Crickets breaking me.

We buy our crickets in boxes of 1000 at a time.

Also keep them in a large bin (we use a Rubbermaid container with the top replaced with screening) with lots of places for them to hide (we use the paper cardboard drink holders) and don't forget the food for them. They need food and liquids.

Not to repeat what other people asked and said but I have to agree, the cricket bill is killing me! I have a small cricket keeper I keep them in. I buy 70 at a time and it only lasts for a few days before they're all gone. What is the best way to keep bulk crickets? My Potato is only about 3 to 4 months old. Plus, I do not have a basement to keep a container of 1000 crickets in. I do not want to keep them in our bedroom. And right now in New Jersey it is too cold to keep them in the garage. Any suggestions? Also, where is the best place to buy them online? And how long will 1000 crickets keep? They don't seem to live very long. If he's eating 30 to 50 a day, how long will they stay alive? 1 wk? More or less? Arghhhhhhhh???

Elisa":7tlfgl6k said:

Not to repeat what other people asked and said but I have to agree, the cricket bill is killing me! I have a small cricket keeper I keep them in. I buy 70 at a time and it only lasts for a few days before they're all gone. What is the best way to keep bulk crickets? My Potato is only about 3 to 4 months old. Plus, I do not have a basement to keep a container of 1000 crickets in. I do not want to keep them in our bedroom. And right now in New Jersey it is too cold to keep them in the garage. Any suggestions? Also, where is the best place to buy them online? And how long will 1000 crickets keep? They don't seem to live very long. If he's eating 30 to 50 a day, how long will they stay alive? 1 wk? More or less? Arghhhhhhhh???

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I buy 1k dubias from MidWestFeeders (look on eBay for them)- it's just $30 + free shipping, and 1k last almost a month! They come in a round plastic container (like a tall solo cup) with a lid and food, so they have everything they need! The one time I bought 1k crickets, they only lasted 2weeks!

Thank you for making my life better, jesspets! I gave him his first Dubai roaches and he gulped three of them down! No more crickets for me! Now, question, the people at the pet store said to feed Potato two in the day and two in the night. He already ate three tonight and one lone cricket that was wandering in the tank. And it was a large crickets at that. Is there A guideline for feeding the roaches? Do I do with the pet store people tell me or do I let him eat as many as he can in a certain amount of time?

Elisa":3m8adrch said:

Thank you for making my life better, jesspets! I gave him his first Dubai roaches and he gulped three of them down! No more crickets for me! Now, question, the people at the pet store said to feed Potato two in the day and two in the night. He already ate three tonight and one lone cricket that was wandering in the tank. And it was a large crickets at that. Is there A guideline for feeding the roaches? Do I do with the pet store people tell me or do I let him eat as many as he can in a certain amount of time?

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Let him eat as many as he can in a 10-15 minute period 2-3x a day

Thanks again for the information. I'm a little surprised at the people at the pet store because this particular store is a reptile store and they are much more knowledgeable than Petsmart or Petco. All they sell are reptiles. They're the only place around here where I can get the dubias . I'm surprised they only told me to give him 4 for a day. Have you heard that before?

Elisa":3d1y187l said:

Thanks again for the information. I'm a little surprised at the people at the pet store because this particular store is a reptile store and they are much more knowledgeable than Petsmart or Petco. All they sell are reptiles. They're the only place around here where I can get the dubias . I'm surprised they only told me to give him 4 for a day. Have you heard that before?

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What size did they sell you? He should be eating xsmall or small

JessPets":3ewvfbnm said:

Elisa":3ewvfbnm said:

Thanks again for the information. I'm a little surprised at the people at the pet store because this particular store is a reptile store and they are much more knowledgeable than Petsmart or Petco. All they sell are reptiles. They're the only place around here where I can get the dubias . I'm surprised they only told me to give him 4 for a day. Have you heard that before?

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What size did they sell you? He should be eating xsmall or small

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They are actually small to medium sized roaches. He can eat five or six at a time, three times a day. You say when you bought 1000 crickets online they sent them in the tub and it can stay in that tub all month? Do you feed the roaches at all? Sprinkle in some fish food or anything ?

Elisa":1qd0adsb said:

JessPets":1qd0adsb said:

Elisa":1qd0adsb said:

Thanks again for the information. I'm a little surprised at the people at the pet store because this particular store is a reptile store and they are much more knowledgeable than Petsmart or Petco. All they sell are reptiles. They're the only place around here where I can get the dubias . I'm surprised they only told me to give him 4 for a day. Have you heard that before?

Click to expand...

What size did they sell you? He should be eating xsmall or small

Click to expand...

They are actually small to medium sized roaches. He can eat five or six at a time, three times a day. You say when you bought 1000 crickets online they sent them in the tub and it can stay in that tub all month? Do you feed the roaches at all? Sprinkle in some fish food or anything ?

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Only the dubias were sent in a container. The crickets were shipped loosely is a box with newspaper- it was a pain to get them out. I don't feed fish food as it is pretty expensive

Boy, do I share that sympathy!!!

I got two beardies as well for my first time, and grossly underestimated how many crickets they ate. Check out the DIY page for some really awesome self-set up breeding colonies other users have made. I'm setting up a Dubia roach colony myself as soon as my Amazon shipment gets in! They seem like the easiest feeder to start with, are hardier, and stink less, on top of all the other comments posters have made about them. That's why I'm trying it out!

All you need is a tub with a breathing lid, a digital thermostat, a ceramic heat emitter or a under tank heating pad, some egg crates, and your starter colony! Add water-soaked sponges and lots of green foods, a few cleaner bugs, and it seems like you just set it and forget it with minimal maintenance.

You can breed crickets, it's not too hard but it takes up a lot of room and it requires daily care. Roaches are much easier....I just sold a huge colony of Dubia's yesterday for $60. There were probably over 5000 of them (adults and babies). Basically I just wanted to get rid of them because I like my orange head colony much better.
You don't need to feed the roaches fish food, you can buy 50lbs of wheat bran, oats, alfalfa...for really cheap. That's 150 lbs of food for about $50. I add a bunch more stuff to my roach diet...but the three mentioned are for budget roach food.
If you gotta keep the roaches or crickets in the garage...put them in an insulated bin. Like this...(it's my orange head roach colony.. much prettier than dubia's).
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Wow, looks great Rankins!

Thanks Jess! I set the bin up a couple years ago and have posted it several times, I refresh everyone's memory about it. The cool thing is it can be used as an incubator or (not at the same time) a roach bin. Just if using it as an incubator you would not cut the vent holes...or block them off.
I'm dreading cleaning the bin...there are a ton of roaches. But I am selling off 5000 at an expo in about a week.

Rankins":190xv3wy said:

Thanks Jess! I set the bin up a couple years ago and have posted it several times, I refresh everyone's memory about it. The cool thing is it can be used as an incubator or (not at the same time) a roach bin. Just if using it as an incubator you would not cut the vent holes...or block them off.
I'm dreading cleaning the bin...there are a ton of roaches. But I am selling off 5000 at an expo in about a week.

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How do you clean it? I haven't figured that out with mine...

It's a pain....messy dusty disgusting job.
You should have a respirator and do it outside or in a garage with good ventilation.
Basically I pull the flats out trying to keep as many roaches on them as possible and put them in a bin. Then I have a sifting bin I made with a bunch of holes drilled in it, I add small amounts of frass in that bin and sift it into a bin that is stacked below the one with holes in it. Any roaches that didn't sift through get dumped into the bin with the egg flats. It's miserable...