Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm not sure it's the right place to post incsect feeders questions but I'll do it one more time,if there's somewhere else please let me know.
I was wondering how important is to take out any dead crickets from the rest of them as soon as you see them,also what problems may occur by leaving them for some time?
Please don't rush into telling me it is of extreme importance cause removing any dead crickets from a box full of crickets and egg cartons daily can be a hussle.
Also what measures do you take to reduce mortality?I can't tell if mine die from something wrong I do or by age or something,I have them for some time now..
Thanks

Hi there,

Well...You may not be doing ANYTHING wrong, but crickets seem to have an extremely high mortality rate. They have perfected the art of dying in large numbers (Lol...massacre!)

*One reason is because of food. Fruits and vegetables(Strawberries in particular) give off toxins after they have been inside a cricket keeper too long, and began to spoil. Of course, the crickets still consume the rotting matter- and die. *Another reason is humidity. Too high humidity tends to increase the chance of bacterial growth or any sort of sickness.
*And last, but certainly not least, is other dead crickets. The cricket corpes began to decay, the other crickets feed on them, they become ill, and vuala! You basically have started the inevideble chain of sickness and death. They began to die in large numbers. So, I really would try to remove all the dead crickets possible (It will reduce the smell- that's a plus!) and possibly lessen the chance of your cricket colony dying off. No rush though.

This is just what I have personally experienced from keeping crickets, I may be totally wrong.

Michele

I think there is a lot of info on keepng crickets, making their bins and feeding them at www.cricketfood.com. I built my cricket bin from their directions and use their cricket and supperworm gutload. Keep in mind, the life span of a cricket is only something like 9-10 weeks. If you are ordering 3/4" or larger crickets they're halfway there when you get them. I keep plastic egg crate in the bottom of my cricket bin and hot melt paper towel rolls or cardboard toilet paper tubes together and place them upright to give the crickets something to climb on. I also leave the cardboard egg crate that the crickets arrive with. I can then lift up the plastic egg crate with the crickets on their "tubes" and clean the dead cricket bodies out from underneath. Alot of the debris is really shed skin-not dead crickets. I keep cricket gutload, a wet sponge and chopped fresh greens in a bowl and wet the sponge and add fresh food every 2 days or as needed. Hope this helps a little bit.
Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

I have read both of your posts and found them extremely educational,
I'll study the second post in more detail later,and also the www.cricketfood.com seems very promising,thanks
Michele I admit I had a good laugh with your post....