how come my crickets arent growing??

[danny662boy]

does anyone know why my crickets arent getting any bigger?? i ordered 1/8" crickets from premium crickets .com bc i read that they grow the next size up in about 3-4 days?? it has been almost a month, and there really small still?? i have about 250-300 in a plastic rubbermaid container, the container is about a foot tall, a foot long and 8-10 inches wide?? is that too small of an enclosure?? i have a 5 gallon tank, that im thinkin bout putting them in or buying a bigger rubbermaid container??? they eat baby cereal and flukers orange cube cricket complete diet??

 

[patrickb]

That container size is fine for those size of crickets. You will need a larger container for them though for their next growth spurt. The fact that they haven't grown could be two things. Temperature is very important. If you keep them too cool they will grow much slower, and even die off if it is too cool. Aim for about 90-95 degrees Farenheit for their temperature for optimal growth. The big thing I see right now is what you are feeding them. That is a VERY low protein diet (~3.25% protein roughly) They won't be able to grow without protein and I am surprised you aren't seeing a large number of them "disappearing" due to cannibalism. Get some el cheapo dogfood with a 20%+ protein content and start feeding them that along with the Flukers. They will be growing faster than you want in no time.

 

[beardie parents]

One of the suppliers I get my crickets from mentioned to me when I called them was that temps that are to hot can kill the crickets, just like to cold temps can. He mentioned to me that the temps for crickets should be between 60 and 70 farenheit

 

[patrickb]

One of the suppliers I get my crickets from mentioned to me when I called them was that temps that are to hot can kill the crickets, just like to cold temps can. He mentioned to me that the temps for crickets should be between 60 and 70 farenheit

Yes, they will die off if they get cooked, but that is around 105-110 degree's before you start seeing that happen, as you tend to need a lot more crickets breeding to produce quotas for certain amounts and size ranges. 60-70 range is very slow growing for crickets and your supplier most likely keeps them at this range to slow down their production. Crickets are cold-blooded and their metabolic rate is regulated by their temperature. The cooler you keep them, the longer it takes for them to grow and die. Temperature is the main method to control their growth rate when you have either too many or too few. If you need more, bump the temps up and they grow and reproduce much faster. If you have too many and want to salvage them, drop the temps lower to around 58-60 degrees and they will slow down in growth a lot.

This is more easily observed indirectly through food consumption. If you take a certain amount of crickets and divide them in two, keep one group at 60 degrees and one at 95 degrees then feed them the same amount of food. The ones kept hotter will consume the food MUCH faster than the ones kept cooler.

 

[danny662boy]

can i throw cat food in there??

 

[patrickb]

Absolutely. Cat food is quite high in protein and will work just fine. I stay away from cat food myself just because it usually contains fish products which seem to help contribute to more stink. Crickets do just fine stinking on their own. It will work just as good as the dog food though.

 

[NegativeCreep]

Yeah, bump the temps in there, and they will go crazy. I put ours in a tank that happened to have a uth already, so I plugged it in. They grew and ate so quickly, and even started breeding. I ended up with crix too big to feed Blazey!
But.. if that's what you want...
Try a human heating pad, it should do the job just as well.

My crickets grow pretty quickly. I no longer turn on the heating pad! I feed them beardie pellets, greens, and water crystals. I clean the tank out every other day, and change/replace food and water as well.
hmm...

 

[danny662boy]

beardie pellets ?? or gutload??? which is better?

 

[NegativeCreep]

I have read, somewhere, that there are certain foods that will actually fill the stomach of a cricket, and plug them up, so that way their stomachs are completely full.. er.. loaded. You would have to remove some crickets from the mass and do this a day or so in advance.

I don't do that.
I think that as long as your crickets are fed nutritiously, they will be nutritious for my baby!

 

[danny662boy]

how bout egg crates in the enclosure?? will that prevent them from eating and getting bigger? bc once i take the egg crates out... they seem to be on the greens, the cricket food, cubes, cat food etc?? instead of hiding??

 

[mudcats70]

hey, well i u have the wright size rubber made container for the crickets but you have to have the right temp and the right food witch sound like u have it down. Put the temp to around 85 it has alwyas worked for me. Hoped this helped.
MUDCATS70

 

[danny662boy]

ok i'll try it.. the container is 16.7"x 11"x10.8" and there are about 200-250 1/4" 3/8" crickets (more 1/4 inch)