How do I keep alive my crickets?

[Hzerbi]

I'm new with Chameleons and I really need advice on how to keep crickets alive, As the caresheets says i give them wet lettuce an hour before feeding Kiwi, But I wish they grew in numbers so i don't have to buy him more. Any advice?
i don't know the name of the species but they are the smallest ones. Almost the size of an ant

 

[AMdoubleER]

I currently buy crickets between 2 to 4 times a week at most, 20 at a time in which I take home to house and gut load inside a contraption called the Kricker Keeper or Cricket Pen in which I am currently testing out now. I personally don't like to house to many because like the Kricket Keeper better. I prefer the cylinder plastic tubes over the square ones that come with the Cricket Pen. As long as I keep replenishing the food every day or two they seem to stay alive. Buy the way, I use these three supplements to gut load the crickets.

 

[jamest0o0]

I don't mean to be negative, but those are no good for gutloading. We need to be gutloading with a large variety of organic veggies, seeds, nuts, and some fruits. Things like dandelion greens, romaine, carrots, oranges, squash, cucumbers, papaya, etc I use probably 30 some different ingredients. You can find recipes on here. buy a bunch of stuff at whole foods or wherever, blend it up together, vacuum seal and freeze it. Break off chunks as you use it. You'll be set for months. Its cheap. I also like bug buffet from fullthrottlefeeders for an easy dry gutload.

 

[AMdoubleER]

I don't mean to be negative, but those are no good for gutloading. We need to be gutloading with a large variety of organic veggies, seeds, nuts, and some fruits. Things like dandelion greens, romaine, carrots, oranges, squash, cucumbers, papaya, etc I use probably 30 some different ingredients. You can find recipes on here. buy a bunch of stuff at whole foods or wherever, blend it up together, vacuum seal and freeze it. Break off chunks as you use it. You'll be set for months. Its cheap. I also like bug buffet from fullthrottlefeeders for an easy dry gutload.

Sorry, I did not know those supplements were bad. I was going off what the reptile rep at the store instructed me to use when I purchased my first guy. Though it may not be the best stuff, is it really bad because my Ambilobe seems to be just fine and his crickets have been eating this stuff the whole time I've had him? Your method sounds much more healthier though @jamest0o0!

 

[AMdoubleER]

Sorry, I did not know those supplements were bad. I was going off what the reptile rep at the store instructed me to use when I purchased my first guy. Though it may not be the best stuff, is it really bad because my Ambilobe seems to be just fine and his crickets have been eating this stuff the whole time I've had him? Your method sounds much more healthier though @jamest0o0!

So you grind all that stuff up together and freeze it and break frozen chunks off and feed it to your crickets @jamest0o0?

 

[Replife]

So this is wat you want it quick and easy... simply put the powder in a dish with some water place in the microwave for 45 seconds cover put in fridge when turns into gelatin slice into cubes give to your insects as needed it's food and hydration.... We also give are insects leftover fruits and vegetables from dinner and whatever but we don't buy them their own specific fruits and vegetables we just use this mainly

 

[jamest0o0]

Hey Np, I used to feed that stuff too. You can use it to keep insects alive, but it doesnt offer much or anything to your cham. It would be like a person eating only bread and water, sure we could survive, but proper nutrition supports our cham's growth, longevity, energy, colors, etc. I have found pet stores don't/can't know the ins and outs of every species. Rarely do you meet an employee that has a true grasp on the animal they are selling. Not to say they are bad, but they work with tons of animals just to keep them alive and sell them, it would take years and years to know about everything in their stores.

So yeah I have a big list of things I go out to whole foods for every several months, blend it all up, vacuum seal it, and freeze it. I keep enough for a few weeks in a ziploc freezer bag to easily take out pieces at a time to thaw at room temp. From there i place it in my cricket bins, 3 types of roaches, superworms, and BSFL. This is all you need for hydration, it's good to have a high quality dry gutload like bug buffet to feed alongside too. I also throw washed/organic veggies that we have sitting around in. I don't throw stuff in with mold, but if its too far gone to taste decent for people I'll feed it to my bugs. I do this a lot with oranges, apples, carrots, cucumbers, etc.

 

[jamest0o0]

Dry gutload is deprived of a lot of vitamins that fresh has so I like to use both

 

[NickTide]

Years ago when we didn't have many options, I'd buy either 250 or 500 crickets. Had very good success with putting them in a 10 gallon aquarium with a light for heat. I would use an under tank heater now. I used potatoes as food and water.... not a good choice. Use good gutloaded stuff instead like apple or romaine. egg cartons for structure. The crickets would last me two weeks until i fed them off. Maybe lost 50 or so before feeding them off.

 

[Andee]

If you want to breed crickets you need adult crickets the size you mention is not a species, it's a size. Your would need adults, and some very species temps and other things in place to breed them. If you want to go through it I have no issue doing it. And in my opinion in order to successfully breed them you need a couple bins or 20 gallon+ aquariums.

 

[Big Gulp]

Order banded crickets online. Josh's Frogs and other places carry them. VERY hardy and nearly impossible to kill. Much better than the crickets you get from Petco/Petsmart.

 

[Hzerbi]

Order banded crickets online. Josh's Frogs and other places carry them. VERY hardy and nearly impossible to kill. Much better than the crickets you get from Petco/Petsmart.

Already tried, they don't ship to Mexico