Here is my response to another poster on this subject. I think there are a couple of things you could do. First is to buy from one of the bug sponsers here or Ghann's. I like Ghann's product, it is a Jamaican Field cricket instead of the domestic house cricket. They are very healthy and even with buying a thousand at a time, I usually have very little die off. When I bought from a local pet store, I lost at least 50% or more in a very short time. I buy in bulk and get two sizes so I have a longer lasting supply. I keep them in a container and have cut out the bottom of the tub and replaced it with screen, so it is easier to keep clean. The frass falls right through onto a mat that I then just dump outside. It the container has poor ventilation it will contribute to higher die off. Even though crickets can be really stinky, having them set up this way makes it much less stinky. Having a lot of poop and dead crickets in the tub makes the environment toxic to the other crix and you just perpetuate die off. I put in a large shallow dish with dry gutload and I have a water dispenser that I bought from Ghann's. Even though you may not see them eat, trust me they do. If you add some pieces of fresh fruit or veggies and check on them in a couple days, it will be devoured! That may be reassuring to you that they are eating, rather than trying to gauge how much dry food they eat. So my advice is to get healthy insects and focus on keeping them in a clean environment and use a good commercial gutload if you don't want to make your own. And yeah don't use the orange cube crap!
