# What can i feed my cricket geeders to keep them healthy?



## Evil_Berzerker

What can i feed my cricket geeders to keep them healthy cause the guy in hte petshop says u can give them potato and such like to keep em goin but i dont want to cut a chunk out of a whole potato coz my mum will go mental is apple good?

plus does anyone have a good idea for a setup to keep crickets in, a bit more perminent and overall better than a wee takeaway tub that they come in, ive noticed aswell that they smell realy bad...i mena REAKY bad and this smell is comin out in my mantises waste and i basically have to clean the turds out everytime he does one to stop smells developin, any suggestions?


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## Rick

I feed mine dry cat food and leafy greens about once a week. They are also kept in a plastic rubbermaid tub with about a half inch of dry oatmeal(they eat it too) and egg crates to hide in. I cut out the center of the tubs' lid and glued in mesh. I also have a small, shallow gravel filled dish for water.


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## Peekaboo

If your crickets smell as bad as you say they do, you might have a batch of bad crickets. Which would explain why your mantis is vomiting/defecating noticeably smelly brownish-black goo.


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## Evil_Berzerker

yeah i was thinking that im plannin on goin to the pet shop and gettin another batch of crickets and a small tank to keep as a feeder habitat, is that adviseable?


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## OGIGA

> If your crickets smell as bad as you say they do, you might have a batch of bad crickets. Which would explain why your mantis is vomiting/defecating noticeably smelly brownish-black goo.


I thought crickets smell bad anyway...


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## Rick

> If your crickets smell as bad as you say they do, you might have a batch of bad crickets. Which would explain why your mantis is vomiting/defecating noticeably smelly brownish-black goo.
> 
> 
> 
> I thought crickets smell bad anyway...
Click to expand...

Mine don't.


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## Evil_Berzerker

yeah but these ones smell of death left in the noon day sun, and ive noticed a lot of corpses in the tub

ill get a new batch, better safe than sorry, and my mantises vomit smelled the same as the crickets and its realy realy realy bad, his turds are the same and i need to clean them out of his tub everytime he craps coz it makes the whole thing smell so bad


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## Ben.M

Yeah, deffinatly get a new batch of crix, and open the box a lil bit just to check that they aint bad either :roll:


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## Way.Of.The.Mantis

Yeah get a bigger container for fro crickets, like those rubbermaid tubs, or a cheap plastic tank - it is harder for crickets to jump out of these when you need get some food in. Lettuce once or a twice a week seems to work well for me (wash it first, leave it moist).

Jonny.


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## hibiscusmile

when u cut into the potato, put the rest in a cup of cool water and cover and place in fridge, mum can use it later and so can u, they last a good 3 days this way :!:


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## Rick

> Yeah get a bigger container for fro crickets, like those rubbermaid tubs, or a cheap plastic tank - it is harder for crickets to jump out of these when you need get some food in. Lettuce once or a twice a week seems to work well for me (wash it first, leave it moist).Jonny.


Lettuce has zero nutritional value. This is why I use dried cat food and misc leafy greens once a week.


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## Evil_Berzerker

yeah i was gonan do that but the guy in hte petshop said its a good idea to add calcium powder to the crickets, but to do this i have to keep them in the tub they come in coz the wee tank i bought wont fit into it, aw well ill just keeo the tub for my mantis when he grows up


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## Rick

> yeah i was gonan do that but the guy in hte petshop said its a good idea to add calcium powder to the crickets, but to do this i have to keep them in the tub they come in coz the wee tank i bought wont fit into it, aw well ill just keeo the tub for my mantis when he grows up


You don't need calcium powder for the crickets. Most people who work in pet shops have no clue about what they're doing.


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## Evil_Berzerker

, bastards just conned me out of £3 ¬.¬


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## Peekaboo

Return it? ^.^


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## Evil_Berzerker

nah man i used a bit of it so i cant take it back ¬.¬ they have tubs of gut feed that are pretty wee and theyre like £13  rip off!


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## anthony2001a

> What can i feed my cricket geeders to keep them healthy cause the guy in hte petshop says u can give them potato and such like to keep em goin but i dont want to cut a chunk out of a whole potato coz my mum will go mental is apple good?plus does anyone have a good idea for a setup to keep crickets in, a bit more perminent and overall better than a wee takeaway tub that they come in, ive noticed aswell that they smell realy bad...i mena REAKY bad and this smell is comin out in my mantises waste and i basically have to clean the turds out everytime he does one to stop smells developin, any suggestions?


There are a number of products on the market to feed crickets. This is because crickets are eaten by many reptile pets. Try Fluker's Orange Cube Cricket Feeder or Total Bites.

Link 1: http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=5...yID=102105&amp;

Link 2: http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=9...lyID=11817&amp;

You can get cricket keepers at the pet store; just use a toilet paper cardboard tube inside the cage (cut it if it's too long) as a place for crickets to hide; just grab the tube and tip it into your mantis container.

Anthony


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## Mantis_Whisper

I feed my crickets about any veggie in my house (other then carrots). Grapes (in the crickets :lol: ) are pretty good on the mantises, I haven't seen one puke yet. I also saw that the crickets LOVE green beans. Cooked ones are easier for them to eat.

Mine are munching on zuhcunni, spinach, green beans, and apple. I heard that spinach has loads of protien so I think that will be good for my mantids. I'll see how it goes and then tell you guys.


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## asdsdf

Evil_Berzerker said:


> , bastards just conned me out of £3 ¬.¬


For a mantis, they don't need calcium XD However, the guy was pretty smart in recommending calcium powder for powdering crickets(If you told him it was for a mantis, nvm. :lol: ). Lizards and frogs and whatever need calcium, and calcium powdered crickets(Just in case you didn't know you powder the cricket, cause, sorry, but rick, it sounded like you thought you put it into the cricket food.) is a way to give it to them. There are actually conditions where they don't get enough calcium and their health deteriorates.


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