Crickets dieing?!

[Lazo818]

I try my best to keep my crickets alive but they always seem to die . I leave them food and water crystals. I get 1000 crickets and put them in a container but everytime I go grab crickets ialways find dead crickets everytime . Any help !?

 

[PatsyB]

You are going to have some die off but it shouldn't be a lot. Make sure there isn't a lot of humidity in the tank, they don't do good with a lot of wetness. Also, if you don't already do this, offer hides. Toilet paper rolls, cardboard egg crates, anything they can hide under and on. Crickets surprisingly are very territorial and they need their space or they will start attacking each other.

 

[drzebra]

What PatsyB said. Unfortunately, crickets are fragile and short lived. You're going to have some die off.

What size are you getting? The bigger (older) they are, the less time they have left.

 

[PatsyB]

Apparently in my house crickets live longer OUTSIDE of their tank LOL! I have a male cricket living under my basement stairs this week and has been chirping very loudly. If it's one of my crickets, it's been there a long time since I buy crickets that are below chirping size. I've had mine for about a month and none of them got mature enough to chirp. I never thought I would be waiting for a cricket to die!

 

[Lazo818]

I ask for large crickets but most aren't really big they make noise most of them died i don't know why I take care of these crickets like if they were my dragon and they still die :c well thanks for the replies guys here's a pic i cleaned out all the dead crickets yesterday

As you can see I offer a lot of hiding spots

 

[Lazo818]

And I always see random crickets crawling on my wall always seem to escape lol

 

[PatsyB]

You hooked them up! Hows the ventilation on the top of that tub? You can put sticky tape along the top of the bin so they can't climb out.

 

[Lazo818]

I think they get enough air I put a screen cover which has holes

 

[julescoffman]

I quit with crickets about a month ago,for one they stink!! And if we don't tear the legs off they crawl out the top of enclosure,it's custom made and it's a grate top,not a screen,so we find them everywhere!! In my bed,behind furniture..so I use horns,supers and phoenix as a staple..plus fresh greens that he refuses to touch!! Ugh he's rotten..bur when we fed him crickets,alot would die no matter what we did..

 

[Lazo818]

But i think crickets is one of the best feeders to give your dragon not only would it will exercise your dragon by chasing the crickets but crickets also carry great nutrition, so i wouldn't give up on crickets completely

 

[julescoffman]

I forgot to add we also feed him dubia,he hasn't chased a cricket since he was a baby..he's lazy! He gets his exercise outside of his enclosure

 

[PatsyB]

Is the only water the crickets get from the greens? If so do you change them often? I use greens with my crickets but I also offer some cricket quencher. Mine tend suck the greens dry right away so the cricket quencher helps to give them a little extra hydration.

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

Sounds like they are dehydrating. What Patsy said fine but you also want regular water crystals.

 

[Lazo818]

When I add the greens I spray it with water and I do add water crystals there actual crystals they don't feel wet. And i still keep finding dead crickets I find them in the egg cartridges dead in there hiding spots . What's goin on -.-

 

[PatsyB]

How long do you have the crickets before you notice the die off? If you are buying the largest size crickets, it's possible they are just dying naturally before you can feed them off.

 

[Lazo818]

I ask for large but there arnt really large there medium sized . And i I got 1000 just last Saterday and there almost gone

 

[SunWuKong]

Try ordering smaller numbers. I order 250 a week and probably only lose around 20 because they have more space in the container. However sometimes they all just die, very fragile indeed

 

[SunWuKong]

I also split up the colony. I put around 50 into a cricket keeper then the rest in a plastic container so theres less chance of the whole colony getting wiped out =]

 

[Lazo818]

I would but I drive 45 min to go get crickets that's why i get the 1,000 and they still lasted like a week they mostly died off , still got a little left over tho, and thanks for the tip ill either will try to put them in a bigger container or split them upp

 

[SunWuKong]

I'm in a similiar situation. I live in china and can only get small crickets online, which means 3-4 days delivery. Pet shops here dont really sell crickets in various sizes, they are all just large. So having my crickets die is a nightmare >_<