Cricket Keeper (Large) smells

[NosyBe15]

Hey Everyone.

Even though I only buy about 50 medium crickets at a time, and completely clean out the cricket keeper every week, I have noticed after a few days, usually tuesday (I buy sundays) that the cricket keeper just stinks. I guess the little guys are smelly.

Anyone have any ideas to keep the smell down? I live in an apt, and dont have a patio, or anything outside where I could place them without worrying about it being stolen.

I was thinking about setting them in a drawer with an open thing of baking soda??? Would that work? I dont want to use any type of air freshener, I dont want to contaminate the crickets and hurt my cham.

Any other ideas?

 

[deadhd5]

Ditch the cricket keeper, it does not have adequate ventilation to keep the smell down. Buy a large rubbermaid storage tote and screen all four sides and the top with aluminum mesh. The added airflow keeps everything dry and drastically reduces the odor.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Feed your crickets a little fresh parsley, for a fresh smell.

 

[winterbones]

In my opinion I've always found that crickets smell, regardless of what I've kept them in! Make sue to clear out any uneaten food every day and try to clean out the poop every few days as well as replace any cardboard tubes etc

 

[juice28]

i have a keeper..works because im not buy 100's of crickets..maybe 20-30..ive had other things too when i was keeping 20 tarantulas and some geckos and a few frogs... totes crates..small fishtank... and honestly..they just stink lol..i use citrus peels, mainly grapefrut or lemons to absorb/mask odor and they munch on um to..doesnt stop it but it helps..a bit

 

[Tyaeda]

I don't know if it's ok to do or not, but I put a small amount of wood chips / hamster bedding, in the bottom.... not very much, just a small handful is all I use, and it seems to help. Removing day old food, and egg cartons seem to help too. You know, I can still smell them when I open the lid, but I can't smell them all over my house like some people can.

 

[Yak]

oops sorry wrong reply thanks

 

[CLP]

As far as I'm concerned, crickets just stink! I keep mine in rubbermaid bins. I have two that I switch them between weekly to keep the smell down. When I switch them, they get new egg crates and a fresh, clean and disinfected (with 10% bleach solution) bin. Even then, it only takes about 3 days before I can smell them again - YUCK!!! Of course, I am buying them in 1,000 lots, so there's a lot of them at any given time. More crickets, more smell

All you can do is keep their enclosure well ventilated and clean, and change the egg crate frequently. Other option: switch to roaches. They don't smell (well, I find they have a faint sweetish smell, but nothing close to the crickets), can't climb smooth plastic and don't chirp!

 

[kgallego]

Hey Everyone.

Even though I only buy about 50 medium crickets at a time, and completely clean out the cricket keeper every week, I have noticed after a few days, usually tuesday (I buy sundays) that the cricket keeper just stinks. I guess the little guys are smelly.

Anyone have any ideas to keep the smell down? I live in an apt, and dont have a patio, or anything outside where I could place them without worrying about it being stolen.

I was thinking about setting them in a drawer with an open thing of baking soda??? Would that work? I dont want to use any type of air freshener, I dont want to contaminate the crickets and hurt my cham.

Any other ideas?

Ditch the cricket keeper, it does not have adequate ventilation to keep the smell down. Buy a large rubbermaid storage tote and screen all four sides and the top with aluminum mesh. The added airflow keeps everything dry and drastically reduces the odor.

Ditch the crickets and start a dubia roach colony, lol.

 

[Yak]

try using EUCALYPTUS branches with leafs UNDERNEATH your tote. Trust me it will overwhelm and absorb much of the smell.

 

[kj9]

try using EUCALYPTUS branches with leafs UNDERNEATH your tote. Trust me it will overwhelm and absorb much of the smell.

That's an awesome idea. We breed our crickets & thankfully have a utility room to keep them in so the smell doesn't get out into the rest of the house, but I've been trying to figure a way to keep the smell down in that room.

 

[chelms865]

I was told that organic cat litter pellets work well if you are keeping 100 or less. The one in specific is made of corn. You may want to research that and you certainly don't want the type of cat litter that has extra chemicals in it as will transfer over to your reptile.