Cricket feeders, important info. Please Read!

I have another story in case anyone is interested. It just shows my hatred towards those crickets :roll:

I went to the pet store and got those crickets and stored them in a shoe box for about 15 minutes. They chewed through the thick shoebox (a big hole, too!) and some managed to escape in my room. A few nights later, I was extremely itchy, I thought it was just the seam of my shirt rubbing my skin.
I then felt a bad sting where I was itching, and I got up to see why my skin was burning, and one of those *HUGE* crickets jumped off me and climbed under my pillow. It was the scariest thing lol.
A few days later, I found 2 more crickets hanging out in my blankets. Later that day, 2 were crawling on me :shock:


I hate you, crickets.

CiaraAlexisOnFire":3bv6ocu2 said:

I have another story in case anyone is interested. It just shows my hatred towards those crickets :roll:

I went to the pet store and got those crickets and stored them in a shoe box for about 15 minutes. They chewed through the thick shoebox (a big hole, too!) and some managed to escape in my room. A few nights later, I was extremely itchy, I thought it was just the seam of my shirt rubbing my skin.
I then felt a bad sting where I was itching, and I got up to see why my skin was burning, and one of those *HUGE* crickets jumped off me and climbed under my pillow. It was the scariest thing lol.
A few days later, I found 2 more crickets hanging out in my blankets. Later that day, 2 were crawling on me :shock:


I hate you, crickets.

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this is why I don't buy them lol. Although my stepdad bought some and he's giving them to me today Dx ... well as long as Milo and Samus like em.

I finally saw these beasts in person, what big nasty bugs they are. I think I'd like to try them just for variety but they will be fed with tongs and kept in a aquarium with a screen lid. Last thing I would want is mutant crickets running around the house.

Just thought I would add, went into the local petsmart. Looked into the small cricket bin and there were literally 1-2k dead crickets all in a pile. Seems there may have been some effect in my area. (SLC Utah). Perhaps it was something else though (Heat?) :?

Beardednoob":1ykwdw9s said:

Just thought I would add, went into the local petsmart. Looked into the small cricket bin and there were literally 1-2k dead crickets all in a pile. Seems there may have been some effect in my area. (SLC Utah). Perhaps it was something else though (Heat?) :?

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Or poor husbandry. I've wanted to ask if they clean out the bin before dumping in a new shipment but have, frankly, been afraid to hear the answer.

Suz

suzjohnson":npy6u30w said:

Beardednoob":npy6u30w said:

Just thought I would add, went into the local petsmart. Looked into the small cricket bin and there were literally 1-2k dead crickets all in a pile. Seems there may have been some effect in my area. (SLC Utah). Perhaps it was something else though (Heat?) :?

Click to expand...

Or poor husbandry. I've wanted to ask if they clean out the bin before dumping in a new shipment but have, frankly, been afraid to hear the answer.

Suz

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I thought about this but, it appeared they were dumped in dead already. :?

Beardednoob":nrfgl4lo said:

suzjohnson":nrfgl4lo said:

Beardednoob":nrfgl4lo said:

Just thought I would add, went into the local petsmart. Looked into the small cricket bin and there were literally 1-2k dead crickets all in a pile. Seems there may have been some effect in my area. (SLC Utah). Perhaps it was something else though (Heat?) :?

Click to expand...

Or poor husbandry. I've wanted to ask if they clean out the bin before dumping in a new shipment but have, frankly, been afraid to hear the answer.

Suz

Click to expand...

I thought about this but, it appeared they were dumped in dead already. :?

Click to expand...

Oh my heavenly days, that's just awful! Another reason to get them on line or rely on other types of live feeders but WOW is it expensive. Oh well... it won't last forever and it's really nice to see Rufus get so excited about eating his repti and butterworms.

Suz

What the heck?? Maybe this is what happened to mine! I had about 100 smalls and they had adequate water and food and they seemed fine for days and now half are dead. Just...dead. Is there something else I should be feeding my baby beardie or stick to ordering them online and avoiding the local pet stores? It bites because babies eat a ton and that adds up just to have half of them die on me.

its been awhile since ive had to bulk order and i cant remember which company i used to use, but after reading this, which companies do you recommend that you havent seemed to have a prob w/ the virus or biting crix?

I live in Canada and order from www.supercricket.ca and I am extremely happy with them. Big juicy healthy brown house crickets. They are the only place I order from.

Kalyn

You may want to switch to roaches. Dubia's are great but at the last reptile show here in Charleston, SC, there were at least two Bearded Dragon breeders who found that Madagascar hissing Roaches made great feeders for Bearded Dragons. You may want to contact the breeder at https://post.craigslist.org/manage/2584434489 . This listing is for G. oblongata's but he is also offering G. portentosa's which breed a lot faster and are less expensive. With all the different size nymphs in the colony, there is always a size that is appropriate for your particular lizard .

More than a year ago, I heard about the Cricket virus which has indeed wiped out several Cricket operations here in the States. My son Thomas raised Veiled Chams and it was my gig to raise the feeders. We had learned to raise Crickets in addition to a lot of other bugs. At the time, I was getting crickets from Mike at Premium Crickets in Georgia and they seemed to do very well. When I heard about the virus, I told Thomas that, since our cricket colony was not infected yet, we should be careful to to NOT put them at risk by bringing in new crickets. And for over a year now we have kept a cricket colony(of waxing and waning size) going even though he has not had but one or two lizards to feed for about a year now.
I talked with Mike two months ago and he said that so far he has been spared the viral infection but had heard of several suppliers who had been put out of business after many years of operation.
You may want to get your crickets from Mike at Premium Crickets at http://www.premiumcrickets.com/ Tell him Sam in charleston says "hello".
If you have had Cricket die-offs you have to treat this as a biocontamination issue and take steps to not get your new shipments(presumably healthy) infected too. I would expect this Cricket virus to be about as contageous as the common cold which is very contageous. so take appropriate measures to decontaminate everything.
Also consider other kinds of feeders - keeping in mind that, besides not being left with nothing to feed your animal, variety is important for any animal's health. Even though Crickets are a great staple or a great addition for variety, tropical roaches are probably the best all around solution and they are certainly easier to breed.

I recently ordered some crickets from Bassets I think. They were the new super mutant crickets but I have to say I really don't have many complaints about them. Almost all of them were alive upon arrival and I have had less die than the other crickets. They haven't bit Dexter or me. They are quiet. They are huge and juicy. Dexter doesn't have to eat as many. The only problem is that they don't move as much as the other crickets did so I have make them move in the bowl to get Dexter's attention. I can see how it might be a problem for smaller reptiles or baby beardies but for my 6 month old they seem fine.

SOOOOOOO glad i clicked on this me and my mother have been wondering why are crickets are dying so fast when we get them i thought it was because they were older but def no way all of the crickets i've bought from various places were old lol thank you SO much for posting this and i am SO glad they won't hurt my babies!!! Thanks again