When i used to use crickets i would get them from a local pet store also, would order 500 at a time and all of them would be alive, and i could keep them for a long time. My cricket container is homemade and allows ventilation from all sides, except bottom of course, this allows the smell to not be present. The reason for most of cricket deaths is the toxins they release when they die (that smell you get when opening the container), so i put screens on all sides and have had no die offs. But now i use Silkworms, and ive got 250 hatchlings, and 3 cocoons right now, going to have moths soon, which means eggs! Will only have to buy food soon, gonna breed my silkies from now on.
