Ordered 1000 crickets from Backwater Reptiles

[SKM73]

I ordered the 2/3 size, much smaller than I was expecting. Anyway, what is the best way to store them? Right now I have them in a large cricket container with the plastic tubes and threw in Fluker's Orange Cubes and some sliced up apple. Oh, also included the egg cartons that came in the package.
Is this acceptable? Too small of a space? Thanks alot.

 

[Henry X Stella]

only had my dragons a couple months. already switched to roaches.

~Blaptica Dubia roaches:

* cannot fly
* cannot climb
* make no noise
* have NO smell
* are slow and easy to catch
* have more meat to shell ratio than crickets
* breed very easily
* are easily sexed by just sight
* grow quite large, but start off very small so you always have the perfect sized feeder

But if you're to stick with the crickets I'd add some sort of dry chow to gut load them, along with fresh fruits/veggies and water crystals.

 

[PatsyB]

Crickets will eat each other if they don't have enough space to spread out. I was keeping my crickets in a 10 gallon breeder tank with no problems. Sometimes I divided them between the 10 and a 5 depending on the cricket size. Use lot's of egg cartons because they like to hide or toilet paper rolls with no glue on them. Also, dry chow, water crystals and whatever fruits and veggies you feed your dragon will suffice.

 

[Henry X Stella]

just fed breakfast, Henry had 13, Stella had 9.


feels so much better than the 50+ crickets the little monsters would have devoured.
and now it seems like they're really getting full. very quick to get back to basking spots...
instead of standing guard and waiting for more bugs.

 

[Ozzie&Dino]

Crickets do not live very long. I bought 2000 one time and kept them in a huge bin from walmart with holes drilled in the top ( Lots of holes) and egg cartons and water crystals and cricket crack and a bowl of veggies and fruits cut up really small and I lost probably 1500. I quit buying that many crickets and started going mainly with Dubia Roaches. Crickets stink and Dubia don't and Dubia live a long long time compared to crickets. Keena loves crickets but I just buy what she eats within 2 days.

 

[Henry X Stella]

Crickets do not live very long. I bought 2000 one time and kept them in a huge bin from walmart with holes drilled in the top ( Lots of holes) and egg cartons and water crystals and cricket crack and a bowl of veggies and fruits cut up really small and I lost probably 1500. I quit buying that many crickets and started going mainly with Dubia Roaches. Crickets stink and Dubia don't and Dubia live a long long time compared to crickets. Keena loves crickets but I just buy what she eats within 2 days.

I bought a box of 500 small crickets at the show along with my dragons and was at petsmart within 2-3 days. half or more died and i felt stupid and the bin stunk so i just put it all out for the trash man and started over with my roaches. lol. I love them. Going to get a few more colony's and hook up locals and friends. (maybe some of you guys if shipping isn't crazy) I'm kinda hooked on these guys as a hobby and have a shed that's got outlets and it's 81* here currently anyways. perfect. I'll be posting pics as my clan grows.

That's a BIG MOMMA!!! bahahaha.

 

[PatsyB]

I've only had problems with that many crickets dying, once in 6 months and I think it was something that I cleaned the tank with before I put them in. I always buy 1/2" - 3/4" and they last me a little over 2 weeks with only about 50 dying off on their own. They do smell...some..but I have them in the basement so it kinda blends in with the normal basement smell.

 

[Germ]

I ordered the 2/3 size, much smaller than I was expecting. Anyway, what is the best way to store them? Right now I have them in a large cricket container with the plastic tubes and threw in Fluker's Orange Cubes and some sliced up apple. Oh, also included the egg cartons that came in the package.
Is this acceptable? Too small of a space? Thanks alot.

1,000 crix in a large Kricket keeper? You will have many killed off. You need a large tote for that many, with lot's of paper towel cores, toilet paper cores or egg flats\cartons.

Good Luck

 

[SKM73]

Yeah. I quickly moved them into an old aquarium with lots of egg cartons I think this will be our first and last batch of bulk mail order crickets Moving onto roaches. Thanks.

 

[Noella]

I ordered 1000 from the CricketMan in California and I housed them in a glass 20 gallon tall aquarium. I know they smell, but you know, if you keep the bins clean, they don't smell bad. The only things that do smell in their bin is their dead. I had at least 200 die when they came and the owner said he'd send me an extra 200 with my next order.

I don't really like roaches. And I won't have them in the house.

 

[PatsyB]

I ordered 1000 from the CricketMan in California and I housed them in a glass 20 gallon tall aquarium. I know they smell, but you know, if you keep the bins clean, they don't smell bad. The only things that do smell in their bin is their dead. I had at least 200 die when they came and the owner said he'd send me an extra 200 with my next order.

I don't really like roaches. And I won't have them in the house.

I'm with you on the roaches. I order crickets from Ghann's and I think I read on their website or watched on Dirty Jobs, that they send like 100 or so extra just to make up for the die off in shipping.

 

[ashley7988]

I've been thinking about buying in bulk... Planned on it but I'm trying to think of where to put them! I have a 30 gallon aquarium that we were trying to sell but maybe we'll keep it for crickets. I'm with PatsyB and Noella on the roaches.. I'm terrified of those suckers and definitely not intentionally bringing them into my house! Granted, I'm terrified of crickets too but I have a method where I don't have to touch them so its okay =P I assume if I decide to buy in bulk I'm going to have to touch them... I just need to build up the nerve.

 

[Noella]

I'm not afraid of touching crickets. I've touched crickets, grasshoppers, snails, and all types of insects when I was little. It just doesn't affect me. I haven't ever touched a clean roach. I'm not sure how I'll react to them if something like that touches me. I even touched earthworms and bait worms when I went fishing. (I also touched live shrimp, frozen squid, and frozen shrimp as bait when I went saltwater fishing when I was little.) Nothing odd bothers me except maybe those roaches. (I'm no fan of roaches because I know the wild type tend to infest every where. I worked in a house where there were a bunch of roaches and I hated it because no amount of bug bombs wouldn't get rid of them, even professional pest eliminators couldn't get rid of them.

When the client left the house, I was relieved. There were no more roaches, but they had dogs and weren't taking them out to go to the bathroom. The company I worked for didn't believe me until they sent a inspector out to see. I was going home with migraines every day and couldn't stand it.