So i buy about 500-1000 crickets a week depending on how hungry my babies get. My question is what is the best way to clean out the cricket keeper without killing all the ones still alive? Normally if i touch or pick up the egg crate they all jump off or scatter. Any suggestions? how do you guys keep yours clean without killing them all? and how often do you clean yours?
I would say to either invest in another critter keeper, and carefully pour them into it for cleaning.
Or you can place the keeper with the crickets in the fridge for about 10 minutes, this will cause the crickets to become very slow moving, and much less "hoppy," then it's just a matter of picking up the egg crate they are on and putting them in a plastic baggie (with air, or air holes) or something similar while you clean the keeper out.
I used a 20g tank when I kept crickets. Housing on one side and food on the other. I used a sawdust bedding (the kind you buy for rabbits at the pet store). On cleaning day, I'd remove the food, and shoo all of them to the housing and replace the bedding on one side. Then I'd move the housing to the fresh side and shoo them over to the housing again and replace the bedding on the second side and then put the housing and food back.