Unhealthy crickets? Unhealthy for my T's and scorp?

[Jebbles]

So recently I got some crickets from a pet store up my street. I normally get crickets from a pet store near my school but since I'm on my break I'm not going to go all the way down there. Well, I noticed that one cricket in each bag (I got large ones and small guys, I like to keep them seperate) were dead after a night. I thought they just needed some food so since I had no carrots to go with the oats, I gave them a little bit of strawberry each. Now I'm not sure if the strawberries were good or not, because I woke up today and a ton of them were like, rotten? But I don't get it, because they were missing limbs, so on and so fourth. It's like they had a massive mosh pit while I was sleeping.
I don't know, am I doing something wrong? Should I find another pet store to get crickets from? I have about 4 big crickets left and about 3 small crickets left, and one's in a bad condition. What should I do? I don't plan on feeding any of my T's or my scorp these... however they have already ate some the day I got the crickets, and they seem fine.
This never happened before, by the way.

 

[macbaffo]

Did you have any problems with the other crickets? Do you breed them or just buy them?

If you think the crickets are sick then avoid giving them to your pets.

 

[Bugmom]

Sounds like you were given old & poorly fed crickets. And well, sometimes you just get a batch of crickets that aren't all that great.

I've actually found the quality of those "Carry Out Crickets" at Petco/Petsmart better quality than those of my local LPS.

 

[Jebbles]

I just bought them. The males/females are together but basically the females have nowhere to lay their eggs. I had no problems when I bought crickets from the pet store near my school. This is just so new to me. I don't think the strawberries were bad. The other crickets are very fat and seem well fed. I'm just wondering if there's anything I can do. Should I just keep feeding them good things and hope they get healthier?

 

[Bugmom]

Uh... my crickets are never alive long enough to BE fed lol. (Hey, I have 60ish mouths to feed.)

 

[Jebbles]

Uh... my crickets are never alive long enough to BE fed lol. (Hey, I have 60ish mouths to feed.)

Lol, one day I'll be able to say the same. Right now I only have an emp scorpion (looking to get another), 1 large T, 2 med sized ones, and 2 small slings. I usually get a dozen large and a dozen small. Never has this happened though so I'm just so confused onto why and such.

 

[Formerphobe]

Crickets are sensitive to sudden temperature changes. I don't know what the weather has been in your area, but it's been hotter than Hades here. Going from AC to a ride in a hot car could be just enough to do them in. I've had mass cricket die off occur up to 48 hours after exposure to sudden temperature changes. Or, they could have been sick.

 

[lancej]

Did you wash the strawberries? There could have been pesticide residue on them. Also, if the ventilation wasn't good, the humidity can kill crickets pretty quickly. Strawberries have a lot more moisture content than carrots do and can raise the humidity quickly in the container.

 

[TheOnlyBest_]

Sounds like you were given old & poorly fed crickets. And well, sometimes you just get a batch of crickets that aren't all that great.

I've actually found the quality of those "Carry Out Crickets" at Petco/Petsmart better quality than those of my local LPS.

I also find that these last much longer, even though they're more expensive. As long as I give them a few gel-feed drops a day, they're good! I can make a pack of 30 last quite a while. Besides that, somewhere in my move I lost my little cricket keeper, so it's beneficial that they come in a pre-packaged container.
I've also had issues with crickets from local stores. Sometimes in desperation, I will grab some from this lady down the road. They always smell pretty bad when I get them, and die within days. I don't think that 12 crickets should die that quickly when you're only feeding your T one of 12. Luckily, my work is near a pet supermarket so I've started just going there when I need to on my way home.

 

[Poec54]

Crickets need to be kept dry. They can't handle moist and stuffy. If they're fed to much watery food, like fruits, they die pretty quickly. They OD'd on the water in your strawberry. I give mine small amounts of romaine lettuce for moisture. Too much, and they start dropping dead.

 

[JZC]

I really dislike crickets, but they are the most convenient. Drop dead if you look at them funny, however.

 

[Jebbles]

Crickets need to be kept dry. They can't handle moist and stuffy. If they're fed to much watery food, like fruits, they die pretty quickly. They OD'd on the water in your strawberry. I give mine small amounts of romaine lettuce for moisture. Too much, and they start dropping dead.

Was actually thinking this since the ones I've picked up to check vomited this watery stuff. I've known they easily drown themselves, but never thought that could through food. This makes a lot of sense now. Would they still be fine to feed to my T's and scorp then?

 

[KissyLipsMcHugs]

Was actually thinking this since the ones I've picked up to check vomited this watery stuff. I've known they easily drown themselves, but never thought that could through food. This makes a lot of sense now. Would they still be fine to feed to my T's and scorp then?

As a rule of thumb never feed a dead cricket you didn't kill yourself to a pet, with crickets as sensitive as they are (and stinky) you never know why they die. I've gone to local per stores and ask for crickets before only to be told his entire stock died overnight. They're a bigger pain in the ass than most other organisms IMO.

 

[Poec54]

Was actually thinking this since the ones I've picked up to check vomited this watery stuff. I've known they easily drown themselves, but never thought that could through food. This makes a lot of sense now. Would they still be fine to feed to my T's and scorp then?

Yes, they die from eating too much of a food with a high water content. I don't think they drown per se, but they evidently live in a dry climate and take in all the moisture they can. When we give them way more than they're accustomed to, they OD on it. It's our fault, nothing wrong with the crickets otherwise.

---------- Post added 07-20-2013 at 07:50 AM ----------

As a rule of thumb never feed a dead cricket you didn't kill yourself to a pet, with crickets as sensitive as they are (and stinky) you never know why they die. I've gone to local per stores and ask for crickets before only to be told his entire stock died overnight.

Bad 'rule of thumb.' Crickets are very delicate and easily die from an assortment of natural causes; old age, moisture, and overcrowding being common. It's rarely, if ever, anything that would hurt any animal that ate them. If you have crickets, you have them dying off. It's that simple. If a LPS had a lot of their crickets die off suddenly, you can bet they gave them too much watery foods or kept them too moist.

Here's the majors flaw in your thinking:
- If one cricket died from something, then they all have been exposed, so in theory all of them should be thrown out, which means your spiders aren't going to eat very often, as dealers usually have dead crickets in their cages.
- If you're worried about this, shouldn't you quarantine all your crickets for a week; but of course they'll probably start dying from your caging/feeding/temp errors. Oops, no food again for your spiders.
- If you don't quarantee all your crickets, and feed them off, how do you know they wouldn't have died the following day from something they were exposed to? It just gets ridiculous.

Many tarantulas eat dead animals in the wild. As long as a cricket has died recently and it's belly is still light-colored, it makes a good meal. I give them to my spiders, by dropping it next to a hungry spider. If a T has caught a couple crickets and is spinning, you can drop another cricket or two in the pile.