HOW DO YOU KEEP CRICKETS TO STAY ALIVE !!??

[jargonchipmunk]

there's a guy on ebay (I'm sure he has a storefront elsewhere on the web) that I bought 1000 crix from for $18 shipped. Now, I buy them from a local feeder shack for $21/1000, but I work all day and can't be there to get them from the delivery guy, so it's a better option for me.

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

$21 for 1000 ? wow thats good deal !! I wish they had good deals around here !
So how long does 1000 usually last you ?

 

[jargonchipmunk]

used to last me a couple weeks. not any more :shock: I also feed 3 leopard geckos out of it, but the beardies eat... well, lots. I usually offer one meal of phoenix worms as well, but if it's an all-crix day, a couple hundred in a day for the two of them isn't unheard of.

 

[DragonsInKansas]

God Bless Frick and Frack. If you don't have anyplace around you that sells in bulk, you can even ask your petshop. Before I found my local insect provider I had the manager at the local petland ordering in bulk for me. Ordering online works too if you have someone at home to accept them during the day....or an apartment complex that won't freak out about having them in the office......

 

[BeardieBaby69]

Ok I had to tell you about the great deal i got. Go to Flukerfarms.com . I got 1000 large phoenix worms ( they call them Slodier worms) and 500 circkets for a total (shipping and all) of $36.00 . No kidding. Go check it out. I got them in today , ALL crixkets are alive and jumping! ALL worms are alive and huge !

Its an awsome deal. Check it out. you wont be sorry.

 

[AndyAMP88]

$21 for 1000 ? wow thats good deal !! I wish they had good deals around here !
So how long does 1000 usually last you ?

If you live in California, LLLReptile.com is a great place. $21 for 1000 as well. How long they last depends on how big they are. If they're small, they go fast because the dragon consumes more. My Beardie can now eat large crix so thankfully I feed less. It lasts me around 3-4 weeks. Before it was 2.

 

[imageofeva]

i've gone through the dead crix issue plus i'm cheap and lazy so here is what i did/do:
1.) freecycle.org - read through offers and post wanted if necessary for a 10 gallon tank with screen lid (trust me, not so smelly with wide open screen lid) to house the crickets. i've gotten at least 4 tanks that way (i use them for all my feeders and different sized crix). i've had no prob holding 250, 1inch crix in a 10 gallon in excess of 10 days without above normal casualties
save cricket carrier to feed mj out of so you don't have to get them all out of the tank before bedtime
2.) just like others have said, order in bulk especially for baby. my baby is about 4 months and goes through 500 1/2 inch crix in 10 days. do next day delivery only. i like reptilefood.com because they are awesome especially when you get a dead batch
3.) buy water crystals from beatifuldragons.org. cheap and helps to support great resource and rescue
4.) i'm lazy, i use fluker's feed. bought a 6 gallon container from lllreptile. seriously though, if you used fresh veggies and fruits with crix mj's colors would really pop. did that when i only had fire bellied toads, now its just too much. or if you can buy fish food in bulk, you could combine that with premixed feed...
5.) use lids from things like plastic drink bottles for food and water
6.) save egg crates, paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls for hiding spots
7.) scoop out dead crix every few days. i only have 1-3 that die daily
8.) and the best thing i did was recruit a fellow reptile owner to go in with me on live feeders to help cover the costs. the front end is significantly more expensive but petstores sell their crix for about a 200% markup

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

imageofeva - Thanks alot for all the info !!

I agree with you 100% I am lazy n cheap !! I've been googling online crix farms such as Ghann, Mulberry crix, etc.. .but so far none has met my needs for crickets ! lol
I bought a small crix home/feeder from petsmart.. I dont know if you've seen, but its like a small critter tote with black long tubes, so when I go to feed MJ, all i do is take the tubes out. Pretty cool but the place for the crix is very small.. I just added a water sponge and barely have enough room for 100 crix ! SO Ill check out the recycle web site. Thanx.

But Im definately done with petsmart crix (although I bought 60 on Monday and only 3 has died !). I need to start ordering in bulks but every crix website I've been to, its like theyre cheap but shipping and handling is like at least 9 or 10 bucks so I'm like.. ok I can just go to pestmart down the block for cheaper !! (Laziness & Cheapness) .

Wow I didnt know fruits n veggies n crix would make her color show more ! She hates her veggies and would not touch fruits at all !! Well.. .she'll eat some lettuce here and there when I"m completely out of crickets and she's starving (poor baby) . But shes not there yet where she'll eat it on her own.

And what do you mean by save crix carrier to feed her out of ?? Thats my biggest thing at the moment as I've just switched from sand to towels (for the moment till i can afford tiles).... I'm so paranoid of leaving crix in when she sleeps.. so I spend about literally 30 freaking min to try to catch all the crix out her viv !! and if i cant catch them alive to put them back in their house.... i ehh... kill em !!! lol.

But thanks alot for the info !!! Keep me updated with more goodies !!!!

 

[DragonsInKansas]

A little off the subject of crickets, but tiles are way cheap. If you go to lowes (assuming you have a lowes by you) they sell tiles individually and they cut them for free. I tiled 2 40gallon breeders for $7. And i didn't even get the cheapest tiles, i got slate. So once you get your cricket disaster taken care of (hehe) tile will seem like a breeze.

 

[Delshara]

Petsmart is still more expensive than any crix bulk website.

Here's a comparison (these don't include sales tax):

Petsmart: 10 cents each per live small cricket. If you buy, say 500 smalls from Petsmart, you pay $50.
Ghann's: 500 1/2" crickets are $9.99. Let's say shipping is $10 (2nd day), so total cost is $19.99.

It might be different if you got Petsmart or another pet store to order bulk crix for you to pick up. I've heard of some people that have done this. I just got wary of doing it myself, because I really wanted a clean feeder, and Ghann's has a good reputation so that's why I went with them.

I agree that for some things, say the Kricket Keeper you mentioned, you might as well should go to Petsmart, because to order it from Ghann's makes it cost just about the same with shipping included, or more. But definitely not for feeders. I used to buy bags and bags of crix from Petsmart daily in the early days of having Nero, but realized just how crazy that was for my schedule and the cost was getting really high, especially as he had a big appetite and he was eating 30 - 50 at a sitting.

I'm sorry for being preachy, but I went through this, and I would really, really hate for someone else to have to.

Oh and as far as another container to feed your baby out of: get a largish rubbermaid with a washcloth at the bottom for grip, put your beardie in there, and add their crix/feeders to the rubbermaid. You won't have to mess with crix running around the viv at all ever again!

 

[Wavedancer]

Since you're losing so many crickets I'm wondering if they're getting water???? You can buy the gel so they don't drown. Crickets for some reason think they can swim and they sure can't.

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

Delshara - Thanx for the info ! I tried feeding her crix (when I had sand), in the tub. I didnt have a big enough container to put MJ in.. and the small ones were too small for her. So i'd put her in teh tub.. but she was more freaked out than anything. She didnt chase any crix... she just froze and sat there until I finally gave up and picked her back up. I'll try to container.

No youre not being preachy at all on the crixzz.... trust me since I"ve had MJ... i go straight to petsmart EVERYSINGLE DAY with bags and bags of crix. THen when i'd buy more than 30.. they died the next day !! Im going to ghanns tonight !! If you know about the small crix holder Im talking about... do you think 500 crix in that lil thing would be too much ? I need to start ordering bulks !!
well thanks again =)

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

A little off the subject of crickets, but tiles are way cheap. If you go to lowes (assuming you have a lowes by you) they sell tiles individually and they cut them for free. I tiled 2 40gallon breeders for $7. And i didn't even get the cheapest tiles, i got slate. So once you get your cricket disaster taken care of (hehe) tile will seem like a breeze.

HEY !! only $7 for tiles ?!?!? Really ? I dont have a lowes card !! arrghhh !!
But that was my biggest thing is to pick out the right tiles and getting it cut. But if they cut it for you.. PERFECT !! I need to start hunting for someone who has a Lowes memebrship ! (im with cosco)

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

Since you're losing so many crickets I'm wondering if they're getting water???? You can buy the gel so they don't drown. Crickets for some reason think they can swim and they sure can't.

I've bought a water sponge for the crix. I cant seem to find water crystals anywhere !!! Maybe online I will. But ever since I bought the sponge on Sunday, only 3 crix has died so far !! lol yeah i counted !!!

 

[Delshara]

I don't have the small Kricket Keeper, but I do have two of the large ones. The large ones are advertised as being able to house 500 1/2" crix, but I think it's still too small of a space unless you add a LOT of egg crate pieces. I had to remove two of the long black tubes to make space for the egg crates. The tubes are great but they are tough to clean.

What I ended up doing is, when the 1000 crix order came, open the box over my open rubbermaid (that had egg crates in it already), get the bugs in it, feed/water them, and then transfer some over into a Kricket Keeper. I did this over a bathtub. You can grab any escapees pretty easily this way. Then I'd feed Nero the crix out of the keeper and then replenish from the rubbermaid as needed. I still had to clean out both containers every day, but when you do it that often the process gets easier and easier and you don't end up with a lot of die off.

I don't feed crickets anymore, but the keepers also make great superworm housing.

Oh, and you can buy the water crystals on ebay! I love that stuff.