Heat source for crickets makes all the difference

[Justin18]

So I've always provided a heat source for my crickets ever since I got my chameleon. Nothing fancy, just a regular desk lamp that bends at the neck so I can point it right over the top of the bin.

Recently I got two pet rats and the part of the room I put their cage at is a little dark compared to the rest of the room. So I moved the lamp I used for my crickets to brighten up the part of the room where my rats are at

After two or three days I noticed that my crickets stopped eating as much, seemed less active, didn't chirp as much so I decided to put the lamp back on the crickets.

And BAM!!!

The crickets starting eating a lot more, chirping a lot more, are much more active and all hanging out on the side of the bin where the heat is.

Guess where I'm keeping the lamp from now on lol

 

[szpond]

I was always curious about that! I have an old heating pad that is no longer in use, would it be a good idea to supply it to them next to their gutload? Underside of 10gal tank?

 

[Justin18]

I was always curious about that! I have an old heating pad that is no longer in use, would it be a good idea to supply it to them next to their gutload? Underside of 10gal tank?

As long as the tank is glass I don't see why not... I would just put the heating pad under one half of the tank. That way if I gets to hot they can go to the other side to cool off, but I'm not to sure, it's just a guess. They could probably take high levels of heat. I only shine the lamp on one side of the bin where their food and water is though.

 

[Dave]

You say "they were chirping more" like that's a good thing. Dang things drive my wife and I CRAZY!

-Dave
SPF

 

[Action Jackson]

I recently started using a ceramic heat "bulb" instead of a light and have been having much better results. I have three bins with 1000 crickets each and have had virtually no die off in two weeks.

 

[Justin18]

You say "they were chirping more" like that's a good thing. Dang things drive my wife and I CRAZY!

-Dave
SPF

They drive me crazy too! Lol I live in an apartment and I keep the crickets in my walk in closest and they chirp all day everyday

 

[Justin18]

I recently started using a ceramic heat "bulb" instead of a light and have been having much better results. I have three bins with 1000 crickets each and have had virtually no die off in two weeks.

Really? I might have to give that a try. Do you turn it off at night?