Keeping Feeders in Your T Room

DeadlyGecko101

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Jul 9, 2010
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Anybody notice an increase in unsanitary conditions as a possible repercussion of keeping feeders in the same room as your T's?

I keep crickets primarily. They stink and they are messy. No matter how much I clean, in a day or two it'll return to the same unsanitary state.
 

_scorpio_

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Apr 11, 2008
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Crickets cant resist a bit of suicide if they see water. A shallow deli cup full of water collects a surprising amount of crickets.
Roaches that escape tend to find their way to the tarantula vivs as the conditions are better for them.
The native spiders lurking behind everything tend to deal with the rest.
 

EulersK

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I keep several colonies of dubia in my T room, and I occasionally get photos fly infestations. I've learned how to avoid them entirely over time, and even if I get them, I've also learned how to quickly take care of it. There is a permanent fly strip hanging in my T room, though. The flies are impossible to get rid of entirely.

As for escapees... well, yeah, it happens. My climate tends to kill off the escaped dubias very quickly. That's if my schnauzer doesn't find them first.

For the record, dubias don't smell at all. I run three breeding colonies and one huge holding colony. I must be nearing 10k roaches at this point. That being said, smell hasn't been an issue.
 

Venom1080

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Any escapes? What action would you take to recover n number of crickets?

I haven't had any escapes, just curious.
i dont bother with a couple criks, if i see them i throw them to my turtle. crik escapes arent really a issue, if the random spiders hanging out in my jungle of a room dont get them, they die off pretty soon anyway.
 

viper69

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Dec 8, 2006
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Anybody notice an increase in unsanitary conditions as a possible repercussion of keeping feeders in the same room as your T's?

I keep crickets primarily. They stink and they are messy. No matter how much I clean, in a day or two it'll return to the same unsanitary state.
I don't feed loose crickets back to my Ts, who knows what they crawled into once they leave the room the Ts are in.

This has me curious now.

They do smell. Messy in their container, or are you letting them hang out in your room and running wild hahahaha

Define unsanitary in your mind?

What returns to unsanitary conditions? Your entire room, OR the container they are in??

If it's the former, then it's not the crickets, and some other animal living in the room.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Dec 25, 2014
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I always kept in the same room feeders and T's and cats (well the cats are free to go everywhere in my house, they open the doors with their head, mostly running, especially the fat ones).

And nothing never happened. Sure, a lot of micro millimeter crickets disappeared near my bed, some adult cricket found his way to heaven (the ladder that bring to my garden, where others crickets lives btw) but aside for that there's no issues :-s
 

DeadlyGecko101

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Jul 9, 2010
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I don't feed loose crickets back to my Ts, who knows what they crawled into once they leave the room the Ts are in.

This has me curious now.

They do smell. Messy in their container, or are you letting them hang out in your room and running wild hahahaha

Define unsanitary in your mind?

What returns to unsanitary conditions? Your entire room, OR the container they are in??

If it's the former, then it's not the crickets, and some other animal living in the room.
Lol no loose crickets are ever fed to my tarantulas, and to my knowledge no cricket has even managed to escape.

The container just gets dirty over a very short period of time. Mainly their poop, and they get it all over the orange slices and sweet potatoes I offer. I try to replace food before it goes bad, don't want the conditions to get any dirtier.

And the smell can fill the room haha.
 

DeadlyGecko101

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I always kept in the same room feeders and T's and cats (well the cats are free to go everywhere in my house, they open the doors with their head, mostly running, especially the fat ones).

And nothing never happened. Sure, a lot of micro millimeter crickets disappeared near my bed, some adult cricket found his way to heaven (the ladder that bring to my garden, where others crickets lives btw) but aside for that there's no issues :-s
Oh my goodness I would be terrified to let my cat go in the T room haha. Wouldn't want any enclosures getting knocked over :eek: Im sure they must come in handy, hunting down those escaped feeders!
 

viper69

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Lol no loose crickets are ever fed to my tarantulas, and to my knowledge no cricket has even managed to escape.

The container just gets dirty over a very short period of time. Mainly their poop, and they get it all over the orange slices and sweet potatoes I offer. I try to replace food before it goes bad, don't want the conditions to get any dirtier.

And the smell can fill the room haha.
OH I see now. You can't control that. I feed them a dry food to prevent flies in my case. Nothing wrong w/what you are doing.

This is how it is with crix. Put them in a larger container but they will still crap as much, it will look like less hahah.

The fact your room smells has me even more curious hahah

1. Maybe your nose is super sensitive
2. Maybe your room is small, and no windows
3. Maybe you have a 1000 Large crickets or more in a container?

What you can do is put the crickets' container into another container, like sterilite. That may help. I know it works for me. I have my med. sized KK with 3 dozen crix inside a small cabinet. No issues w/smell at all.

Dead crix smell the worst.
 

Czech prime

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Dec 13, 2015
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I stopped keeping crickets with T's quite some time ago(flies, fruit flies and super/mealworms are still in the room). I keep them in the garage now and i had crickets bite through the cricket box they were in and literally all but 10 escaped so every evening for a week i went to the garage hunting with a shoe in my hand. Smashed so many of the little bastards
 

Tygarys

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Jan 19, 2016
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Adopt a couple of members of the Felis catus species. I find they are experts at dealing with runaway crickets. :D
 

DeadlyGecko101

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Jul 9, 2010
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OH I see now. You can't control that. I feed them a dry food to prevent flies in my case. Nothing wrong w/what you are doing.

This is how it is with crix. Put them in a larger container but they will still crap as much, it will look like less hahah.

The fact your room smells has me even more curious hahah

1. Maybe your nose is super sensitive
2. Maybe your room is small, and no windows
3. Maybe you have a 1000 Large crickets or more in a container?

What you can do is put the crickets' container into another container, like sterilite. That may help. I know it works for me. I have my med. sized KK with 3 dozen crix inside a small cabinet. No issues w/smell at all.

Dead crix smell the worst.
Haha ULTRA sensitive is more like it and the room is small but there's a closet where I can relocate them. I'll see how a larger sterilite container works out too, thank you. Just cut a hole in the lid and hot glue some mesh to it? That's what I've seen other keepers use.
 

DeadlyGecko101

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Messages
17
I stopped keeping crickets with T's quite some time ago(flies, fruit flies and super/mealworms are still in the room). I keep them in the garage now and i had crickets bite through the cricket box they were in and literally all but 10 escaped so every evening for a week i went to the garage hunting with a shoe in my hand. Smashed so many of the little bastards
Really? How do fruit flies work as feeders for you?
 

viper69

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Haha ULTRA sensitive is more like it and the room is small but there's a closet where I can relocate them. I'll see how a larger sterilite container works out too, thank you. Just cut a hole in the lid and hot glue some mesh to it? That's what I've seen other keepers use.
Sterilite isn't gas proof, a few holes is all you need. No mesh needed. I doubt you'd need holes actually, depending upon how many crix you keep.
 

Python

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Mar 21, 2005
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I keep crickets in a 29 gallon tank with dirt and grass planted in it. Crickets eat the grass, they reproduce readily and the poop composts so there is no smell and I never have to clean it out. I just pour some water on once in a while and keep a lexan top on it so there is condensation to water the crickets and the grass. It works really well for me. I keep fruit flies on hand and they reproduce well in the vial I got them in. I'm going to have to ease into roaches. My SO has declared them gross and so I have to find some that don't look icky. Working on that as we speak
 
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