Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went to buy crickets at Petsmart today and they were up to 11 cents a piece so I'm thinking about buying in bulk. I have a large cricket keeper that I currently keep at most 50 crickets at a time in. I have a free ten-gallon tank that I'd put the bulk crickets in.

My question is how many crickets would I easily be able to keep in a 10-gallon tank? Also what would be a good size to buy? The 50 crickets that I normally get last about 1-1/2 weeks. I don't want to get crickets that are really small but I also don't want to get crickets that are too old and will die before most of them get eaten.

Thanks for any advice.

-Toadygirl-

I've had pretty good luck keeping 100 in a 10 gal tank. but I go through 20 or so a day after feeding everybody. If you make it a suitable habitat, the death rate should be low. I say its worth getting them in bulk.

forget the idea you can dump 550-1000 crickets into an aquarium LOL kinda like viewing poopcorn mid pop use a tall sweater box and you can used glossy packing tape to add slick barrior around the top and ukeep your bugs without a lid for ventilation and longevity

The reason I was going to use the 10-gallon tank is because I have two that are empty, I don't need two extras so it seemed like a good use for one of them. It's already got slick sides and it's kept in the basement so, no I wouldn't be watching the crickets. Also telling someone to get a "tall sweater box" isn't helpful. How tall? What gallon/liter size would you suggest and how many crickets could I put in it? Why exactly would using a sweater box be better than the tank that I already have?

-Toadygirl-

Something like a 53 liter(generally about 15X24 and a bit over a foot deep).....I am going by memory. Trouble with tanks is crix climb the silicone, so then you put a lid on...and they cling to the screen and get loose every time you open it. I would bet you can get 500 in a ten gallon, but give them as many layers of egg crate as possible. Layers to hide keep them from eating each other. It doesn't sound like you go through a ton so buying more than a couple hundred may be impractical.
Size wise...think of how many a week you use and figure that crix die at about 7-8 weeks as Large bugs. If you need say, 1/2 inch and will be keeping them more than a couple weeks I would get 1/4 inchers or they will outgrow you. That sort of thing.
-----
Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

You can scrap/trim the silicone from the inner corners of a glass tank with a single edge razor blade....
But emptying a 15x15 square box of crix into a 10 x 20 " 10 gal aq.is challenging if not exciting

When you get your crickets open the box in a large trash bag, shake them all out, grab the egg crates (that they come shipped with) and shake them off in the bag as well. Put the crates in the cage along with some toilet paper tubes. Then pour the crickets from the bag into the cage. Just grab the toilet paper tube when you need some crickets.

You can get 500 in a 10 gallon with the egg crate but it's gonna stink after a few days. Buy younger ones and keep food available and they should be fine. Oh... and I hope you like the sound of 500 crickets chirping =)
-----
Everyone has eaten and everyone has been eaten.

Breeding crickets is super easy also. When I had them I kept them in a 50 or so gallon tank with about 3 inches of moist sand. One end was heated for them to lay their eggs in. Heated with an under tank pad. I would have a large dish that had chicken layer pellets, apples, and oranges in for food and moisture. If you have apples or oranges there is no need for those water crystal things. I would order 500-1000 adults from Fluckers and they would be laying eggs within an hour off being in the tank. The tank was very high with logs for them to hide so I didn't have a problem with them getting out or hanging out on the screens. I have found that using sand as a substrate, they didn't stink. It was great and so easy breeding them myself, not to mention almost free and very interesting. The babies are so cute and grow fast.
-----
Shannon in Reno
2.3 dogs
1.0 cat
Bunch O fancy rats and mice
50 something chickens
1.0 Black rat snake
2.0 Albino corn snakes
0.1 Chissel tooth kangaroo rat
0.1 Rosy Boa
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Amazing Boyfriend