Keeping Feeder Crickets Alive (With pics, pg. 2)

[The Tussock]

I recently got a crested gecko juvenile. I've done snakes before, but a fruit/insect eater is new to me. Technically, I can feed him entirely on meal replacement formula... though I'm not sure if he is eating it or not. I got some pinhead crickets and he went right after those.

So, I would like to change up his meals. However, I am having trouble keeping the dang crickets alive! I have some Flukers cricket meal for them to gutload on, but they die in droves.

Can anyone relate to me some experience with keeping feeder crickets?

[[EDIT: Pics of a homemade cricket cage I made on page 2]]

[Moth Feathers]

Dehydration is the leading cause of cannibalism in crickets.

Sorry, that just came to mind. Though in any case, hydration is important for the little buggers. Since crickets are not very bright they drown in even the shallowest of water easily, so usually people give them moisture in the form of like a sponge. Some people will give food with a lot of moisture, like fruits, instead- either way, it's good to provide moisture.

That's about the extent of my knowledge on crickets, other than the fact that they often smell, are noisy, and when they escape multiply like crazy.

It's great you want to feed your Cresty foods other than Crested Gecko Diet though. With how short of a time we have kept Cresties in captivity, I do not believe we fully know their nutritional needs and that live food makes an excellent addition to their diet.

[The Tussock]

Moth Feathers

Dehydration is the leading cause of cannibalism in crickets.

Sorry, that just came to mind. Though in any case, hydration is important for the little buggers. Since crickets are not very bright they drown in even the shallowest of water easily, so usually people give them moisture in the form of like a sponge. Some people will give food with a lot of moisture, like fruits, instead- either way, it's good to provide moisture.

That's about the extent of my knowledge on crickets, other than the fact that they often smell, are noisy, and when they escape multiply like crazy.

It's great you want to feed your Cresty foods other than Crested Gecko Diet though. With how short of a time we have kept Cresties in captivity, I do not believe we fully know their nutritional needs and that live food makes an excellent addition to their diet.

The Flukers is a jelly, so I assumed they got their water from that.

I work at a Nature Center, and we have crickets every so often to feed our lizards and frogs and such. Always fed them on potatoes and apples. As long as the cage was kept clean and the stuff replaced often, they seemed to do okay. But, that diet doesn't gutload the cricks with nutrients. I'm going to try a couple things when I get my next round, but I wanted to ask some advice first. (I never really did that well with the crickets at work).
I wondered if a Cresty would be similar to keeping a box turtle, another omnivore. I've read that Box turtles prefer more insects and earthworms when younger, but switch to a higher proportion of leafy veggies and fruits when older.

[Trash Mammal]

I keep mine in a plastic Kritter Keeper.

On the bottom of the cage I layer it with Oatmeal, and I add Egg Cartons in it just small bits of it so they can climb all about on them without crushing eachother. I have a bowl of Cricket Water Gell, and I sprinkle Goldfish flakes in, and also cut up a potato.

Ever since I started using the water Gel, i've had NO problems with them dying or being eaten by eachother. In fact they DON'T die so my poor anoles don't eat them all in time. Oh well, the rats and hedgehog enjoy a nice giant cricket snack.

[Mistress of Rain]

Sounds like my cousin's crickets. She has them on fluke's gel or something and they get apples as well.

she has one that is a galdiator and she has put him back in the tote.... because the leopard gecko couldn't catch him/eat him, and then after liek 10 tries her trantula couldn't get him/eat him (he was in her grasp and jsut kept kicking out while she tired to bite him.) and THEN when she pulled him out of the tank the god damn cricket bit HER and actually left a mark!

She decided he deserved a second round.


If I had a place for the gerbils to hunt them i would let ehr give a cricket or two to them to see if they under stand how to hunt. but they enjoy the slivers of apple she gives them. she might end up tossing most of her crickets out side though, they are to fast for her guys to catch and eat.... and she has WAY to many... big plastic tote full... liek the ones you make the awesome bin cages out of....

[Saraaahhh]

everythinq deserves to live so yes keep them alive ! ;o

[patrochilles]

Surprisigly I actually catch crickets and keep them as pets xD As weird as it sounds it's true...

When I first caught one, is was one that just strayed around my house. My sister got scared of it, being the scaredy cat she is, and so I went after it. Once I caught it I kept it in a plastic bowl so I could keep an eye on it. I slid a plastic spoon partway under so it could breathe bit not escape. And then I dropped a craison in there.

After that I went online and searched how to care for crickets. (I suggest you do this too, even though you're not keeping them as pets it's important to know how to keep them healthy so your pet gets all it's nutrients and can have a nice snack) It fell in love with the craison and devoured it.

When watering it, place a cotton ball or two in the water to soak it up so they don't drown themselves but can still drink. Make sure they are eating what you give them, if they're aren't then try something new. Then you probably want to make sure they are getting air, jab a hole in a container and lightly cover it with plastic wrap. (that's only if you don't keep them in a fish tank type area)

That's about it. I currently have seven crickets right now, none have died and none have escaped...yet. xD Some have had little babies and some are growing old. I'm still observing them and learning more but if you have any more questions go ahead and ask me!

I hope I helped!!

[The Tussock]

That is adorable.

[The Tussock]

FallingNightMares100

The Tussock

That is adorable.

What's adorable...?O_o

Your pet cricket story, of course.

[Krissim Klaw]

Since the pet stores often have abysmal cricket care it isn't unusual to get a 25%-50% die off within the first week.

Personally I have never been crazy about the cricket jelly products. They sort of creep me out since it seems so unnatural.

I prefer to add straight up water and a high quality dried dog food and some fresh veggies. I like to dust their food with some bee pollen, although as a herp owner you might want to add some calcium in addition to finding a high quality product to dust them in directly before feeding. Since I am feeding my crickets to praying mantises gut loading with vitamins isn't a necessity. An oatmeal bottom will add some more stuff for them to chew on, while helping to hide any smell, although well kept for crickets shouldn't really smell. If your cage is smelling that is generally a sign it needs to be cleaned or you are trying to keep too many crickets in to small a space.

Personally, I like to set the crickets up in a 10-20 gallon tank. Add 2-4 inches of sand and within a month or two you will find your adult crickets are reproducing babies. Add some sticks and egg crate and you will have a happy swarm. I have a 20 gallon breeder tank of crickets with everything from pinheads to adults. Much easier than needing to constantly go to the petstore for new crickets.

[sinful sunflower]

this is what i do because i have a spidar i have to feed daily get a ckricket carrier and some inscect food( little green cubes) drop a couple cubes in dailly and it will help keep them alive but its a bug you neve know when there going to just fall over and die so its best to get like 50 of them that way you doing have to keep going back to the pet store dont worrie about cleaning out the dead bugs the others will just eat them

[Shanna66]

your feeding flukers, there is your problem right there. flukers puts alot of calcium into their gutloads which is great for your gecko, but bad for the crickets.

you can use the cresty powder as a gutload for your crickets if you want. i use bearded dragon food, dog food, fruits, and veggies for my crickets. i alternate between using the gel cubes for water or just using fruits and veggies as their water source. im also planning on buying a bit of monkey chow from the exotic pet store and giving that a try, ive heard great things about using monkey kibble

you also want to make sure you have good air flow in your cricket enclosure. if your keeping them for more than a couple days or a week i suggest just getting an all screen enclosure for them. i keep mine in a large critter keeper but even 100 crickets dont last me an entire week

and after each cricket batch always wash our your cricket enclosure. crickets are messy enough on their own and you want them to be as clean as possable before they go into a gecko belly

[The Tussock]

Thanks everyone. I hope to be breeding my own crickets, so I don't have to make so many trips to the bait shop (only place in 30 miles to get crickets).
I got a tub, going to put some air slits in it. Oatmeal bedding, egg crate, paper tubes. And I found old apples in my fridge, even. My days off are coming up, so I'll get the little guys set.