How do you get crickets out of the viv?

[RowenJade]

I need a better way this is getting so rediculous. I usually feed mine out of a small tubberware and just let her grab them as they come out, but some still get in the viv, and she will not eat in the feeding bin the other one eats in.

What I ususally do is after 20 minutes or so to make sure she's had her full, or when she seems uninterested I put the small tubberware I use to dust them in back in the cage and use an envelope or piece of paper to shovel them in.

I seriously need some better ideas if there are any...if not I guess I'll have to deal till the roach colony is up n running :roll:

Or I could invent a vacuum that sucks up crickets without hurting them and they could just be emptied back into their bin...

 

[Heffie]

I feed mine in a rubber maid shoe box at the moment... he poops in it too.. i clean it after every use but much easier than catching crickets in the viv. I must admit it helps keep his viv cleaner and when he is done eating I can just dump the leftovers back in the kricket keeper.

 

[Lisafosc]

Hey, One of our dragons is being quiet difficult to feed atm, so I am using a large food bag to dust the crickets in, then putting them into the viv 1 or 2 at a time using the dragon feeding tongs, that way I only have one or maybe two crickets to catch if he wont eat them!

 

[Toothless]

when you say you feed them in a big rubermaid, how do you keep the crickets from jumping out? I'm having an issue with left over crickets too, and they ick me out so I can't touch them.

 

[RowenJade]

Its like a rubbermade I guess...its the same type of material but mainly just like a big plastic tub. They get their baths in that too...occasionally I have a jumper but mostly they don't get out at all.

 

[Heffie]

Honestly, they don't jump that high, it is about ten inches deep and I never had an escapee, not from the tub anyways. I use it for baths as well.

 

[Toothless]

I'm going to try that, my beardie isn't eating in his terrarium, maybe 5 at a time and he has no interest in veggies either. I don't like to chase the crickets around to catch them after.

 

[bmmst1]

To get the crickets out I usually just use a red plastic cup from walmart. Depending what size crickets you have,the small ones can't jump high enough to get out of the cup so I can get 3 or 4 out at a time. I just lay cup down and sorbet them they usually end up jumping into the cup. Hope this helps

 

[bmmst1]

Corner them*

 

[RowenJade]

I had the greatest idea after I took my sleeping pill the other day and surprizingly REMEMBERED it!!!!!!!

I took my cricket vacuum idea, and just put a screen over the hose of my normal vacuum I use to vacuum out their cage before I disinfect it, and tied it with rubber bands. Then I just keep my finger on the on/off button of the hose and turn it off and shake when the hose is over the little container I use to feed them!! (it doesn't kill them my vacuum has a setting that switches from hose to floor suction, but still leaves very minimal suction on the hose, but still enough to get them!!)

I think I also cleaned the cricket cage while I was on ambien (my sleeping pill) and I don't even remember it. I found the vacuum over there and there were fresh veggies, more food, and no poo in there and idk how else I would have done it but with the vacuum. I'll let everyone know what happens when I clean it while I'm awake.

Oh the funny things I do while on sleep meds :lol:

 

[changilass]

Hehe I get my best ideas when sleeping too. I have a note pad at the side of the bed to write things down, cos I can't get back to sleep for worrying that I will forget.

Main problem is reading my own sleepy writing.

 

[masontg]

Holy crap that vacuum idea is GENIUS. When you say screen do you mean something like a piece of cheese cloth or something? I get the concept just wondering how the execution really works...

As for me, I hate getting crickets out of the viv too. I take out all the furniture when I'm feeding and place one feeding dish in to catch the calcium dust that comes out with the crickets. I bought a cricket keeper and the tubes on that thing are very helpful when trying to take out the remaining crickets. Just put it right on top of the cricket and they will crawl in after a couple of seconds then just insert the tube back into the cricket keeper and you're done. Sometimes one will crawl back out but it's very rare and if you work fast it will never happen. I'm sure you could do the same with a toilet paper roll with one end closed off, it's very simple.

 

[RowenJade]

That takes too long for me I've also tried that same thing masontg. Just I'm afraid of the crix biting my little girl (she doesn't eat in the seperate bin my male eats in she REFUSES to) and when you're trying to go to work in the morning this just doesn't work.

As for the screen I just recycled the screen that came on the Ghann's cricket farm box of 1,000 crickets I ordered. It was a rectangular piece of screen just like the kind of screen used on windows. I also recycled that screen onto my roach bin lids lol. All I did was take one rectangular piece and tie two rubber bands (actually ones that were recycled from their collard green bunches lol) and made a cover for the vacuum hose with it.
NOTE: Make sure your vacuum is set to low or test it out on a cricket first to make sure it doesn't kill them. Use in short bursts I usually only grab one or two at a time with it, idk how true it is but my husband said they could probably have a heart attack but I'd rather lose a few here and there than have to pick out crickets 3 times a day. :wink:

Any home depot will sell window/door screen, I was going to pick some up but I recycled instead. Good luck

 

[RowenJade]

Oh, and what's cheese cloth? I like using the screen because it lets the cricket poo pass thru and not the crickets. Not that they're in there long enough to poo a lot but I used it again for the cricket bin and it worked like a charm

Might be a great idea for anyone who is SUPER paranoid about parasites getting to their beardie and clean the cricket bin every other day. :mrgreen: