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Keeping Crickets Alive

Bryce Anthony

Hatchling Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
32
Location
Riverside, CA
So I've just started ordering my crickets in the mail. I got 500 and placed them in a 30(i think) gallon plastic tub. I put two food bowls in there with them. I filled them with Fluker's products. One contains a gut loading feed, the other has a mixture of their orange cube feed and their gel thirst quencher. The food has not been running low. I can see that some are eating, but many crickets seem to just be starving to death as they never leave the egg crates. I was hoping some of you might have some tips on how you keep your crickets from dying before your beardies get the chance to eat them. Should I give them anything else to eat? Should I spread the food around a bit more?
 

Chris Baez Jr.

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
317
Location
Lakeland, FL.
You're doing the right thing. If you are worried, you can put in a piece of potatoe, a couple of pieces of apple, and probable some veggies (the same ones you feed the beardie).
 

ThDude

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Messages
487
Location
Virginia
you can remove the egg crates for short times when u throw in fresh veggies, they LOVE veggies and NOM NOM NOM them all up.

or you could switch to roaches as i just did today, they are hard to kill.
 

Bryce Anthony

Hatchling Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
32
Location
Riverside, CA
I'm going to try throwing more food in there. I can throw in whatever greens my beardie doesn't eat everyday from her bowl. But I've had these crickets only a week ad it look like most have died. Very frustrating.
 

Chris Baez Jr.

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
317
Location
Lakeland, FL.
I'm going to try throwing more food in there. I can throw in whatever greens my beardie doesn't eat everyday from her bowl. But I've had these crickets only a week ad it look like most have died. Very frustrating.

They sell cricket water crystals, you should get a hold of those. When you first get them throw some in there.
Are you keeping them warm?
 

Bryce Anthony

Hatchling Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
32
Location
Riverside, CA
Where do I get the water crystals? I have the Fluker's Cricket Quencher, which I think is pretty much the same thing. But it doesn't seem like they're going after it. They are definitely warm enough. I'm not really sure what it is that is killing them off so quickly.
 

BeardieBaby

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
516
Location
Massachusetts
I agree with everyone about the veggies! One thing that I also do is buy Bearded Dragon pellots and put them in a lid and then put warm water on them and let them soak for a minute or two and then put them in the cricket keeper and my crickets seem to LOVE them! They eat them all up until their gone and until you can see green in the crickets bodies. Just a suggestion that works for me :)
 

Bryce Anthony

Hatchling Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
32
Location
Riverside, CA
I'm starting to believe it may be a ventilation issue. Currently, the lid of their container is a screen, but the container is tall and I'm worried that isn't good enough. I'm considering cutting holes in the sides for more screen. I'm also going to sand the sides of the container to give them more room to spread out. I've been feeding them lots of greens. I bought 100 at petsmart last week and they seem to be staying alive much better with fewer numbers. But I'd like to be able to keep 500 alive for the month and a half or so it would take her to eat them, if possible.
 

BoomBoom

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
62
Location
scotland
I gently shake the egg cartons over my colony rub feeding bowls every time I feed the lizards, and 99% of them stay in there and start munching :) xxx
 
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