cricket keeping

[wacky22jacki]

I always buy my crickets in bulk about 1,000 at a time - after about a week or two of having them they smell SOOOOO BAD! I was curious if anyone else keeps them in bulk and how you keep the smell away? I do not put any type of substrate down for them - if I did would it keep the smell down? and if so, what kind of substrate?

 

[lisagr07]

The only way I've found to keep the smell down is to do weekly container cleanings, and get rid if the dead ones and old fruits and veggies....
I have 2 10 gallon aquariums that I rotate out weekly... There's still a bit of ell but I place a box of baking soda on top of the screen covering to help...

 

[DELxREPTILESJC]

I gave up on crickets because of this reason. Even in a small container it smells so bad. Also they die so fast its not worth buying a lot for me. Have you tried small dubias?

 

[CarlC]

For the past few month's I've been buying about 10,000 crickets a week. Feeding them a good diet and using fresh egg crate weekly really helps.

Carl

 

[wacky22jacki]

Thanks for all of the replies !! and I have not yet tried dubias because its very hard to get them where I am and plus I don't like the idea of them - lol I am going to try a couple of different things and hope for the best!

 

[AACblackout]

I didn't like the idea of a roach either but there more of a beetle and don't stink and live a while. Everything a feeder should be

 

[nick barta]

Screen the bottom of the container so the grass falls through into a tray. Dump the tray as needed, virtually no smell.

Nick

 

[Craig94089]

I bought 25 dubia's over three weeks ago and haven't properly set them up yet. They've been in a small container with a screen top. While I don't like the idea of them it's really about the cham so I can manage through it. Tomorrow a heat pad, tongs, and dark container is on the agenda. They are really hardy little guys...I've lost one since I've had them. I do feed them well and remove old food to prevent mold growth.

I have 100 crickets setup to breed but long term I can tell it won't be a staple. They smell even though I clean every week. Not to mention the chirping and escapes when I am not being careful. The one good thing is easy to aquire locally.

My cham is slowing down on them so probably about time to switch up the menu.