Help Crickets!!!

[Panthergirl11]

This is my first time ordering crickets. I ordered 1/4 inch crickets from lllreptile and they came today. Well first off they are way smaller than I thought. And half of them look dead! Is there any way I can get them to liven up more? And i should go through and take out the dead ones right?

 

[Reptar jr]

You definitely want to get the dead ones out of there, they are nothing but bad. Also I would look into contacting someone at LLL if half were dead upon arrival. I'm sure that they would be willing to make it right if it was something that could have been prevented.

 

[panther67]

try hydrating them and giving them heat. They may have gotten cold.

 

[Elizadolots]

Definitely "warm them up". They seem to go into a "cold coma" during transit. If you want to hydrate them, make sure not to mist them or anything like that. Use water crystals or a damp paper towel....they're even less able to cope with actual liquid water when they're like this.

After they've warmed up, if you still have ones that are actually dead, you need to get rid of them. If there seem to be lots, you might contact LLL. I think most companies do "over fill" the boxes to allow for some die off so you might not really be short of your order.

 

[JohnnyD]

The biggest issue with cold weather shipping is not giving them enough time to warm up before you even open the box they were shipped in. I receive 16 k per month and rarely have any dead. I live in Ohio and have received them in 20 degree weather. Sometimes I have to let them warm up very slowly for 3 hours or so at room temp and then they are fine. It's the shock of rapid temp change that kills them not the cold. Never open the box until they're as warm as your house.

 

[sdheli420]

this is my set up, hope it gives you ideas!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UOMX_jnKnU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GekY0jXqPJg

 

[Elizadolots]

The biggest issue with cold weather shipping is not giving them enough time to warm up before you even open the box they were shipped in. I receive 16 k per month and rarely have any dead. I live in Ohio and have received them in 20 degree weather. Sometimes I have to let them warm up very slowly for 3 hours or so at room temp and then they are fine. It's the shock of rapid temp change that kills them not the cold. Never open the box until they're as warm as your house.

Agreed...the first time I got "winter packed" crickets, I thought almost half of them were dead. I called the company and was told to put them in a comfortable room and wait for 3 hours before I made any judgments. It turned out less than 25% had died and the company includes 25% over the ordered amount during winter, so I had my full order.

 

[Panthergirl11]

Well i live in California and the weather today was really good. Outside temp was the same as inside. My fiance emptied them into the cricket bin earlier today and I took that pic 3 hours after that, when I came home from work. And then I put a heat lamp on them a few hours later and picked out the dead. I've got about 100 dead in a cup right now. Just not what I was expecting.

 

[Elizadolots]

Yeah, but it was cold early on and the boxes are not kept in heated rooms before they are put on the unheated truck.

If you got 100 dead out of 1000...that's pretty danged good during the winter. Of course, if you ordered 250...then that's a lot.

 

[Panthergirl11]

I ordered 500 and it seems like there were a lot dead. and some where even smashed by a potato chunk they left in there for them to eat. Just a bad experience this time around I guess.

 

[Elizadolots]

Call LLL...they are really good at the customer service thing. I'm sure they'll make things right for you.

 

[LLLReptile]

Did you call us and have this resolved? We do have a 3 day live arrival guarantee, and as long as you call us within that period there is almost always something we can do.

Keep in mind that the crickets are shipped overnight, from a cricket farm that is actually located up in Michigan. It's warm here, but cold there, so they can get a little chilly in transit.

1/4" crickets are tiny - they're what we carry in the stores as our "small" size, and when we first unpack them, they are small enough to be offered to adult poison arrow frogs and newborn chameleons. So yep, they are super tiny! Depending on what you're feeding, you may want to order 1/2" crickets next time instead. They also usually do better in transit than the smallest size of crickets.

-Jen

 

[Panthergirl11]

Thank you lllreptile. I did contact your customer service about it and they took care of me. It was my first time ever ordering crickets and I didn't really know what to expect size wise. I am a lot more informed now and will be ordering again in the future.

 

[LLLReptile]

Awesome!! I'm glad that was worked out. Enjoy your new crickets! Er... Hope your panther enjoys the new crickets!

-Jen