My Cricket Experience

[DeweysMom]

So, I've only been in the world of crickets for about a week now, but I gotta share how I feel about them. First of all, I started out with a bulk box of 500 from Ghann's because I was concerned about getting 1,000 only to have them die off because Dewey wasn't eating due to relocation stress. Thankfully, his appetite for crickets is starting to pick up so they should start moving now.

Anyway, when the box arrived and I opened the flap of the box there were probably about 50 of them right there crawling out towards me. At first this kind of freaked me out so I just put the box in the tub and let them fall out. After a few minutes I smacked the box to get the rest out. There were SO many of them!

I haven't kept them in my room because I have an overly curious dog when it comes to new smells and sounds so I haven't heard any noises, but the smell so far is no where near what I was prepared for. All the horror stories of how awful they smell had me pretty nervous, but so far (knock on wood) there is no terrible odor. I mean, they don't smell like a bouquet of roses, but I could have them in my bedroom with me and the smell would not bother me at all.

I've had them for about a week now and today I decided I'd do the cleaning. I had a 2nd tub set up right next to the one they're in right now and I slowly transferred them to the clean tub. I lost only 1 cricket (that I saw anyway) when it jumped out, but it was quickly caught and put back in the tub. The rest the process went very smoothly and it was surprisingly easy and quick. It only took me about 20 minutes and that's including trying to catch the stragglers left in the dirty tub.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that if this is as bad as it gets I should be ok with crickets for a while. I'd still like to get a dubia colony going, but for now I think crickets will suit me and my schedule.

 

[kevindeeley12]

Crickets arent TERRIBLE insects, they are better than some, but worse than some as well. Compared to dubia roaches, cricket odor is terrible lol, they make a huge mess and the mess alone stinks. I don't really find bugs that stinky, you kind of get used to them, but to people that are not used to the smell, they STINK lol. If crickets end up working out for you, maybe you should breed them, but I would recommend Dubia's.


- Kevin

 

[sbattisti]

I must admit, I've had my crickets for about a week, and they STINK TO HIGH HEAVEN. There is NO way I'd have them in my room. Ick.

Now, granted, I got them in the middle of the huge cold snap here, and there were lots of dead ones to begin with, so that couldn't of helped. But I've definitely begun to glance at the dubia bin with unfettered tenderness, urging them to reproduce quickly, while I breathe through my mouth and pick out crickets for Khalil...

 

[ajkry2]

dubia colonies are easy to keep going, but kinda pricey on the onset. the sooner you start, the sooner your colony will be ready to feed out of. good luck

 

[MyBeardedDragonBuddy]

Crickets do have a horrid smell I've never kept dubias but my cricket cage stinks very bad

 

[ajkry2]

I'm a big dubia advocate. I have a ton of links and a little experience if you ever want to head that way. crickets are cheap and easy to keep in bulk but they are just so gross *EDIT vomit smiley gone in place of the word gross*
when my dragon grew up i was happy to switch to supers (although the colony isnt going as well as i'd hoped :lol:

 

[sbattisti]

You know, I could really do without ever having to see the "vomit smiley" again.

But that's just me.

 

[ajkry2]

You know, I could really do without ever having to see the "vomit smiley" again.

But that's just me.

:laughhard: :lol:

i for one, kind of like it but for you, my friend i'll edit it out :mrgreen:

 

[GoFast]

You know, I could really do without ever having to see the "vomit smiley" again.

But that's just me.

 

[gizmo17]

i got silkies as a staple they dont smell the best but they are easy to take care of and make no noise and my gizmo likes them so thats all that matters :mrgreen:

 

[DeweysMom]

I find it kind of interesting how different people view cricket keeping. Last night I did my second bin cleaning and I still don't find the odor to be offsenive. I know that I have sinus issues and can't really smell as well as "normal" people so that may be part of the reason. If that's so, I'm glad (for once) that I have these sinus issues!

In any event, I'm sure cleaning the bin will get old eventually, but as of right now I don't mind it at all. We'll see how I feel next year at this time though. :lol:

 

[wes]

Well, the type of enclosure makes a big difference, too. I had kept a small number of crickets in a small enclosure and the smell was much worse than 500 crickets in my current enclosure, which is 1/2 of a 29 gallon glass aquarium. The other half has peat moss and plants, so I'm sure that helps with the smell, too.

The other thing with crickets that I don't like are the dead ones that almost always appear, the back legs that come off and are laying around, the deformed crickets with a big eye, and just the overall cleaning of the cage. Last week I picked up two dead ones. One looked like it had been chewed on and the other had a bubble of blood (I guess) coming out its back. And they have plenty of protein available, so I don't know what happened there. Yuck!

 

[weewane]

Well I think they stink pretty bad as well after you have had them for a while specially if you breed them or keep large numbers. I have a colony of about 500-700 that I started in nov. I have hatched 4 batches of crix now and it is kinda time consuming and not as easy as I was hoping. I started with 24 crix for the first hatch and got about 400-600 babies. My next batch I increased the colony to about 100, and got I am guessing 1500 babies did the same on next batch. Now this last batch I bought a box of 1000 and let them lay for 4 days I am waiting for them to hatch now but expecting alot of babies.I can say that the crix and there poo is not where the smell comes from although they dont smell great, it is the crix that die off that smell horrible. If you go threw and clean the dead ones out every other dayor so it will help alot on the smell.
Ohh I have my colony in a shed in my back yard so I dont deal with the smell. And I am gonna order me some dubia hopefully in the next week or 2 and breed them and get rid of the crix. From what I have read the roaches are much better food and easyer to maintain and breed.

 

[AndyAMP88]

I've never had a problem with the smell of crickets either. I just think if you simply keep up the hygiene of the container, then it's not a big deal. And I bred them so I've had plenty. :roll:

 

[DeweysMom]

Is it to late to change my mined on crickets?

I'd been ordering the 3/8" crickets up until my last shipment when I got the 1/2". I must say the difference between the 1/2" and 3/8" is HUGE! Not only are they bigger and uglier, but now I'm definitely getting a nasty odor. I do keep up with bin cleanings, but it's not helping all that much.

Luckily, I did finally get my dubias on order. I should have them by the end of the week, but until the colony is up and going I'll be stuck with these ugly and stinky crix.