Cricket Care

[SerpentLust]

As many of you know, I'm getting my first pair or trio of lizards for Christmas, some AFT's :D And I've been working with caresheets and such, like any responsible herper would do. lol

And then I realized something...I'm not going to buy like a dozen Crickets a day. So how do I keep maybe a week or two worth of crickets? I know that I have to feed them well and such because whatever goes into my crickets goes into my Gecko. I know I have to dust them with supplements that I can buy at the pet store. I know I can also offer mealies and other such feeders....but I don't know how to keep crickets. lol

Jenn

[Dani33]

I use egg cartons for them to hide in. I feed them dog food and fruits and veggies for water. They are pretty stupid and can drown in just about any amount of water. I keep them in a glass tank w/ screen. A rubbermaid w/ a hole cut in the top and some screen hot glued in is good as well. They shouldn't stink if there is ventilation. Don't get the crate or food wet. I use small aluminum pie dishes to keep the food in(veggies in one and dog food in the other). Room temp is fine to keep them in. I ordered some in bulk from pcpc. I got them young so they can live for awhile. They are pretty easy to keep, have fun w/ your geckos!!!

[ChristinaM]

Hi Jenn. I buy my crickets by the 1000 or 500. This is what works for me.

I keep them in a 10g aquarium with a homemade screen lid on it.
I put in lots of egg carton and toiletpaper rolls/papertowel rolls.

Feeding varies. If I put in carrot, I check every couple days to see if it's gone. If it's not, I remove and put fresh stuff in. They also get all leftover salads from my other lizards, which are removed in 24hrs if not eaten.

Foods that are good: carrots, potato's, salads, reptile pellets, much much more. They do need something with moisture( orange slices are good, I use a small dish filled with cottonballs, and the cotton balls are soaked with water. that way they aren't drowning in water).

What else.....hmmm. I keep them in my basement, which gets about 65F. I wouldn't keep them lower than 55F nor higher than 80F.

I buy one size smaller than what I need, so they live long enough to feed. Adult sized crickets live for about 1-2wks. Adult crickets are NOISY. They are the ones that chirp. I don't like those at all if you haven't caught on LOL.

I do not use any substrate. Some people do. I don't recommend it. It just gets poo'd on and stinky.

HTH.

[UpscaleBoas]

surpent.....have you smelt the cage of 500 crickets at the end of a week.........i 'm shaking now just thinking about....personally i would by the crickets daliy to avoid ever having to smell that again........hell there is much i wouldn't do not to have to smell that again.........lol......this is my grose out thing with reptiles..nothing else can bother me.....i just suggest that before you start to care for the crickets you smell them..........i'm sure your tougher when it some to this stuff then i am...but wow they stink.......................lol...sorry for the rant...the second i read this just had to share.......serpent pls post pic when you pic them up (the lizards not the crickets hahaha)

[ryan337]

If you put bran in the bottom, that will cut down on the smell.

[Dani33]

I find that if there is enough ventilation there isn't a smell. Of course, the enclosure needs to be cleaned and the carton's, rolls etc, thrown out and replaced. It's only when things are wet and moldy that it stinks really bad. It smell a little dusty, that's about it. I myself hate them but do what I have to. They remind me of cockroaches - yuck. They are also cannibalistic. As long as they have enough food, it isn't that big of an issue. Oh, I don't provide any water, I put in new fruits and veggies daily and remove the old stuff. I have a low death rate. It works for me. Good luck.

[SerpentLust]

UpscaleBoas: Yeah I worked in the reptile section at a pet store, the smell isn't THAT bad once you get used to it, and the contained they had them in had like NO ventilation.

Thanks everyone for the pointers, I'm looking forward to my new additions :)

Jenn

[Phox]

Jenn,

I also recommend you buy the crickets in bulk, like 500 or 1000 of them. I used buy crickets from the local petstore here every 3 or so days and it started to become a hassle, and expensive. I was paying $10 us for 100 large crickets every few days. Why pay that when it only costs $15 us for 1000 via mail order. IMO, Crix are pretty easy to care for. Keep them fed with pellets and greens and your good to go :). I figure my crickets get enough water through lettuce so i dont bother with a water dish. And as far as the smell, I keep 1000 in a 10 gallon aquarium and have no issues of smell. The only time I can smell them is if I bury my head in the cage and take a big wiff :p

For pellets, I use T-rex Calcium Plus food for crickets. I also give them romaine lettuce, mustard or kale daily and most of my crickets stay alive.

[eyespy]

I used to keep 2 rubbermaid bins so that I could transfer the bugs into the fresh one and sterilize the one most recently used a couple of times a month. It really cuts down on bacteria growth and odor. Back when I did that I used to order 8-10,000 crix at a time so that bin did kinda whiff if not cleaned every week or two.

[marisa]

It's easy once you get a system. Like eyespy said a double enclosure that you have clean is a big help. Move them from dirty one to clean one. Really helps with smell.

We use cricket water since I have found giving actual water almsot impossible. I feed them any iguana diet (greens, squashes, etc) carrots, potato, sometimes minimal amounts of left over turtle pellets, cricket food....they eat tons of stuff.

Biggest tip IMHO would be create a way to be able to change the food EASILY. the stink created and mess, by rotting leftover food is the worst part. Either use a shallow dish, or something, and change food everyday.

Marisa

[NiagaraReptiles]

I currently stock 3000 - 5000 large crickets a week. I've found that a list substrate does help, not only for asobing the moisture from dead crickets and food items, but also to offer the crickets something beneficial to eat. Bran works well and is inexpensive. I have also found that keeping a 25-40 watt light on the crickets keeps the smell down tremendously as it will dry out the dead crickets quite rapidly instead of letting them rot. This also reduces the chance of a carrion fly problem (they often come in cricket boxes).

Keep in mind that keeping crickets warm and dry will keep them very happy as well, which means this will increase appetite and growth. I'd suggest buying 3/4 size crickets if you are looking for about a weeks supply. That way they still have room to grow and aren't at the end of thier life span when you get them.

Hopefully all of this makes sense.......I'm just starting to get over a rather nasty Influenza bug and I'm not sure my mind is fully functional as of yet ;)

Best wishes,

[SerpentLust]

Thanks NiagaraReptiles :)

It made perfect sense to me, but I'm also getting over that bug! hahaha

In other news, I might be going on your reservation list sometime in the near future for some nice Het Amels and maybe an Amel :)

Jenn

[NiagaraReptiles]

<img src="http://www.niagarareptiles.com/temp/opallaying01.jpg">


My girls just started laying near the end of November and some of them are already developing folicles for a third clutch! I have several first time breeders on the go right now too, and I'm amazed how how well they are doing.

Here's a pic of Opal, my biggest Light Phase Amel, just after laying her second clutch. She was a little upset about me bothering her while she was laying, but I think she is over it ;)

I just love Fat Tails! How could anyone not love them?

[Siretsap]

Niagara, if you ever have more amel babies (the orange phase) keep me on your list, I have a 1.2.3 fat tails at the moment and a very special male. Thing almost looks like a ghost phase to me.
I want amels.

For the crickets, I buy 1000 a week, I keep them in a big rubbermaid with some scott towel as substrat and a lot of egg cartons.
I feed them some oat, carrots, potatoes, celeri, bearded dragon food and some calcium. As for water, I put a water dish filled with scott towel, keeps water and prevents the crickets from drowning.

[SerpentLust]

Damn Niagara :) I wish I lived in the Falls lol I'd come visit you guys everyday until you yelled at me to go away, just sitting there and oggling at your fat tails and freckled monitors lol

Jenn

[NiagaraReptiles]

Siretsap - I expect to see several more Amels hatching this season of several colour phases. I have Amels of different colour phases and three different bloodlines breeding this year as well as several hets from yet another unrelated line.
If you have any questions and/or would like to be added to the reservation list, please send me an email with "reservation list" as the subject.

SerpentLust - Sometimes I have a hard time pulling myslef away from the animals.......it's just too much fun and I have some many projects on the go this year.
The Freckleds are lots of fun......and the babies are growing up so quickly.......

[SerpentLust]

When I get more room I will SURELY be purchasing a freckled, maybe two from you. But as for right now, I'm content with being on your fat tail waiting list lmao

And I know what you mean, I, at the moment, only have two snakes, but sometimes I will just sit in the snake room all day, I just carried a heavy a$$ huge chair into it so that I don't have to sit on the floor! hahaha

Jenn

[varanuskomodoen]

I love stroking the tail of a leo. I could do it for hours.

[varanuskomodoen]

Someone tell me how to breed cricket. PLEASE! Crickets are in higher demand now that I have a bunch of lizards to care for.

[Painted Desert]

I try to keep it simple by using 12grain cereal from the bulk food store as food, a few handfuls of alphalfa to "sweeten" up the container (the crix like it too..) and a fall leaf bin (picture a tarp style garbage can) as my container... nice and light, and requires no screen as it's too high for the crix to jump out... Moisture comes from Canadian Feeders gut load in a pie plate. I will definately try the light bulb idea, as i also have 2,000 crix on hand at any given moment...

[Emily-Fisher]

I have a large critter carrier with papertowel as a substrate, some egg cartons and the gutload. Julie posted an INCREDIBLE pos on gutloading crickets a while ago which I saved to my computer. I suggest that you read it :) Here it is:

Originally posted by Tim and Julie B
While I think that commercial insect gutloads can be beneficial I truly believe that providing them with the things you find at home is easier and cheaper. The added bonus is that you know exactly what you are using and can vary it so that your reptiles have the best advantages of a well balanced feeder insect. It is also important to vary the insects themselves.

Too much calcium can be as harmful as too little, but knowing just how much to use can be hard to determine. Also, you need to take into consideration the fact that females need more calcium, more often, throughout the breeding season. Even females not placed with males will lay eggs (infertile of course). Without proper supplementation the eggs will be very soft and can cause egg-binding, which in turn can lead to death.

Another factor is the role that D3 plays in the absorption of calcium in almost every reptile, whether they are getting it from natural sunlight/reptile lights or from the foods they consume. Leos, being nocturnal, require food sources that provide them with the necessary D3. I believe that it is possible to get D3 from the liver of feeder rodents (pinkies in the case of leos), but the leo has to convert it into a usable form. There's almost no point as they shouldn't eat them often enough for this to be of any use, so we turn to commercial substitues most often found in the calcium supplements themselves.

So here's what I do (now that I've rambled, hope you don't mind). I gut load crickets and mealworms using sliced carrots, apples, orange peels(all the really good stuff is in the pith-white part attached to peel), cucumber,zucchini, romaine lettuce(most nutritional lettuce I think), grape seeds(let them sit out a week to dry then grind them in a coffee grinder and add to fish flakes, a 1/4 tsp. is all you need),small amounts of broccoli stems, high-quality flake fish food(as mentioned), bran, oats(not quick cooking or instant), potato flakes, cornmeal, dry whole-grain cereals, and high-quality dry dog/cat foods(small amounts). I choose 2-3 of the "wet" foods and 2-3 of the "dry" foods and place them in seperate shallow containers(dry in one, wet in another) inside the feeder insect conatiners. I allow them to consume these items for 12-24 hours before offering the insects to my reptiles. I dust the insects once a week with a multi-vitamin supplement(I just switched to miner-all, but love Fluker's and Herptavite too) and provide all of the leos with a shallow dish of calcium/D3 at all times. They are very good at knowing whether or not they need it, and I do not find that they will over-consume calcium. For those leos that don't use the dishes of calcium/D3 as often(all will use it to some extent) I dust their insects once a week with the calcium/D3. I also give them silkworms and the occassional wax worm as well as pinkies, dipped lightly in calcium/D3, to the males once every month and twice a month to breeding females.