Cricket odor

[MissSkittles]

With the delivery of 500 banded crickets, let the experiment begin!

Made a little plastic platform for the egg crate as I haven’t enough cork bark to sacrifice to them. Did put in some scrap bits of cork. Using springtails and dwarf white isopods...both of which have been extremely populous in my roach bins. Threw in a few giant canyons isos as well. Using mix of organic soil, coco coir, a bit of leftover leaf litter and just a touch of horticultural charcoal. Tossed in some dandelion greens and the chunk of tater that they came with. Fingers crossed.

 

[Tawannapc]

Yea 15 isnt going to stink, try 500 or a 1000 though...sooo horrible of a smell, not to mention they eat each other alive or dead...

I just did 500 1" . There were maggot and half dead in a week . The smell is horrid and not to mention the gnats ! I can't anymore

 

[Lindasjackson]

I have 50 coming this week! Now I’m worried! I’m getting 50 Dubia roaches to.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I have 50 coming this week! Now I’m worried! I’m getting 50 Dubia roaches to.

You'll be lucky if they last a week; he'll probably eat most of them, and some may die off.
I buy 50 at a time at a local pet supply about once a week.
Do you have a cricket keeper? They help, just keep the sponges filled (but no free-standing water—they'll drown in it.)

We have a small dish of baking soda sitting on top to absorb some of the stank. 50 shouldn't be too bad, but you'll decide that fairly quickly.

 

[Lindasjackson]

i feed several different feeders for variety so they’ll last a couple weeks and hopefully won’t die right away. Are those water crystal for flower vases safe to use for crickets water and safe for the Cham that eats them? That article that someone posted earlier on, written by a cricket farmer says that he uses them as well as dry cricket food. He does this to help keep the odor down. Do you all keep your crickets at 80-90 degrees?

 

[Redbulllady]

The biggest step you can make in reducing smell for crickets is get banded crickets from a good source. They smell way less than the typical store bought. Also make sure to have plenty of ventilation, sides and top

Where in your bugmighty wisdom is the best place to get banded crickets? Pm if you are afraid of a starting a insect provider war

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

i feed several different feeders for variety so they’ll last a couple weeks and hopefully won’t die right away. Are those water crystal for flower vases safe to use for crickets water and safe for the Cham that eats them?

IDK. I've always used the sponges that came with the keeper.

That article that someone posted earlier on, written by a cricket farmer says that he uses them as well as dry cricket food. He does this to help keep the odor down. Do you all keep your crickets at 80-90 degrees?

I try to, but it's a difficult range for me to maintain for the small #s of crickets.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Well I’ve ordered the water crystals as well as the cricket food from rainbow mealworms along with my crickets and Dubia s. I hope this works because I can’t afford to keep loosing all the crickets. The Dubia seem to do well though. Now I’ve just got to get tubs for them and modify those.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

You'll also likely need some cardboard egg crate or paper towel/bathroom tissue rolls.
I prefer the rolls as they can be used like cricket tubes—hold a tube containing some roaches over a feeder bowl and rap on the side with tongs, a pencil, etc. and they'll fall right in the bowl.

 

[Lindasjackson]

I’ll have to find a source for these things as I don’t go through enough toilet paper or paper towels or eggs to amount to anything.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

We didn't either until we started keeping reptiles!

 

[MzLaurie11]

Y do they smell sooo bad?? Is there anything I can do to make them not smell (as bad)?? It’s very faint but rancid... almost feel bad feeding them to my hank

Bamboo enclosed charcoal bags. Safe to put in enclosure or next to it. Not too costly and put them in the sun for hours to renew.

 

[MzLaurie11]

I’ll have to find a source for these things as I don’t go through enough toilet paper or paper towels or eggs to amount to anything.

I check the recycling bins. Always find egg cartons.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Good idea

 

[salty dog]

I use an open clean plastic bin....not bio active...but doesn't smell....and the crix can't get out...

 

[Thatwizard420]

I used not crickets. That's best way to get rid of smell..

So basically just keep them with really good ventilation
For bedding I have found that vermiculite is the MVP at odor control

 

[Lindasjackson]

I made my bins just in time as my crickets and Dubia arrived today instead of tomorrow like they were supposed to. I ordered egg flats from Josh’s frogs and they’re coming Friday but I have enough rolls and egg crate for now.

 

[MzLaurie11]

With the delivery of 500 banded crickets, let the experiment begin!
View attachment 287844
Made a little plastic platform for the egg crate as I haven’t enough cork bark to sacrifice to them. Did put in some scrap bits of cork. Using springtails and dwarf white isopods...both of which have been extremely populous in my roach bins. Threw in a few giant canyons isos as well. Using mix of organic soil, coco coir, a bit of leftover leaf litter and just a touch of horticultural charcoal. Tossed in some dandelion greens and the chunk of tater that they came with. Fingers crossed.

Well i wish you the best. You should get a cheap plastic sandwhich container with a lid. Put 2 cups of organic soil mixed with 3/4 cup water. Leave lid off and set in bin so females have a place to lay. Females have three spikes in the rear and males only have two. The center spike is used to dig down an inch and lay eggs. After a couple of weeks remove cover with dry papertowel and seal with lid. I set it on a heating pad on low and start checking after a week or two. I have a nursry bin set up and just set the sandwich container with lid off in it with vertulite substrate and ground oatmeal in several low dishes and sprsy the dirt every now and then. Once they get a bit bigger i make parsley trees (in small water bottles) and they will grow fast on the heating pad. When they are juveniles i transfer them to thebigger bin and let the cycle repeat. Also add chams vitamins and calcium to the oatmeal mix. I havent had to buy crickets since christmas. life span is 90 days.

 

[ERKleRose]

Oatmeal does block nutrient absorption, so I'd consider replacing it with something better if you're feeding that to your colony bin of crickets

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I serendipitously experimented with something I read in a thread some time ago. The advice was to put a small fan atop the cricket keeper. I never did that, but the past few weeks we've had all the ceiling fans on—blowing DOWN (it reduces AC costs). The cricket keeper sits sort of under one of the fans. Since this started, I've been losing 2 per 100 instead of 20-40 per 100.

Unfortunately they're from a different source as well, so I've still a few more things to try. These crix don't chirp as LOUD as previous crix, but they're messier—they scatter the cricket chow all over the keeper. They're worse than my beardie strewing around his salad!