What do you do about crickets dieing?

[jmain]

I just got my crickets yesterday (now I have pinhead crickets since my beardie is only a few weeks old if most pet store couldn't give me a good age but I have had him for one day.) Now I know for sure at most I have given him 60 I bought 1500 and I surely don't see 1440 little guys moving around. I'm wondering if they are dieing or I just don't see them. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Claudiusx]

Well it is hard to tell how many you actually have since they are so small and move around so much. But there is always a possibility that they are dieing, just make sure you are keeping them in the proper way and have them housed in a container big enough for the amount of them, plus food and water.

 

[jmain]

Whats the proper way besides the container and food?

I got a lid full of the calicum to feed the crickets then I got the water dish for them. Also the container is a pretty big bin then I also roughed up the sides about half way up so they could climb if they wanted. Like you said I'm hoping that they just moving around a lot because it will be hard to spend $40 every 2 weeks or something if they are dieing at a rapid pace. I'm hoping that 1500 would last at least a month

 

[Claudiusx]

well they also like to have hiding spots, like those egg cartons. Are they in a really hot/cold place? room temperature is probably best for them. If your crickets really are dieing there isn't much you can do if you are doing the best you can to keep them alive. If you feel that not enough are living before they get ate then the easiest thing to do is just buy less at a time.

 

[jmain]

They are in the same room as the bearded dragon so there is a chance that it could be to warm for them but yes I left the piece of egg carton that was sent with them. Now its only my first shipment so they sent me an itty bitty piece but yea I guess all I can do is hope they aren't dieing. I just was wondering if anyone else had any problems keeping them alive or anything like that.

 

[Claudiusx]

Well, im going to do my first 'big' order of crickets online today because i hate going to the local pet store every couple days to get crickets and what not so hopefully someone more experienced about crickets can post and maybe we both will have long living crickets lol.

Viva la crickets! lol

 

[Claudiusx]

Actually I just found this:

http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=110181

 

[jmain]

basically crap (so im not censored) can happen and you just got to pray man this sucks I don't want to be having to order crickets like crazy but will if I have to

 

[AK3]

ughh i have the same exact problem!!! i hate crickets and im actually looking into an alternative meat source. i buy about 120 at a time and they last me around a week. i just bought a new rubber maid tub, and they have tons of egg carton to hide in. plus i give them the greens i feed my beardie. make sure that wherever they are, the tub is well venilated. the pet store where i got my dragon from said that if the "fumes" can't get out, that can also be another contributer to the death factor. i dont have much luck with them either, but my dragon isnt picky and eats dead ones too. good luck!

AK3

 

[ddma]

i've been keeping crix for about 5 mos now, no smells and i do not have alot that die. i keep my crix in a
18 qt rubbermaid tub top cut out with screening glued to it. i clean my keeper every other day and replenish with fresh food. i remove all egg crates and paper towel holders sweep bottom of keeper with
small mini dust pan and broom (walmart 2.00) The crix will move out of the way. then i throw in the food , gerber mixed grain baby food (flakes0, Fish food flakes , fluker's orange cubes, sweet potatoe , carrots orange slices, any greens and veggies that i feed my dragons. replace the egg crates and paper towel holders.

 

[peera]

I had this problem until I started ordering them from Ghann's. All my crickets would be dead within a week and a half with every other company I've used (And I've been through at least 4 at this point), my last shipment from Ghann's I think I had 10 deaths out of 1000, they lasted for almost 3 weeks. It is very important to remove the dead ones or they'll kill the rest. But, I ordered 1000 roaches from theroachguy this week, so hopefully within 3 months I'll be off crickets completely! I can't wait!

 

[Neromom39]

When we were having trouble keeping crix alive, we found it was a temp issue. Crix will eat just about anything, so feeding them was never an issue. Once we moved them to a cool, dry place we had less die off.

 

[jmain]

I figured it was a temp issue since they were in the same room as my bearded dragon. I removed them from that room and they are in a different room now. They seem to be doing fine but ever with 1 week old crickets its hard to tell how many I got you know.

 

[meds081603]

Did you say you have a water dish for the crickets? You never want a water dish with crickets. You want sponges or water crystals or something along those lines. Crickets (especially ones that small) easily drown. If you must use a water dish you need lots of things in the water for them to climb out. This could be the source of lots of dead crickets.

 

[nena]

I think i might've accidently killed many of my crickets too! I received my order of 1000 crix last thursday i fed them the orange cubes daily and they ate those pretty quick i stored them in a big rubbermaid container but i kept the lid on! (well it wasn't tight shut so i thought it was ok)... so yea come this morning almost all of them are dead and Charlie won't eat the dead ones!! so i just placed my order for 500 crix this time and i'm planning on drilling holes on the top of the lid... im just afraid of them escaping if i leave the lid off... is that a good strategy? now i didnt take the dead ones out... so does that mean that now the little live ones i got are infected??? i need to feed charlie until friday when the new crix arrive... can i still feed him the lives i got living with the dead ones now??

now another question... are the worms and roaches really easier to handle than the crix? im freaked out about all insects but crix in particular because they jump and are small so they make me really afraid of coming near them (hence the nonremoval of the dead ones...) help!!