first, I would like to state that crickets are vile, smelly, and loud. I would also state that roaches are awesome feeders, since they breed so well, and are highly nutritious(of course this is dependant of what you feed them). I personally will never deal with crickets again, and am in the process of aquiring a small breed of roach. I already have hissers and love them to death.
But hey, lets address your cricket issues, rather than impose my thoughts. crickets love to get the plague and die in mass numbers. once one dies, the smell kills others, and then it grows exponentially from there. Therefore you have to keep them alive. This means it can not be too hot or too cold. They are very temperature sensative. I have kept them (in quanities in excess of 10000) at 78 degrees with no problems. I kept them very dry, but supplied them with enough fruit so that they can get moisture. You need to supply adaquate ventalation, or one dead cricket turns to 500 in 3 days. I used to breed them, and to do that, you supply a container of potting soil that is moist, not soked, not mud, and not dust. They are pretty good breeders i guess(man I hate them). I never had a problem with dieoffs, after I opened up their enclosure for ventalation, made sure the enclosure was dry, and temperature never fluctuated fast, and stayed around 75 - 78 degrees. Crickets are nocturnal, so if you need to heat them, use a heat emitter or a heat pad.
Truth
