Really need help taking care of crickets.

[SomeRandomPerson]

hi guys, im really stressing out on how to take care of crickets... i barely bought a bulk of 2k crickets and the next week they were all dead. yes, i do clean it. i clean it around once a week or 2. i just dont get how the keep dying... i give them food all the time give them fruits for hydration. what should i do? i might sell my chameleon if this keeps going on because crickets are way too much...

 

[cubanbee]

What are you keeping them in?

 

[VanessaS]

Maybe you should try dubias. I found them to be much easier than crickets. Now I only do crickets once in a while. I will only buy about 100 at a time from my local reptile shop. Seems like I have less die off when I only buy a few. My dubias are going strong though. Super low maintenance in my opinion.

 

[mrlloyd]

i have a feeling you dont have a big enclosure or enough egg crate for your crickets. i notice that when i have to many crickets at once they die alot faster.
what size crickets are you ordering? if you can get subadults or try another cricket breeder. just my 2 cents

 

[pssh]

How big is the enclosure? Like others have said, if there is not enough room/egg crates and/or ventilation they will rapidly die. When crickets die, they release a gas (or something like that) that kills the others as well. When they are too crowded or there is not enough ventilation, the gas builds up and it kills the others off very quickly.

It is also possible that it is the place where you are getting them from, but if it's one of the big suppliers, then it's probably the enclosure they are in. I also find that brown house crickets are more likely to die quickly than banded crickets or black crickets. However, the black crickets will also kill each other for, what appears to me, no reason at all sometimes (especially the larger sizes.) I prefer the banded crickets for these reasons.

 

[VanessaS]

I had a huge plastic bin with mine and I still didn't have much luck : /

 

[pssh]

I had a huge plastic bin with mine and I still didn't have much luck : /

It could have been a ventilation problem (adding vents and/or a computer fan can help.) If they were brown house crickets, and they were sub-adults or adults, the cricket virus could have been/still be affecting them. The virus prevents the house crickets from reaching adulthood and killing them when they get to a certain size (sub-adult/adult.) If they were the black crickets, I suggest trying banded crickets. Even with a huge tub and more than enough food for them, those darn black crickets would attack and eat each other faster than I could clean the dead ones up! Sometimes all the dead caused others to die. I noticed this mostly only happened with the 1/2" and larger black crickets and only got worse as they got bigger.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Here's some helpful info on keeping crickets in bulk: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ferretinmyshoes/511-keeping-crickets.html

I have very few die offs with this method.

 

[VanessaS]

It could have been a ventilation problem (adding vents and/or a computer fan can help.) If they were brown house crickets, and they were sub-adults or adults, the cricket virus could have been/still be affecting them. The virus prevents the house crickets from reaching adulthood and killing them when they get to a certain size (sub-adult/adult.) If they were the black crickets, I suggest trying banded crickets. Even with a huge tub and more than enough food for them, those darn black crickets would attack and eat each other faster than I could clean the dead ones up! Sometimes all the dead caused others to die. I noticed this mostly only happened with the 1/2" and larger black crickets and only got worse as they got bigger.

Yes! My last large batch was black crickets. I've never seen die off like that ever!!! They do have proper ventilation as I know this is a big issue with crickets. When I get the brown guys they do seem to do better but still they seem to be a pain in the butt in my opinion...

 

[VanessaS]

Here's some helpful info on keeping crickets in bulk: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ferretinmyshoes/511-keeping-crickets.html

I have very few die offs with this method.

Yes. Great thread ; ) Read this when I first starting keeping crickets.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Thanks!