Keeping crickets alive

[MissSkittles]

Anyone use bioactive with crickets?

Saw 2 videos on YouTube about using soil, leaf litter, and isopods with crickets and it helping to keep clean and also help reduce die off.

I have 1000 crickets inbound and need to build their container.

I tried it 2-3 years ago. The (banded) crickets were their usual, but they ate all of my isopods.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Yay! I had mine emerge, they made some eggs and now are all dead. You’ll need to make it a nectar if you want it to live. It’s just 1 part sugar and 4 parts water, heat until it boils in the microwave and that’s it. Super easy. In the past I used a hummingbird feeder, but this last group didn’t seem to understand, so I just put it in a small bowl. They do make quite a mess when they emerge. I think it’s pheromones that they are spraying all over…same as silkmoths do.

This Hawk Moth is a Messy Bessie! I just made simple syrup for its nutritional needs. My whole identity has changed!

 

[MissSkittles]

This Hawk Moth is a Messy Bessie! I just made simple syrup for its nutritional needs. My whole identity has changed!

I know, right! I think I take better care of my bugs than I do myself!

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I know, right! I think I take better care of my bugs than I do myself!

Right!

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

@MissSkittles I woke up to 2 more Hawk Moths. That makes 3! I put the nectar in a small condiment bowl, is that ok? Are They gonna find the nectar? How long do they live? They are very sedentary.

 

[MissSkittles]

@MissSkittles I woke up to 2 more Hawk Moths. That makes 3! I put the nectar in a small condiment bowl, is that ok? Are They gonna find the nectar? How long do they live? They are very sedentary. View attachment 354392

Whoo hoo! Congrats! They are active at night and as far as I know, they will find the nectar. They only live for about a week. If you hear a lot of odd flapping noises sometime during the night, make sure to check in the morning for eggs. The eggs need to be carefully removed in the morning…if you wait until later in the day, they are more stuck. They hatch within a couple of days into tiny ‘eyelash babies’. They are a very pale light green and you’ll mainly see them by their horns, which look like eyelashes. It is possible that you might have all the same gender moths, so won’t get eyelash babies. This last time I collected what must have been well over a hundred eggs, but they didn’t do well and only about 3 or so have actually made it to feeding size. They looked to have problems molting properly.

 

[BryanP]

My 1000 crickets arrive today!

Got some bug burger, flukers cricket diet. And flukers cricket water gel all ready.

We'll see how long these last.

I'll post a picture of my setup once I dump then in.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Proof that grasshoppers are cannibals! I found these guys missing half of their body!

 

[BryanP]

all unpacked and ready to be fed off or die a horrible stinking death in 3 days!

 

[BryanP]

OK 24hrs in
...
Lots of sheds, not many dead crickets. Shook
All the denris to a corner, waited 20min, shooed away the live ones amd vacuumed up the remaining.

They love dry bug burger and flukers cricket diet.

Also really love the cricket quencher.

Wish me luck through the weekend.

 

[BryanP]

Do I change the egg crate and how often?

It's starting to get a stink already... I may wipe the bin down with a baby wipe tomorrow

 

[Tkrd69]

Do I change the egg crate and how often?

It's starting to get a stink already... I may wipe the bin down with a baby wipe tomorrow

Need more airflow to air it out faster

 

[Steve A]

Does anyone have a written guide for how to keep crickets alive?
I can't keep 100 crickets alive for more than 4 or 5 days and honestly they live just fine in my garage because it seems that any that have gotten out have been breeding and living their best life in my garage.

How big of a container do I need?
Heat?
Base material?
Humidity and temp?

Dubias are almost impossible to kill but my guy has stopped eating them!

I'm currently having a lot of success with my cricket setup. I'm only keeping 75 right now because Spike is at a point to where he only needs less than half a dozen bugs a day, but what I'm doing is working great and is so simple and easy.

I have a large plastic container (7.25 gallons / 29 qt) that I keep them in. What I do is I buy the large egg cartons from Joshs Frogs, and I rip those up into squares that fit 'flat' on the bottom of the container. I dump the crickets in, and I make sure they constantly have a small feeder tray with a frozen vege-ice cube that we make (for hydration and supplement), and I also fill a small feeder try with the bug feed from Frams Chams. That stuff is dry so it is in it's own feeder. Once the crickets are nearly done I order another supply, and when the old ones are gone, I remove the old egg carton, replace it with a new one and dump the new crickets in.

Every single night I am washing out their vege-ice cube tray and replacing it with a new vege ice cube. Every few days - week I replace the dry food from Frams Chams. And I wash those trays out and dry them before replacing the food and placing them back in the bin.

I also clean the bin itself when changing to new crickets. It's a very simple process as with only 75 crickets(shouldn't be much if any diff with just 25 more), there really isn't much to clean. The crickets will hang out in the crate almost the entire time which means all the mess is within that area. If the egg carton gets too dirty I replace it earlier. But that honestly hasn't really happened. With 100+ you might want to change that a little more often.

Since doing this I've noticed that they stay alive much better and it's way less of a hassle for me to personally deal with on a daily. But I think no matter what, you will have to maintain them on a daily. I've just learned to quicken my own process just like with my silkworms so it's as easy as it can be for what I'm doing every single day (well night for me).

I think this keeps the crickets really clean and is the least stressful way for me so far. If I remember I'll take a pic of the actual setup when I get home.

edit: I also do not do anything with lights or anything. These crickets sit in the bin with the lid open in the same room as Spike a few feet away from his enclosure. They're definitely not benefitting from any of his lights or anything in any way. There also usually isn't a lot of light in this room (aside from Spikes lights).

 

[M&M]

I'm currently having a lot of success with my cricket setup. I'm only keeping 75 right now because Spike is at a point to where he only needs less than half a dozen bugs a day, but what I'm doing is working great and is so simple and easy.

I have a large plastic container (7.25 gallons / 29 qt) that I keep them in. What I do is I buy the large egg cartons from Joshs Frogs, and I rip those up into squares that fit 'flat' on the bottom of the container. I dump the crickets in, and I make sure they constantly have a small feeder tray with a frozen vege-ice cube that we make (for hydration and supplement), and I also fill a small feeder try with the bug feed from Frams Chams. That stuff is dry so it is in it's own feeder. Once the crickets are nearly done I order another supply, and when the old ones are gone, I remove the old egg carton, replace it with a new one and dump the new crickets in.

Every single night I am washing out their vege-ice cube tray and replacing it with a new vege ice cube. Every few days - week I replace the dry food from Frams Chams. And I wash those trays out and dry them before replacing the food and placing them back in the bin.

I also clean the bin itself when changing to new crickets. It's a very simple process as with only 75 crickets(shouldn't be much if any diff with just 25 more), there really isn't much to clean. The crickets will hang out in the crate almost the entire time which means all the mess is within that area. If the egg carton gets too dirty I replace it earlier. But that honestly hasn't really happened. With 100+ you might want to change that a little more often.

Since doing this I've noticed that they stay alive much better and it's way less of a hassle for me to personally deal with on a daily. But I think no matter what, you will have to maintain them on a daily. I've just learned to quicken my own process just like with my silkworms so it's as easy as it can be for what I'm doing every single day (well night for me).

I think this keeps the crickets really clean and is the least stressful way for me so far. If I remember I'll take a pic of the actual setup when I get home.

edit: I also do not do anything with lights or anything. These crickets sit in the bin with the lid open in the same room as Spike a few feet away from his enclosure. They're definitely not benefitting from any of his lights or anything in any way. There also usually isn't a lot of light in this room (aside from Spikes lights).

Ok — slightly off topic but I would love to hear how you’re handling your silkworms. I’m always so disappointed in how mine look and would definitely appreciate any and all tips for keeping them happy and healthy for my girl.

 

[Steve A]

Ok — slightly off topic but I would love to hear how you’re handling your silkworms. I’m always so disappointed in how mine look and would definitely appreciate any and all tips for keeping them happy and healthy for my girl.

IMO not off topic at all!

So I am buying 50 small silkworms from Frams at a time, and growing them to the size I want to feed Spike 1 per day. I try to order them in advance so they overlap so he always has them but it doesn't always work out that way so I just feed him accordingly with other bugs until they grow if that's the case.

I use a larger 'critter cage', something like this one pictured

I do not put ANYTHING in here except the silkworms, and some food. I simply dump them in here at the bottom, and then I shave some food over the top (how much you should shave will depend but I only do a little bit as I'm feeding and cleaning every day.)

You'll see each time if you are putting too much food. It'll dry out the next day and be left over and become hard. This makes it more of a mess to clean up each night. So you want to adjust that each day so that you're not getting this.

At night, I remove all the silkworms 1 by 1 and place them on the critter cage lid laying down on my counter. I pick off their poop/extra food by hand (lol but idk how else to do this?) and place them on the lid. Once they're all gone, I dump all the extra poop/food into the trash. Then I use a paper towel (sometimes damp with a tiny bit of soap) to clean the bottom surface and sides if need be (especially if they have been climbing and cocooning (not sure what other call it but when they spin themselves into silk balls lol).

From my understanding, silkworks do NOT like humidity... so I make sure that if I use soap/water that the enclosure is absolutely dry. Then I simply dump them back in the bottom, put them into a grouped ball formation and I use a cheese grater to distribute the food over top of them.

I do this every single night. sometimes I can be lazy for a day but I still have to feed them because I only provide them food for a day/night.

This process tends to take me like maybe 10-15 mins max I'd say. It's not so bad once you get the amount of food you should be giving them down.

I do have some die off but never more than say 1-2 at a time. They mostly grow very well, look very healthy, get very big, and Spike loves eating them. Hope this helps!

edit: with this being said Spike is over a year now so I am only giving him 1 larger silk per day. If your chameleon is younger, you're gonna want to of course have more silks at a time at a smaller size so this processes is gonna be longer as you're constantly cleaning out all those bugs. But I did do this when I was dealing with say 100+ at a time. It's not that bad IMO.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

IMO not off topic at all!

So I am buying 50 small silkworms from Frams at a time, and growing them to the size I want to feed Spike 1 per day. I try to order them in advance so they overlap so he always has them but it doesn't always work out that way so I just feed him accordingly with other bugs until they grow if that's the case.

I use a larger 'critter cage', something like this one pictured

View attachment 354582


I do not put ANYTHING in here except the silkworms, and some food. I simply dump them in here at the bottom, and then I shave some food over the top (how much you should shave will depend but I only do a little bit as I'm feeding and cleaning every day.)

You'll see each time if you are putting too much food. It'll dry out the next day and be left over and become hard. This makes it more of a mess to clean up each night. So you want to adjust that each day so that you're not getting this.

At night, I remove all the silkworms 1 by 1 and place them on the critter cage lid laying down on my counter. I pick off their poop/extra food by hand (lol but idk how else to do this?) and place them on the lid. Once they're all gone, I dump all the extra poop/food into the trash. Then I use a paper towel (sometimes damp with a tiny bit of soap) to clean the bottom surface and sides if need be (especially if they have been climbing and cocooning (not sure what other call it but when they spin themselves into silk balls lol).

From my understanding, silkworks do NOT like humidity... so I make sure that if I use soap/water that the enclosure is absolutely dry. Then I simply dump them back in the bottom, put them into a grouped ball formation and I use a cheese grater to distribute the food over top of them.

I do this every single night. sometimes I can be lazy for a day but I still have to feed them because I only provide them food for a day/night.

This process tends to take me like maybe 10-15 mins max I'd say. It's not so bad once you get the amount of food you should be giving them down.

I do have some die off but never more than say 1-2 at a time. They mostly grow very well, look very healthy, get very big, and Spike loves eating them. Hope this helps!

edit: with this being said Spike is over a year now so I am only giving him 1 larger silk per day. If your chameleon is younger, you're gonna want to of course have more silks at a time at a smaller size so this processes is gonna be longer as you're constantly cleaning out all those bugs. But I did do this when I was dealing with say 100+ at a time. It's not that bad IMO.

I also get 50 silks monthly from Frams. I keep them in the original container. Once a week, I remove them from the original container and put them in a different, recycled container with fresh food. I push food into the plastic mesh and put the silks on top of the food. My silks grow very large. I might have a few die, 2-3. I make chow 2 times a month, wrap it in saranwrap and put it in a airtight container.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

 

[Steve A]

I also get 50 silks monthly from Frams. I keep them in the original container. Once a week, I remove them from the original container and put them in a different, recycled container with fresh food. I push food into the plastic mesh and put the silks on top of the food. My silks grow very large. I might have a few die, 2-3. I make chow 2 times a month, wrap it in saranwrap and put it in a airtight container.

I don't even make my own chow. I just order it from Frams I'm so lazy. And I'm determined to find more ways to keeping a chameleon in great shape in lazy ways, without sacrificing needs. Between the dogs, our child, work, school, it's just a lot.

It's a perfect relationship for Spike and I though because I'm not home all day and I get to watch him on the camera lol

 

[Steve A]

Yay! I had mine emerge, they made some eggs and now are all dead. You’ll need to make it a nectar if you want it to live. It’s just 1 part sugar and 4 parts water, heat until it boils in the microwave and that’s it. Super easy. In the past I used a hummingbird feeder, but this last group didn’t seem to understand, so I just put it in a small bowl. They do make quite a mess when they emerge. I think it’s pheromones that they are spraying all over…same as silkmoths do.

oooo this is perfect for me because I literally feed hummingbirds lol so it's the same drill as hummingbirds ..... interesting. I may have to try this.

 

[Steve A]

I'm just gonna post both of these here in case they help anyone. This is what my silkworms and crickets situations look like when I get home. They've eaten all the food since last night so it's just them and poop so I just pull them out, clean the enclosure, put them back in grouped and sprinkle their mulberry food mix using a cheese grater.

I'm running low ok crickets so the few left are hiding under the egg carton. As you can see it gets a little dirty but not bad at all. That'll be cleaned out for the new supply when it arrives and the egg carton will be replaced.


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