Cricket questions

[Colorado Chameleon]

Should i have a basking light on the cricket keeper? Should there be a dark cycle or can they be kept in light 24 hr a day? I read that cold temps will drasticaly increase the death rate. My apartment is kept between 69*-72* .
Right now i have a basking light on one end of the keeper and their food and water on the other end. the temps reach 90* on the basking end and the lights are never turned off. Just looking for the best setup that provides the longest life span so i can order in bulk and actually benefit from it. Thanks in advance for any help

 

[camimom]

Should i have a basking light on the cricket keeper? Should there be a dark cycle or can they be kept in light 24 hr a day? I read that cold temps will drasticaly increase the death rate. My apartment is kept between 69*-72* .
Right now i have a basking light on one end of the keeper and their food and water on the other end. the temps reach 90* on the basking end and the lights are never turned off. Just looking for the best setup that provides the longest life span so i can order in bulk and actually benefit from it. Thanks in advance for any help

I dont use a light on them. I also dont pay attentin to temp. my apt is set at 72 right now, and so far, no die off.

 

[Colorado Chameleon]

Thank you for the quick reply. Do yours stay in dark all the time or do they have a light?

 

[millerman6401]

they can stay in the dark if you need them to be. mine do.

 

[camimom]

Thank you for the quick reply. Do yours stay in dark all the time or do they have a light?

they have the light from the room they are in. so yea sure. i guess. but they go into darkwhen the sun goes down. I have them just sititn gon the floor.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I shove mine in a cabinet when they start chirping and they do just fine with multiple days of total darkness. Before they get wings they can sit out and have normal day hours, no difference in survival for me. If what you are doing works for you then keep at it! Bugs aren't so picky.

 

[camimom]

I shove mine in a cabinet when they start chirping and they do just fine with multiple days of total darkness. Before they get wings they can sit out and have normal day hours, no difference in survival for me. If what you are doing works for you then keep at it! Bugs aren't so picky.

...wait. crickets get wings???? what?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

...wait. crickets get wings???? what?

...yes. That is how they make that incessant chirping noise. They don't fly but they do have wings. The outer wings look like a dark shell over their back. Investigate some adult crickets next time you go to petsmart.

 

[camimom]

...yes. That is how they make that incessant chirping noise. They don't fly but they do have wings. The outer wings look like a dark shell over their back. Investigate some adult crickets next time you go to petsmart.

I honestlynever knew that. I though the noise came from their legs.

 

[millerman6401]

UGH! i hate it when my chams cant finish off that ONE cricket in their cage that chirps all night.....it almost seems like my cham avoids crix that will chirp at night -.-

 

[Colorado Chameleon]

I was also wondering that if the way i have it setup now makes there growth explode. I put in 1/8-1/4 crickets and they quickly become 1/2"+ size crickets within a week. Maybe a little dark cycle may slow there growth a little bit? Maybe cooler temps would slow there growth some? I have a 3 1/2 month old Panther that im trying to maintain the proper size feeders for.

 

[millerman6401]

make them colder and it will slow the growth rate. the warmer they are the faster they grow, just remember if they are too cold they will stop moving and drinking for the most part but will still be alive.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Cooler temps makes them grow slower, not really light or dark. Generally people only give them heat when they're trying to breed them because it makes them grow faster and eggs hatch faster. I keep them cooler on purpose to slow the rate of growth so the sizes are better and there's no chirping! In the last batch of 3 week crickets I got there were a few adults that snuck in there...they went out the back door when they started chirping...can you tell how much it annoys me?!

 

[kinyonga]

Only the males chirp.

Did you know that each species chirps at its own special rate and its said that if you know the species you can calculate the temperature by counting the chirps?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I honestlynever knew that. I though the noise came from their legs.

Something to look forward to when your Cham starts eating bigger feeders.

 

[camimom]

Only the males chirp.

Did you know that each species chirps at its own special rate and its said that if you know the species you can calculate the temperature by counting the chirps?

that is a very random odd, yet slightly cool.. fact.

 

[millerman6401]

every time i get that one cricket that starts chirping i feed it to my cham right away and if he doesnt take it it goes outside aswell.

 

[Colorado Chameleon]

Thanks for the replies. Im gonna give them a dark cycle and lower the temps a bit to see if can keep them smaller, longer.