Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, here's my delema,

the crix i got for my BD are stinking up my room big-time, so i can't even keep them in the house any more, and i live in AZ where right now it's 105 degrees outside, and the crix will die fast out there.

Any methods of controlling the smell that anyone can recommend?

My other option was to just switch my BD almost completly to veggies, and occasional crix and mealworms. At wut age is this safe to do? It might actually be cheaper for me that way.
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My baby Beardie!(aka the Fugative)

I live in AZ as well... How many crickets are you keeping, what size of a container, and how are you keeping them in the container?
I keep anywhere from 1000 to 5000 in a large clear sterilite container ( no lid - if they are kept with a lid, they will stink much faster, and the clear sterilite containers is impossible for them to climb, so no escapes)with egg crates cut in half to give them hiding places and to keep them from over crowding each other. No substrate on the bottom.
Once a week I clean the cricket container out by shaking off all the egg crates and tipping the container so all the crix and waste/dead bodies go to one side of the container. Then i put a couple of pieces of egg crate back in and take a small dust pan and scoop up the waste/dead bodies. Live crix do get scooped up too, but they usually jump right off (dont take the dust pan out of the container until all of them have jumped off or you push them off) and then dump what I scooped up. It usually takes 4 scoops to get everything.
After that, I replace the orange slices and put their food dish back in. If you use orange slices, they should be replaced daily, if they are not eaten completely they can start to mold/ferment and cause a bad smell as well.

Hope this helps.

ive got just 500 at a time in a 5 gallon paint bucket.
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My baby Beardie!(aka the Fugative)

There is nothing you can do about crix smelling. I think they are totally stinky.

I would either switch to a better container (like the sterlite one or a 10 gallon aquarium) or switch to silk worms....I just started keeping them and they don't smell at all. They also cant escape and my beardie (who is just a baby now and not so good at catching the crix just yet) LOVES them.

The down side is that they are more expensive but also grow much larger than crickets so eventually you will need less worms.

Please don't switch off crix all together, they really need the protein, much more than veggies will provide. Maybe just feed silkworms and occasional crix (you could get them at the pet store...I usually buy 50). Meal worms definitely have more chitin (which is very hard to digest). Superworms are better than meal worms and they don't smell. ( I have kept them and they are easy to keep....a sterlite container with some wheatbran and a moisture source like potato or something (changed daily). My Beardie loved the superworms (I would make sure your beardie was an adult before you started feeding them...chitin levels).
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Hangin with the Herps
ZZ

I keep 1000-2000 crickets in a large rubbermaid container with no lid. They can't climb the sides and leaving the lid off helps it to continually air out. I keep the whole thing in the floor of a closet so it's out of sight and no one has to worry about it.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)