My crickets are all dying!!!???

[Psychobunny]

I get them from Ghann's cricket farm and they do not have visible parasites

or anything, and I have never had trouble in the past.

But, my latest batch of 500 are dying off fast!! every day I have to remove dozens

of dead ones.

They are in a large tub and I had a UTH set for 78F because the room temp there

is only high 60's in winter. I removed the UTH in case that may be the problem.

I thought they were too cold, but it doesnt seem to make any difference!!

Also, I have been feeding them a 50/50 mix of bee pollen and regular cricket food.

They like the stuff so much, they gorge on it and I have to keep filling the feeding bins.

I noticed that most of the dead ones have "bloated" abdomens!!

So, I thought maybe they were gorging themselves to death on the stuff (cricks are pretty

stupid!!) and now feeding normal 100% cricket chow.

I also give them lettuce and water gel cubes for moisture.

I just took them off the bee pollen yesterday, so I cant yet assess if that helped or not,

but they sure did LOVE the stuff!!

I now only have 100 or so cricks left and just ordered a week ago!!!

 

[ismart]

Sounds like a bad batch. Are these crickets adults?

 

[crucis]

im not sure if this will help in your case, but i always keep a tray of of 2-inch deep moist soil in with the crickets.. it's supposed to help the gravid females 'relieve' themselves of eggs.. They do get really bloated and will start stabbing the ground with their ovipositors and working themselves into a frenzy when they can't find anyplace to deposit their load.. (definitely not good for their general well-being).

Hmm other than that I can only think of fungal infections or cannibalism.. in both cases, overcrowding seems to be the biggest problem

PS yup, if they are adults, they could just be getting old...

EDIT: Reading your post again... Since you didn't have problems with them in the past, did you feed them bee pollen too?

 

[meaganelise9]

Weird.. is the bee pollen a new thing you're doing? I suppose they are pretty dumb.. Maybe they could be eating themselves to death, or maybe crickets aren't accustomed to pollen in the wild? Have you been feeding them to the mantids without a problem?

That's a head-scratcher.

 

[Peter Clausen]

When I keep mine warm and offer an inch or so of substrate and feed and provide moisture sources consistently, they do just fine. Temperature does seem to have the greatest affect on die-off. I'm wondering too about the age of the batch you got. Most of my crickets die less natural deaths.

 

[rs4guy]

I only keep about 3-4 dozen usually at a time in a 80oz tub, but have kept many in the past for my herps. Anyways, it sounds like you just got a bad batch, I feed mine pollen all the time and they do just fine. Maybe try another vendor next time?

 

[tradaroo]

Its not your fault, there is a wide spread cricket diseases that has effected 80% of all the cricket farmers in the USA.... It will eventually hit all of them . The bad thing about this diseases is that no matter how well the farms clean there breeding cages, the diseases comes back...... the diseases is caled cricket paralysis virus... Alot of the farms are trying to breed the black crickets. From what i understand it shoud not harm the reptiles we feed, it only effects the crickets.

 

[Psychobunny]

Sorry I forgot to say, these are nymphs, 1/4''.

I have never used any substrate at all, always thought it would be a big mess!!

I am gut loading them with added bee pollen for the mantids, since they get this in the wild

from bugs.

I have a whole bunch of that fine coconut fiber substrate like they use for reptiles. Would that work?

I have compressed bricks of the stuff. You stick it in a bucket water, and it expands like crazy!!

I use it for my tarantula and he has fun building mounds all over the place.

He has a huge mound at one end of his half log hide out so you cant see inside!!LOL

I dont think its a bad batch. I have keep crickets for years, but never tried feeding them bee pollen either!!

I really think they are eating themselves to death!! LOL!!

I am putting about 5 tablespoons full of this mixture in and the next day, its all gone!!!

 

[Psychobunny]

I only keep about 3-4 dozen usually at a time in a 80oz tub, but have kept many in the past for my herps. Anyways, it sounds like you just got a bad batch, I feed mine pollen all the time and they do just fine. Maybe try another vendor next time?

I have had trouble with ALL the crick farms, and I have tried a lot of them.

Fluker's is about the worst. Sometimes I have great luck with a vendor, then all of a sudden, they screw everything up and I have

to find another

 

[Introvertebrate]

Its not your fault, there is a wide spread cricket diseases that has effected 80% of all the cricket farmers in the USA.... It will eventually hit all of them . The bad thing about this diseases is that no matter how well the farms clean there breeding cages, the diseases comes back...... the diseases is caled cricket paralysis virus... Alot of the farms are trying to breed the black crickets. From what i understand it shoud not harm the reptiles we feed, it only effects the crickets.

Acheta domesticus is susceptible to the cricket virus. Ghann's is in the process of switching from Acheta domesticus to Gryllus assimilis, which is immune to the cricket virus. I couldn't tell you which species Psychobunny got.

 

[crucis]

a cricket pandemic...? wow this is starting to sound really disturbing. Especially if it spreads to wild individuals..

i was so glad when the pet stores in my country switched permanently over to Acheta... even the neighbours commented on the racket Gryllus was making (I live in an apartment)

 

[Rick]

I just keep them in a rubbermaid tub with an inch or so of dry oatmeal as a substrate. You probably shouldn't feed them "cricket food" as that is simply a waste of money. Feed them fresh fruits and veggies along with dry dog food. They will also nibble on the oatmeal substrate. I never used any additional heat on them either. Sounds like you just got a bad batch. It happens.

 

[Psychobunny]

I dont know what species I have, they look exactly the same as what I have been

getting for years. They are a light tan color. Maybe I will Google "cricket species" to

see if I can find them.

I know about the virus, but was told it was now under control and was only a big problem

a few years ago. Source of that info is not what I would call 100% relieable though!!

 

[Psychobunny]

I just keep them in a rubbermaid tub with an inch or so of dry oatmeal as a substrate. You probably shouldn't feed them "cricket food" as that is simply a waste of money. Feed them fresh fruits and veggies along with dry dog food. They will also nibble on the oatmeal substrate. I never used any additional heat on them either. Sounds like you just got a bad batch. It happens.

That sound like it would turn into a huge mess in a few weeks, esp when your substrate starts getting damp.

How do you keep it clean??

I have to clean my bin at least weekly and I get 1/2 a dustpan full of ###### w/o any substrate!!

 

[hibiscusmile]

the crickets were prob sick or too cold in shipping, they die off fast if they have gotten to cold, I try to tell you guys to order from Rainbow mealworms, the crickets do not die off, they are the darker kind, but there are some lighter ones in the order, they have small or large, small is 1/4 " or less, large are 1/2 or bigger, order the smallest amount they offer, as they are very hardy. ps if you order, mention my name!

 

[meaganelise9]

I try to keep mine in smaller batches, so that I can clean out the poo more easily/frequently. I've never used a substrate either, though it might be a good idea.

 

[massaman]

I always buy mine from a pet store called soldans in Michigan and get like 5 dozen large and small usually and just get them every other week when I run out instead of ordering online some of the pet stores may have better crickets then ordering them online but depends on location!

 

[patrickfraser]

CRICKETS! UGH! :no:

 

[lancaster1313]

I keep a couple of small containers of crickets temporarily(not breeding) on an oatmeal substrate and it doesn't get bad at all. Actually, it seems to cut down on the cricket's odors. They ALL grab a piece to eat when they are introduced to their new substrate.

I don't let the oatmeal get too moist. Fruits and veggies(in a dish) are the only water source for my crickets. I feed pond sticks (fish food) as a dry staple to all of my omnivorous insects. They like them and they don't mold over (as quickly as my dog's food does) in my more humid containers. Dog food will do fine for crickets but I already buy pond sticks for the insects cause they are so easy to chew up, even for tiny nymphs. Usually the only crickets that die are adults and occasional molting individuals(chewed on by others).

I guess a container of moist substrate can be placed on the oatmeal for laying if one wants to breed the crickets? I just don't feel like breeding them.