house cleaning for my cricket colony ?
- Thread starter wizoph
- Start date
in my experience if it's not to dirty you could just scoop the dirt and wash the water dish and remove all the old uneaten food. but if it's too dirty i just gather all the crickets in one clean container while i wash their enclosure and change the egg crates.
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- May 4, 2008
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Crickets are slobs basically, and if you don't keep up, removing food and dead crickets(10" tweezers help), things can start to smell nasty quickly, let alone attract mites. I keep my crickets in the 13 gallon plastic trash cans or smaller(no need to cover, crickets can't climb plastic/glass).I use empty paper towel/TP rolls, or egg-cartons for hides, I use cucumber slices for water source. When it comes time to clean, at least once a week min. for me, I put the crickets in a critter keeper of similar container while I clean there cage, I then use Eco friendly dish soap that is coconut-oil based(I use this to clean all, my pets, water-dishes, cages ,toys,etc.), and always rinse well.
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- Feb 10, 2008
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I've actually seen crickets climb some pretty slippery surfaces. I always cover them, but now that I have a breeding roach colony, screw the crickets!!!
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- May 4, 2008
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Been keeping in 13 gal. plastic trash cans uncovered for 10 years, and no escapes, yet. The heavier the cricket the less they are able to climb up plastic/glass, plus to scale a trash can 3ft.high wont happen unless on steroids or Red Bull.Roaches are my food of choice, but I like to mix it up so those damm crickets are still on the menu.
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- Feb 10, 2008
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I HATE crickets! They are smelly, hard to keep alive, and they BITE! Absolutely nothing to love...
ahahaha .... i cleaned my cricket container yesterday and as i pick up the crikets who got loose it somehow gave me a nasty bite , not that big and painful though but the skin of my fingers were full of scratches . . need to find new friendly feeders ... they stink too
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- Jan 21, 2008
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Oh yeah, they definitely bite - not the most comfortable sensation. Doesn't really seem to do much damage, but it still pinches pretty good.
We used to keep anoles as kids and while cleaning the crickets would sometimes get out of the carrier we put the anoles and them in, so one of us would have to catch and hold it in our hands while we finished - that was never a favorite thing to have to do, the little buggers would keep biting until we put them back.
I keep thinking roaches sound like a better option, but with only one rosie so far it just doesn't seem terribly practical just yet...eventually though!
We used to keep anoles as kids and while cleaning the crickets would sometimes get out of the carrier we put the anoles and them in, so one of us would have to catch and hold it in our hands while we finished - that was never a favorite thing to have to do, the little buggers would keep biting until we put them back.
I keep thinking roaches sound like a better option, but with only one rosie so far it just doesn't seem terribly practical just yet...eventually though!
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- Jul 28, 2007
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They bite? Thats news to me. I have never had that happened. And I have used bare hands for years. Maybe I never felt it
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- Aug 12, 2006
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Exactly.
We've found that it's so much easier and less smelly, to use dirt in the cricket tanks. We use about 1 inch and we don't bother with keeping it moist for eggs..the adults will eat them anyway. We gave up...hehehehe.
When the tank is dirty, just pick out the deaders and change the cardboard/eggcrates/tubes/whatever. After a few weeks, you'll want to dump the dirt and wash down the tank.
Who would have thought that we would end up with "pet" crickets, when we started this addiction/hobby? LMAO!
p.s....as for biting ~ have you ever left a bag full of crickets too long? They CHEW their way out.
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- May 17, 2008
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yes they bite
Yes the little monsters bite .My daughter dumped a bag full on one of my T's . Too bad I wasn't home they killed my little A.chalcodes.
Yes the little monsters bite .My daughter dumped a bag full on one of my T's . Too bad I wasn't home they killed my little A.chalcodes.