Help mass cricket death

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Khronoz

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A huge portion of my cricket feeders have died and im not sure how to prevent this. This portion has died after 2 days of receiving them. Im not sure if the temperature was too low because i even kept them in the living room where its warmer and they had plenty of room to hide.

Maybe its just a bad batch?


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give them some veggies next time, good one is carrot and sweet potato, changing it every couple days

or add a "lid" with water and some way to get out when they get in
 
If they had food and moisture then it would be low temperature, I keep very large colonies but really struggle with them during winter in SE Qld.
I can't seem to hatch anything during the cooler months and keep the rest alive with a heat cord.
 
Was it a clean tub that you have put them in?

I killed a 1000 crix once after putting them in a tub I had used to treat mite on a newly arrived skink. Top Of Descent was used in the tub weeks prior and I forgot before dumping the crickets in.
 
I'd say it's a result of being cold, no moisture or fresh water or food. They also need to be kept warm and the tub needs to be humid. The best way to keep them long term is to line the bottom of the tub with a substrate such as vermiculite between 30cm and 50cm deep, provide eggs cartons for cover, a small plastic tub with dried dog food (the smaller type of dried food is the best and it can be topped up as required), some carrot or sweet potato (replaced as needed) and another small plastic tub with a piece of moist sponge (similar to that used for washing up but soap free) cut to fit snugly in the tub. Cut out a piece of the lid (about a 3rd the size of the lid) covering the tub containing the crickets and secure fly wire over the opening. Then set up a heat lamp with a 40w globe positioned over the top of the cut out section (this can be achieved by using a desk style lamp). The vermiculite and sponge should be lightly misted daily to maintain a humid and slightly moist environment. Just remember to remove the dog food so it doesn't get wet and NOT to soak the vermiculite just mist it enough to make it slightly damp.
 
I breed crickets by the thousands... Warmth will not be the issue.... they, like woodies are quite resilient and able to withstand a wide range of temps quite well... I don't heat my woodies or crickets at all... My woodies are currently getting to below zero and I've still got babies being born. My crickets are getting down to about 8 degrees as I keep them indoors (only because they require daily maintenance whereas the woodies don't). The best bedding for keeping crickets is straight up raw rolled oats, a pack from Coles costs like $1.60. Lay about 3/4 of an inch of oats on the bottom of the tub and then position 2-3 whole egg cartons inside the tub,one at each end and on in the middle... Crickets do not like to be on the ground, they prefer to be elevated. They also respond poorly to being overcrowded and deal with this by cannibalism even if adequate food is available. The best food for crickets is dried fish flake, for moisture, offer them a semi peeled carrot (fresh piece daily) and green grapes. A slice of apple also works well but must be replaced daily.

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I have been breeding insects for years, I produce enough crickets and woodies, silkworms and compost worms to put the likes of Pisces out of business.

If you want advice on how to breed them yourself at home, I can provide this. It's not difficult but it is time consuming and unless you're feeding a crap load of inverts and herps, it's simply not worth it.
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

I do have plenty of carrot slices and a bowl of oats with rat cubes as a food source that are just on the other side of the tub but were just covered by the egg cartons.

I believe it was fairly clean too as i use the container only for crickets and clean it with a vinegar and water mixture.

So yea next time im just going to make an oat substrate instead as it probs wasnt enough. Im also gonna find some way to keep em warm or buy a heat cord because i think that the cold was one of the main problems. I’ll also add a moist sponge for that extra bit of water.

Thanks again yall are legends [emoji123]


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Insect farms use optimum temperatures for breeding and growing out crickets which is between 26-30c. Yes they will survive low temperatures but will struggle with the shock of massive fluctuations or sudden prolonged temperature drops. It's like pouring fish from 27c water into 10c water, they won't love it.
 
Insect farms use optimum temperatures for breeding and growing out crickets which is between 26-30c. Yes they will survive low temperatures but will struggle with the shock of massive fluctuations or sudden prolonged temperature drops. It's like pouring fish from 27c water into 10c water, they won't love it.
Crickets only live for 9-12 weeks then they die.. keeping them at higher temps just accelerates their already short lifespan. I've never kept them at 26-30 degrees. People severely underestimate the resilience of insects.
 
Crickets only live for 9-12 weeks then they die.. keeping them at higher temps just accelerates their already short lifespan. I've never kept them at 26-30 degrees. People severely underestimate the resilience of insects.
Yep that's your experience and that's fine, every winter I experience the same problem and that's my experience.
Mass produced insects are kept at particular temperatures.
This petty conversation of Im right and everyone else is wrong is just embarrassing.
You can stick this dying forum, if I want to talk stupid I can always talk to the missus. Don't need it here and yes, I do produce massive amounts of captive bred true spiders, myalgamorphs, tarantulas and scorpions every year since the early 2000s, but what would I know.
Good luck and all the best.
 
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