Overfeeding/Cricket storage

Singularity

New Member
Okay so I bought 1000 crickets online from flukers. Lets just say it was a lot more than I expected. I have this little plastic tub that I store them all in. It held 250 just fine.. But 1000 is waay to many. it was like an inch thick of them crawling on top of each other. So i took a shoe box and put the other half in there. I taped it up real good so they can not escape. and also I poked holes in it and put a buncha food in there for them to last.

Here are a few questions I hope you guys can help me with.
1. Do I havta worry about them chewing through the box or finding a way out?
2.there a couple different kinds of bugs that arnt crickets? do I havta worry about them?
3. What do you guys use to store crickets in large numbers?
4. Can I overfeed my chameleon?? whenever I put them in there he always eats them. and when hes done he sits by his dish and gives me those googly puppy dog eyes and makes me feel guilty. lol







So do you guys think the shoe box will hold them for atleast 4 days..
Cuz I wont get a chance to get one of those plastic tub things till this friday...
And I really dont want 750 crickets running around in my room
 
A shoe box isn't going to hold those crickets very long. Try putting the shoe box and its lid inside your crix bin. The bugs (i'm guessing beetles) are nothing to worry about. They just eat the excess food that the crickets might leave behind. If they moult, you could also feed them to your chameleon. For storing crickets of that number, I take a bunch of egg cartons and place them in a large storage bin with a screen mesh hood. Overfeeding your chameleon is bad. Just place the required amount of crickets, depending on the age of your cham, into his cage. They always want food, so it's up to us to keep them on a diet :D.
 
Okay so I bought 1000 crickets online from flukers. Lets just say it was a lot more than I expected. I have this little plastic tub that I store them all in. It held 250 just fine.. But 1000 is waay to many. it was like an inch thick of them crawling on top of each other. So i took a shoe box and put the other half in there. I taped it up real good so they can not escape. and also I poked holes in it and put a buncha food in there for them to last.

Here are a few questions I hope you guys can help me with.
1. Do I havta worry about them chewing through the box or finding a way out?
2.there a couple different kinds of bugs that arnt crickets? do I havta worry about them?
3. What do you guys use to store crickets in large numbers?
4. Can I overfeed my chameleon?? whenever I put them in there he always eats them. and when hes done he sits by his dish and gives me those googly puppy dog eyes and makes me feel guilty. lol

i always order from lll reptile...1000 crickets for $20....yes they will chew threw the box....im not really sure about question 2 but i have them too...i put mine in those big storage bins you can get at wal mart or a dollar store....not sure about over feeding but i know they do eat a lot..search the forums and im sure you will find out how many they eat for their age.....usually when Elliot is finished he walks away.....hope this helped
 
they will chew through the box
i use a large rubbermaid storage container i recently found ones that are clear that they cant climb the walls of...i took the screen off the box that they came in used a staple gun and stapled it to the lid after cuting out same sized holes when i have high jumpers i put a 6 lb weight ontop for extra security. they hold several thousand no problem
 
So do you guys think the shoe box will hold them for atleast 4 days..
Cuz I wont get a chance to get one of those plastic tub things till this friday...
And I really dont want 750 crickets running around in my room
 
My system......

I buy 6,000 to 9,000 crickets per week of varying sizes. I use the clear plastic tubs from Target (Walmart, Sam's Club.... whatever). Even the adults can't jump out so I don't put a top on it. That helps with air circulation. I never have escapes. There is nothing worse than crickets kept in too much humidity which happens when they are kept in containers which are too small or lids that don't let enough air in. They die and they smell very bad.

I tear up the egg crate the crickets are packed in and lay it around the sides of the tub. I put a large shallow plate in the middle that I refill with my fresh veggies and fruit for gutloading. I sprinkle a dry gut load every other day onto and around the egg crate. They can live for their whole lifespan in this situation.

When a new cricket order comes in I throw everything out (except any remaining crickets) and bleach the tub. Simple and cost effective since you get a better price on crickets the more you buy.
 
I buy 6,000 to 9,000 crickets per week of varying sizes. I use the clear plastic tubs from Target (Walmart, Sam's Club.... whatever). Even the adults can't jump out so I don't put a top on it. That helps with air circulation. I never have escapes. There is nothing worse than crickets kept in too much humidity which happens when they are kept in containers which are too small or lids that don't let enough air in. They die and they smell very bad.

I tear up the egg crate the crickets are packed in and lay it around the sides of the tub. I put a large shallow plate in the middle that I refill with my fresh veggies and fruit for gutloading. I sprinkle a dry gut load every other day onto and around the egg crate. They can live for their whole lifespan in this situation.

When a new cricket order comes in I throw everything out (except any remaining crickets) and bleach the tub. Simple and cost effective since you get a better price on crickets the more you buy.

i dont put a lid on mine either...i learned the hard way....very gross...
 
It's a terrible smell. I used to keep them in a butter tub but in the summer they die much quicker due to the warmer temp and it's gross! Now I keep mine in a small glass tank actually so i can see what they're doing and stuff. Why do you buy so many at a time, there really isn't a reason unless you have a bunch of animals in your care that eat them..
 
Large collection....

I've got over fifty adult chameleons, some of which are very large like Melleri, over a hundred baby and juvie chameleons and about 50 Crested Geckos. I get three sizes of crickets for the stages/sizes of critters I keep. It takes a lot of feeders to keep them happy!
 
i keep my small and mediums i sterilite tubs with the top off, they do just fine, i buy 500 at a time and only lose many 40 a week this way. I keep my larges in a big trash can with the lid off and lose maybe 100 by the time ive fed off al of the live ones.

I dont think those are too bad of mortality rates :)
 
I keep mine in the medium/large rubbermaid container. I cut out a portion of the two long sides and most of the top lid, then hot glue gunned the strong animal proof screening to the openings. This allows plenty of air flow through the whole container, I have probably about 750 small crickets in there now (way over ordered once, I only have one baby cham, lol). I clean it out one or two times a week and maybe lose 2 or 3 crickets a week.
 
But in response to the main question posted, no I would not trust the crickets in a shoe box for 4 days, I'd be scared to sleep at night fearing I would wake up covered in crickets. Keep them all in your container, put extra eggcrate and food in there and keep it clean until you can buy another container.
 
Back
Top Bottom