel swells up and chokes or otherwise stops up the animal, which then dies. Happens enough to be warned against.

Orange sections make far better water sources for crickets.

 

[Neonblizzard]

I know this is a T site, but since there are only like three exotic animal forums on the entire internet that are any good (and this is one of them), keepers of all sorts of exotics pick up tidbits here.

So: sodium polyacrylate water crystals (which I assume is 'bug gel') should not be used with feeders for any animal that swallows their crickets. The dried crystals stick to the crix, the animal eats them, gel swells up and chokes or otherwise stops up the animal, which then dies. Happens enough to be warned against.

Orange sections make far better water sources for crickets.

That's interesting, I've never heard about this happening. Have you seen this posted about @viper69 ?

 

[viper69]

That's interesting, I've never heard about this happening. Have you seen this posted about @viper69 ?

Interesting- I’ve never had dried crystals on my feeders. I pick them out one by one.

Dried crystals do enlarge due to water.

Never heard of this with other animals, but wouldn’t surprise me. I haven’t had animals that needed crickets hydrated on gels. Those animals drank from a dish, eg lep gecko, chameleons etc

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Yes, frogs and chameleons are the animals I've heard this with. Here is an older discussion of chameleon death. A recent situation with a frog was documented here. There's human risk from ingestion (here and here), so the size of the animal being fed doesn't seem to make it safer. Ts, of course, wouldn't be expected to have these sorts of issues.

I used to use the crystals, and tipping crix from the bin into a dusting cup would yield many dried crystals, and I'm sure I didn't notice all of them. I assume that a crystal could attach to a cricket as the crystal is drying, but I don't have evidence of this happening (that is, I've not personally seen a cricket with a crystal stuck to it, though that's the typically mentioned worry). So, I'm not sure how the crystals get to the mouth of the animal, but they do.

 

[mandihedge]

I’ve used vermiculite in the past but I find it makes it harder to clean as often as I like so I don’t use any substrate now. Make sure you have lots of ventilation and clean food and there’s almost no smell

 

[Introvertebrate]

................They are fun to observe. Underrated pets, if you ask me .

When I look at the reptiles at the local pet store, I always find myself watching the crickets. It's usually the only motion you'll see inside the enclosure.

 

[Harmonicon]

I keep crickets in a 32oz deli cup with aspen shavings (the ones for rodents) as the substrate and it seems to work well compared to my other setups. I fed them only carrots. They still annoy me with their chirping though, so I'm switching to roaches soon

And like the others said, there's generally no need for dusting for arachnids.