Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 11 geckos, 3 basilisks, 3 bearded dragons and 2 chameleons...We need to keep a lot of crickets on hand!

I order 1000 a month but they always seem to die and the dead ones go rotten and moldy very fast which require lots of cleaning and deaths of the other crickets...I lose probably 500 out of the thousand then I have to go buy them at outrageous prices til my next shipment of 1000 comes in....

ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO KEEP CRICKETS ALIVE AND HEALTHY????

Right now they are in a giant rubbermaid tub which is next to a baseboard heater that keeps them warm...they get fed carrots that sit on a plate on the inside.

Are you providing a separate water source other than the carrots?

in addition to the question about another water source other than carrots... what else are you feeding them? is it only carrots?

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.1 Hermit Crab (Kerby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

Yup, just carrots that's all I was ever told...but that's not why they are going moldy...I just need a knowledgable person to tell me how to care for these damn things.

the reason i believe you are losing crickets is because they aren't getting much of a diet by just eating carrots. they need a high protein diet with some variety. sometimes, if they don't get this, they will resort to trying to eat each other... and crickets do mold fast, so i know it's not the carrots also, if your crickets get a lot of nutrition other than what they receive from carrots, they'll survive faster.

first off, make sure the temperature doesn't get over 85F coz that's when the crickets will start to become blackened, wet, and then die off in large numbers. secondly, your water source is fine... a variety of carrots, oranges, and green leafy veggies are good, but you can always stick to one of those. your food source should consist of either rolled oats, bran, or unmedicated chicken feed. rolled oats can be found pretty cheap at the store and chicken feed is around 15cents a pound at the feed store near my house. You could also try making a mixture of dried dog or cat food or crushed dog or cat dry biscuits - i heard those work pretty well. you can mix and match any of these so not only are they getting the high nutrition count that they need to survive longer, you are also gutloading them to make your lizards healthier

make sure cleaning products are kept away from your crickets. When crickets are dead on their backs, they have been poisoned.

hopefully this helped you a little bit... let me know how it goes and i hope u get more help from other folks on this forum

[aimEe]

PS: i heard that you shouldn't use corn based products that get moist and humid for your crickets. that generates toxic bacteria that can make your leos sick~

take care!
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.1 Hermit Crab (Kerby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

First thing..What size crix are you buying? They only have a life cycle of a few weeks (6 or 8 can't remember which one at this moment) so if you are buying adult crix, you are buying them at the end of their lifecycle, so they won't last as long.

Second..feed them more than just carrots. My crix get whatever salad mix I am feeding the beardies and torts that day (dark leafy greens, carrots, squash, etc), plus they get Gerber Mixed Fruit Dry baby cereal, powdered fat-free skim milk, and a little calcium dust. Occassionally theyn get a little dog or cat food mixed in too but I dont give that alot.

Third, keep the egg crates they come with as long as they are not nasty, Place those in with rubbermade. I also use papertowel and toilet paper rolls. THe more surface area they have to move the happier they are. I don't use any substrate in the bottom of the container, it just makes it harder to clean on a regular basis.

Fourth, make sure thier temp is lowered to around 75-80. You might be keeping them too hot next to the heater.

Good Luck.

When you say warm,what is the temp? I would also add some apples to the diet.I keep around 10,000 crickets a week with 1% die off.I keep mine in tubes at 75-78f.You may want to try a differnt cricket breeder.Are you buying large they only live for a few weeks once that big.
Jusy my two cents
Jodi L Aherns
Ground Gecko Freak
612.588.9329
If you want give me a call..
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The problem with crickets are that they are really dirty bugs and second they have a tendecy to walk on top of each other. Here's what a Cricket breeder told me to do to extend the life of my crickets.
1)Take 6-7 egg flats and hotglue them together, this will give them more surface area to move and alot less of the will squish each other.
2)Feed them really good food like chicken mash, good food exentends the life of crickets alot.
3)If the carrots are working for you as a water source stay with them (I never had luck with carrots they mold too quickly for me). You can also use potatoes (don't mold) or go to a craft store and get crystal ice the stuff the use for candles. It's the same stuff they use to make cricket gel out of. If you want you can even add D3 or calcium to the jel, just make sure its not glucose or sucrose based or it will mold.

Well I hope that helps!

Knowzilla
www.knowzilla.com

Maybe it's just that I live in Florida, but potatoes mold for me pretty fast. Since they shouldn't be kept longer than a day or two in a cricket cage, though, it's probably okay--along with other foods.

Anyway, the quickest killer for crickets, for me, is heat and HUMIDITY (oh, and suicide drownings once they're in my vivs). It's the only thing I didn't read already posted, but high humidity will take care of your crix in no time! The giving them space for hiding is also really important, and a varied diet helps a ton. Good luck and let us know what it is when you figure it out
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