Why can't I keep my feeder crickets alive? Help

[auskie]

I live pretty far away from the pet store, gas is expensive, and I don't have working AC in my car. I'm trying to minimize how many trips I have to make to get crickets. I don't have enough tarantulas to justify a cricket colony. I have quite a few slings so most of the crickets I buy are very tiny, and probably not very old. I provide them with substrate, egg carton pieces to hide under, a well ventilated enclosure, fresh spinach and broccoli, and water. What am I dong wrong? Why do even the very young crickets die within a week of purchase?


How long do your feeders last, and how do you care for them?

 

[edgeofthefreak]

I never use substrate for them. They get half a toilet paper tube, a bottle cap with gel water, some cereal, and all of this is in an 8 or 16 oz deli cup. I buy pin-heads for my 2 smallest arachnids, and when they get too big for them, I continue to raise them until my bigger 2 can have them.

Don't give them anything that can rot or go off with any amount of time. The cereal absorbs some of the gel water humidity, and when they feel soft, I replace it. I don't bother with many greens, but if I'm raising a pin-head to adult, I'll give them some from time to time.

Also, when crickets die, they release ammonia, which is their fastest killer. As soon as one dies, they all start dying. Give em good ventilation and check on them twice a day for anything that doesn't look right.

I sometimes feel like I provide a spa or resort type setup for my crix.

 

[oooo35980]

1. Don't put too many in a container too small.
2. Fish out any dead ones.
3. Don't put too many in a container too small.
4. Make sure they have something to drink/eat
5. Don't put too many in a container too small.

Seriously if they don't have enough room they catch the freakin plague or something and all die ridiculously fast.

 

[LordWaffle]

If there's one thing crickets hate more than being eaten by tarantulas it's not dying for no reason.

 

[Curious jay]

I usually purchase small and raise them up as adults imo are a waste of money as they're so short lived, uless you're feeding them off stright away they usually die withing a week or two.

all i provide is a small chunk of carrot and some egg crate and occaional fish food, rarely have issues raising them, what type of crickets do you use? I personally don't use black crickets as they have more chitin, i find the banded silent crickets seem to work best for me (different crickets willl have a difference tolerance to humidity and such, most prefer low humidity otherwise they will just die out).

 

[Poec54]

There's a reptile dealer close to me that breeds them as feeders for their reptiles. They keep them in big plastic tubs with screen tops. No substrate. Lots of egg crates on their sides, to allow better air flow. They keep them warm and dry, and feed them Purina earthworm food (dry food that comes in big bags). They've been doing this for decades. Moisture and humidity kills crickets, as does food with too high of a moisture content.

 

[Amaruca Sun]

I had this trouble at first too, with crickets and fruit flies. What's been working for me (for crickets) is making sure they have some type of hide/cardboard/egg carton, a cap of water, some oatmeal or cornmeal, and yes picking out the dead ones. I'm not sure if this is ideal, but it's getting me better results than before.

 

[edgeofthefreak]

I had read once, that the best "enclosure" for a massive amount of crickets is a cardboard box. Run a 4" wide layer of packing tape around the top, so they can't climb out, make sure it's too tall for them to jump out, fill with egg crating or paper towel tubes. That way, their entire home is built out of something paper, which is a substance they seem to trust. Some cardboard boxes, like fridge or other appliance, are huge. I also remember that thick cardboard isn't something they can chew through, but they can stand on the walls no problems.

Anyone thought to try this? It'll force you to keep them dry, but when the box gets crusty (and should hopefully take a long time) you can build them a new one.

And then I fould the original link! It's a long read, but quite interesting.

 

[SpiderMan1975]

In addition to my T's I also have a veiled chameloen which eats crickets like you wouldnt believe. Ive had to learn how to keep crickets alive long enough till I can get to the next pet expo near my home. Buying crickets at the big chain pet stores is a major rip-off. At the local expo I buy a case of 1,000 crickets which if I do proper mantenance can last approx 6 weeks after bringing them home.

What I did was get a large plastic/rubbermaid container and cut almost the entire top out and glued in a mesh screen top. I also made small holes on the sides for extra ventalation. I pour enough crickect feed to cover the bottom of the container, I also will mix in a very little bit of dry dog food and some veggies like cut potatoes and carrots for extra nutrients, this is done more for my chameleon than my T's. The other important thing is to have a couple small cap fulls of thirst quencher which is like a gelatin that keeps them hydrated. I will also pick out the dead ones every few days to keep the plague away....Lol. That seems to do the trick in keeping them alive as long as possible.

 

[dementedlullaby]

You only give them a little container of substrate inside the other container so they lay eggs =). Otherwise just leave the bottom substrate free. As mentioned keep them dry. I keep them in the dark, they seem to do fine. Don't leave dead ones in. Get them out as soon as you notice.

The best cricket colonies are kept relatively clean. I've seen some pet stores with some pretty gross looking containers. When molts start building up on molts and crickets start dying off you better have a high turn over rate to make it worth the bulk buying.