Cricket Question...

[Ishah]

Hi,

Just wondering, I'm attempting to breed crickets, and apart from having to rescue the remaining few a couple times (have put more in when this has happened) from ants dismembering them alive and effectively killing them and dessicrating my colony... I seem to also still be finding a lot of dead and dismembered ones after eradicating the ant invasions via surface spray around the base and lid (both done whilst the crickets were in a different room) :? My last save was in the early hours of last night... in which I went mad with the surface spray and left it (their original tub) to air out and dry... and they have been in a temporary container since then, in which I hadn't put their carrot etc back in as I had to work all day today an it was still covered in ants and didn't have the time to sit there fiddling... I did chuck a few ant-free egg cartons in there for hides though...

Anyways, enough of the background story, Do crickets eat and dismember each other in the absence of another food source? If not, what would be doing it if the ant problem is no longer and there is no evidence of other insects etc entering or leaving or still dismembering the crickets? Would the stress of the ant invasion and not being in their normal tub cause them to do this if they are?

I usually have them in a 28L tub, with a bowl of gutload, bowl of watercrystals and the rest of the floor covered in egg carton and a secton with a second layer with an empty feeder tub of the vermiculite that comes with them in it and another with breeders choice in it so they can chew it up and make their nests or whatever, I also have sections of the tub on a heatcord which is timed to be on at night only... I also chop up a whole carrot and put it in there and replace it when needed... And the lid is flyscreen...Like the ones you take out of windows, not the original tub lid chopped up and modified... That is all the information I can think of atm to help you help me:lol:

P.S. If you are wondering why I have attached a poll... It is so if you can't be bothered with a detailed answer or even posting, you can just click yes, no, not sure... And I will still get the answer I'm after, also it saves people having to read everyones post to get the answer also...But if you choose yes, it would be greatly appreciated if you say why, as I can't understand why this is happening and it really is tempting me to not even bother and just bite the bullet and pay $8.50 a tub twice a week... :? The reason I'm attempting this (breeding crix) is I am expecting 8 geckos soon and feel it would be MUCH cheaper to breed my own instead of paying for 4 tubs a week of crix for my geckos and beardie...

I'm not even going to bother with breeding woodies as they smell WAY too much and I dont want to risk the escapee's breeding and giving me a roach problem to deal with as well as an ant problem etc... Plus I HATE roaches, they gross me out!... they may not make noise, but they more than make up for it with their smell and everything... I would much rather the chirping of crickets in my room (reminding me of night all day everyday lol) than the smell and the discust that comes with woodies...

I'm really feeling that its almost not worth the effort anymore... So if anyone knows where you can buy bulk crix that are willing to freight which works out cheaper than buying a tub of 50 for $8.50 etc, shoot me a PM....PLEASE!

Haha also bolded the important part so you don't have to sit through the "prologue" to find the question:lol:

 

[natrix]

It's a good question.
I've never bred crickets , but I've left a plastic container of them for too long before , where the peice of carrot is completely gone & half of the crickets have died . All the dead ones did seem to be in one peice , so that would make me think that they wouln't eat each other , even in a desperate situation . As I said , I've never bred em though & may be completely wrong.

 

[shadowsabre]

if thet don't have enough food and moisture cricket do turn into cannibals.

 

[Jewly]

http://frogs.org.au/arcade/index.php

This website frieights insects Australia wide and they are quite cheap. I was buying from them but stopped because I had a number of shipments where most of the crickets died within a couple of days but at other times I had no problems. They do add in extra to allow for some deaths and they even replaced one shipment free of charge cause the lot of them died within 2 days of arriving.

Also, usually any pet shop can order you in bulk crickets. You usually have to let them know by a certain day so they can order them in with their normal order.

 

[Ishah]

if thet don't have enough food and moisture cricket do turn into cannibals.

But/even in 24hours? i.e. the night before last, to last nite? There were probably 15-20dead!:shock::?

Thanks Jewly, I shall look into it... I doubt my petshop will do bulk any cheaper, they have Thickies for $275....Needless to say, they aren't the most wallet friendly petshop around...More like the D&G of the petshop world and they aren't even that good/great!

But the other petshop that is reasonably priced doesn't "do"/cater for all reptiles... only really snakes...and thats only to a small degree:? i.e. VERY limited food sizes for snakes(eg. pinkies, fuzzies or adults), cages and cleaner, and thats about the extent... They don't sell crix or mealworms or anything...really... not even TOD....:?

 

[Ishah]

Before the ant's massacre of them...I only had one or two die a week... But in 24-48hours of them being ant-free in a temporary container, probably 25 or so are now dead....

 

[Chris1]

i've never noticed my crix eating each other,...

i did have ants maul my silkworms last year though and had to balance their box on cups sitting in a tray of water,...

i hate the cricket stink way more than the roach stink, they smell like dirty feet!!

 

[Ishah]

Haha I don't think they smell at all... or maybe I haven't kept them long enough lol...I sprayed the floor and anything the lid could possibly touch for ants to gain access to them with copious amounts of surface spray!....In my haste to get rid of the ants and stop re-entry, I also sprayed the mesh lid and let it air out, but after I had done it, realised it was pretty stupid as the crix often jump up and crawl on it in an attempt to upstage spiderman :lol: and the surface spray says "kills on contact" haha and even if it didn't kill them by getting on their feet, I'm sure it would prove harmful to my lizards having a surface spray-coated cricket for lunch!

 

[channi]

Short answer is crickets are dirty, nasty bas tards, cockaroaches are much cleaner and easier to breed.

 

[Dipcdame]

Ishah, try getting some of that ant sand stuff, locate the ants nests and sprinkle it around.... also try putting some around where they are getting in.................... nothing worse than an infestation of ants!!! They bite..... I itch! Not good!! LOL

A cheaper version is to sprinkle liberal amounts of talcum powder around the nest and along their path....................good luck!

 

[Cactusnt]

Dear Ishah
My crickets eat each other when they are very hungry.
Cheers,
Cactusnt.

 

[Lovemydragons]

Yes, I forgot to replace more carrot into my cricket tub the other day. And I went to pull out some for beardy dinner and there was one medium cricket dragging and attacking another medium size cricket, it was nearly dead. It only stopped when it realised it too was going to be dinner if it didn't jump away, sorry to say they both were eaten very quickly!