Keeping crickets alive

[nickmcd63]

i am struggling to keep the crickets i buy alive. Over half of them die every time. I have a seperate 20 gallon tank for them with sand, 2 pieces of cardboard, and usually i put an apple in there but it gets old in a couple hours...Do you guys know anything i can do to stop wasting money with dead crickets?

 

[ScooterBlenny]

How many crickets are you putting in there?

 

[nickmcd63]

it depends...last night i only put in 20 and now there are only like 8 left

 

[NegativeCreep]

Hm.. I can keep up to 500 1/4" crix in a 10-gallon tank..

First, I would ditch the sand. It's totally unnecessary and gross, really. It may be that the sand is doing something bad, but I doubt it. Do you keep any water sponges or water crystals in there for them? I would guess that an apple would supply enough hydration, but maybe not..

Are you getting large crickets? It could be possible that they are at the end of their life-span.

In my tank, I keep a 'dish' of water crystals, a smaller dish with beardie pellets for food, and a small paper plate with the same greens I feed Blaze. They actually eat more greens than she does. I used to put in potatoes, but since Blazey eats greens now, I just use those.. If I have a potato or two that's gone too far for me to eat, I still throw pieces of them in.

It could also be that the crickets that you are getting are simply unhealthy, but I hope not..

 

[nickmcd63]

Hm.. I can keep up to 500 1/4" crix in a 10-gallon tank..

First, I would ditch the sand. It's totally unnecessary and gross, really. It may be that the sand is doing something bad, but I doubt it. Do you keep any water sponges or water crystals in there for them? I would guess that an apple would supply enough hydration, but maybe not..

Are you getting large crickets? It could be possible that they are at the end of their life-span.

In my tank, I keep a 'dish' of water crystals, a smaller dish with beardie pellets for food, and a small paper plate with the same greens I feed Blaze. They actually eat more greens than she does. I used to put in potatoes, but since Blazey eats greens now, I just use those.. If I have a potato or two that's gone too far for me to eat, I still throw pieces of them in.

It could also be that the crickets that you are getting are simply unhealthy, but I hope not..

I do buy the large crickets because they are only a penny more, but no i do not have any water crystals or spunges...i do have beardie food pellets i could put those in there

 

[NegativeCreep]

I started feeding them to my crickets since I had them, and Blazey wouldn't touch them! I figure they would be the healthiest if they ate what my beardie needs to eat!

 

[slantedii]

#1...do you wash the apple? Almost all vegetation has some sort of pesticide on them, so first thing is wash it. I found out the hard way with 200 small crix as a new owner. I usually use a baby romaine mix and put it in there, they eat it like crazy.
#2...if it gets too cold they will die, and if there isnt enough surface area for all the crix to hide and move (lots of egg cartons) they will live shorter lives too. I could get mine to live a long time, but i was feeding and taking out old food every other day. do the smart thing everyone is talking about and get roaches.

 

[nickmcd63]

#1...do you wash the apple? Almost all vegetation has some sort of pesticide on them, so first thing is wash it. I found out the hard way with 200 small crix as a new owner. I usually use a baby romaine mix and put it in there, they eat it like crazy.
#2...if it gets too cold they will die, and if there isnt enough surface area for all the crix to hide and move (lots of egg cartons) they will live shorter lives too. I could get mine to live a long time, but i was feeding and taking out old food every other day. do the smart thing everyone is talking about and get roaches.

Where do you get roaches??

 

[NegativeCreep]

I plan on getting mine from theroachguy.com, he sells supplies, in addition to roaches.

 

[slantedii]

Bestroach.com sells pretty high quantities at low cost.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

i got my dubia from best roach. . . as far as crickets go, they are prob dehydrated and as a result they die. . . each time i get crickets i throw in a hand full of greens, and some water crystals. . . if you dont have water crystals you can use some cotton balls in a dish with some water in it. the cotton keeps them from drowning.

you dont need substrate or anythign just egg cartons

 

[jckevns]

i buy a couple dozen crickets at a time seems like they get eaten so fast i never have any dead ones lol
i feed them flucker's cricket quencher they seem to like it and its good for my beardie too

 

[patrickb]

First thing , make certain you are removing the dead crickets. This can create a chain reaction of deaths in there. Second, go get some el cheapo dogfood from the store and keep that in with them as a protein source. They are very cannabalistic and a high protein food helps to keep them from munching on each other. Instead of the two pieces of cardboard, get yourself a few cardboard rolls from paper towels. The crickets need as much hiding space as possible as well. As for the water source, if you don't have access to water crystals, then try using carrots instead. They won't mold or dry up like the apples will and make a better moisture source (plus they are cheaper).

Also, do you have good ventilation in the tank? Crickets need a good amount of ventilation to survive as well. If all those things are being done, then it could be that you are just getting old crickets that are already at the end of their life cycle. It happens....

As for the roaches, do a search for "dubia" here in the forums and read up on them. They are so much easier than crickets it's ridiculous. Either of the two previously mentioned dealers for roaches are great guys and offer good service. You can't go wrong doing business with either one of them.