How do I keep Feeder Crickets Alive?

KaelKeepsAnts

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 6, 2021
Messages
13
Crickets are absolutely gross. They are unbelievably high in ammonia and die offs are a regular occurrence. They live about as long as a hot fart lingers. Get you some high protein dubia, discoid, or blatta. All live longer than an episode of the Kardashians. Unlike crickets.
Wow you are passionate about that.

To the OP, they only live a few weeks anyway, so depending on how often they are they could just be reaching the end of their lives.

The key is finding a place with staff who are actually passionate about the animals they stock.
Local shops can be bad too.

I don't really know anything about reptiles, but there is one shop in my area that seems very knowledgeable.
That being said, they have tarantulas in the back corner of the store, almost out of sight and poorly kept.

Every fiber in my being to not try lecturing them lol.
I'm not the person who can do that gracefully.
Especially when they keep my favorite genus, Brachypelma, in a pool of mud.

Off-Topic, sorry, but I'm still salty about that.
My brother got a juvie Avic from a chain store and the employees were screaming so he had to box it.
 

XxSpiderQueenxX

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Messages
321
Crickets like to die. Very quickly. And once they die, they smell terrible. They also can escape into your house and chirp loudly all night. Get Dubias instead lol, they are much hardier
 

Ferrachi

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
1,014
Crickets like to die. Very quickly. And once they die, they smell terrible. They also can escape into your house and chirp loudly all night. Get Dubias instead lol, they are much hardier
Those are the exact reasons I switched to Dubias too... :rofl:
 

XxSpiderQueenxX

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Messages
321
Those are the exact reasons I switched to Dubias too... :rofl:
Yeah... I had crickets and a male escaped. It literally started living on top of my Google Home that was set on the ground. Every night it would sit on the Google Home, chirping its head off, for a whole week. Then it died.
 

Almadabes

Arachnoknight
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
163
Crickets like to die. Very quickly. And once they die, they smell terrible. They also can escape into your house and chirp loudly all night. Get Dubias instead lol, they are much hardier
I just started keeping my adult crickets in the storage closet.
With all the extra blankets and clothes, it drowns them out really well.

It's far from the rest of my spider supplies but it's a small price to pay for some peace and quiet.

Only the adults chirp btw - so if anyone is looking for a solution to that, just get juvenile or "medium" crickets.
If you're feeding a big tarantula, just give them like 2 or 3.
 
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Tarantulafeets

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 8, 2020
Messages
336
Had a cricket somehow get inside the bathtub wall, and it chirps like crazy. It also echoed, which didnt make things better, but it recently stopped, so hopefully it died{D

As for using them as feeders, I only used them once to feed my Lp, but she was in premolt so they just died as well.
 

RoachCoach

Arachnodemon
Joined
Sep 2, 2019
Messages
703
My online vender isn’t selling dubias anymore so unfortunately I cannot get some at the time ):
If you are dead set on maintaining a current cricket population you will for sure need very active ventilation. Keeping them outside will help, but then you open yourself up to all sorts of parasites. Ones that don't even have to make it past a petroleum barrier. Mites can latch on to flying bugs and form a "stasis shell". Your best line of defense is having a massive amount of diaperinus alphitobius in all stages to quickly eat the dead. Then springtails and isopods to reduce the beetle frass to dirt. But crickets breed and die so fast, it is almost inevitable you will run into a stink or parasite issue. I know there has to be at least a few people here that love keeping crickets and can refute my claims. But for a piece of mind and the same price or cheaper for a longer lived, variable sized feeder I would go with B. Lateralis. Throw some coir in there with some D. Alphits and you are set. BOTH of those bugs are extremely hardy. Neither can climb glass and the Blatts can't climb worth anything.
Crickets just suck. I think as long as the pet store cricket lobby has a hold on the market, they will continue to be a popular item. Just drop by eBay. Tons of reputable sellers on there.
 

XxSpiderQueenxX

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Messages
321
Only the adults chirp btw - so if anyone is looking for a solution to that, just get juvenile or "medium" crickets.
If you're feeding a big tarantula, just give them like 2 or 3.
My Ts don't take the small crickets, not to mention they molt and become adults super fast lol
 

bobbibink

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 10, 2011
Messages
60
Keep them dry— I use water crystals for water source— I feed dry cricket food and offer small amounts of fruit/veggies— Crickets are very susceptible to mold so if feeding fruit/veggies you got to be on top of removing uneaten food before mold starts.
 
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