Cannibal Crickets!

[Cebby75]

For some reason, I've been having bad luck with my feeder crickets.
Cannibalism has got the best of them it seems.
The last 2 batches I've received have turned on each other.
I have plenty of food for them that they constantly have, a mixture of veggies and oats, however it seems every morning I wake there's more and more casualties. And it's not like they're dead via natural causes...cause they're mutilated!

Any ideas on why I have such angry aggressive crickets?

[Paul Rust]

Do you have a stack of piled up egg carton material for them to hide in? A pic of your setup would help.

[UncleChester]

You might try an alternate source of moisture, like damp cotton balls, maybe the vegies aren't enough. Lack of moisture seems to lead to cannibalism. This morning I left 8 in a smaller container with a bunch of fish flakes for gutloading. This evening there are 7 crickets and an extra pair of legs, fish flakes all gone. I'd expect it's lack of water or maybe the confined space that caused this (lack of room can also cause trouble).

I'm not sure if lack of protein can be a problem, I feed mine mostly ground up cat food and I (almost) never have casualties. Today was a rare exception.

[Cebby75]

Yes I have egg cartons in there and damp cotton balls, but I think I need to just step up the size of their container. I was unaware that not enough space could lead them to do that. Good to know, it seems if it's not one thing it's the other!

Is there a rule of thumb for the size of the container per amount of cricket?
If so that would be a huge help
I keep about 3 dozen crickets at a time, so what would be a suitable sized container for them? I'm using a standard critter keeper now, but it looks like I need to go up my game!

Thanks again for the info guys!

[Paul Rust]

Look at my albums and you can see my cricket tubs. They need enough room so that each cricket has a place to stand, not on top of each other. I feed cat food also with a cricket waterer. I hardly ever have dead crickets.

[Jace]

Does it matter if it is cat food or dog food?

[Kurt]

I was wondering about that too.

[Greatballzofire]

http://www.water-keep.com/shop/index...0035a6700cc051
I use water crystals for hydrating my crickets. The crystals do not mold. When they get dirty from the crickets walking on them and pooping on them I just recycle them into the garden and put a new dish of crystals. I buy the big 50 pound bag, as I also use the crystals for gardening. I have never had any cannibalization with my crickets in the two years I 've been raising them. They also get the dust, or meal, from the rodent block bags, and ground up cat food.

[UncleChester]

For space, I keep ~20 breeding adult crickets in a shoebox sized rubbermaid bin that's about 10L with no cannibalism. They have a few pieces of egg carton as well to hide under and increase the surface area of the container.

I've only used cat food as I have it on hand. I believe it has higher protein than dog food, which seems better to me from a pre-gutloading kind of way.

I also use the water crystals. They weren't easy to find near me, I ended up buying a small tub from Lee Valley under the brand name Soil Moist. If you're just using it for crickets, a tiny amount (when dried) will go a long way. I hydrated a 7g packet of the stuff last October and probably have gone through about half of it.

[Cebby75]

Awesome guys ty for all the feedback it goes a long way
Now I take it these water crystals are hard to come by?
Would I be looking for these in a pet store or something of other means?

[UncleChester]

The crystals will be rather expensive at pet stores, partly because they are pet stores and partly because they sell them already hydrated. There are also some brands that have added minerals or other nutrients added in, but I've never tried these.

Craft stores like Michaels supposedly have them (used in flower arrangements I believe). So will some garden centres (just none of the ones near me). Lee Valley does as well.

[Cebby75]

Okay awesome I'll have to get on that!
Much appreciated thanks for the info Uncle Chester!

[Cebby75]

Look at my albums and you can see my cricket tubs. They need enough room so that each cricket has a place to stand, not on top of each other. I feed cat food also with a cricket waterer. I hardly ever have dead crickets.

What size tubs are you keeping them in?
I'm having trouble figuring that out xD.

[Paul Rust]

What size tubs are you keeping them in?
I'm having trouble figuring that out xD.

Rubbermaid Roughneck 53L, Target $9.00

Waterer is from Ghan's Cricket Farm, Watering Kit - 16 oz. Mini, $5.99

I use the waterer because I hate to buy watering gel when a waterer is so inexpensive. I only use the gel for my pinheads.

[Paul Rust]

I was wondering about that too.

Why?
Just get cat food. I don't know of a recipe with dog food.

[Cebby75]

Awesome Paul thank you!
I also put some ground up cat food in there this morning and they went hog-wild! haha!
Always appreciate the feedback, thank you tons!

[Paul Rust]

You're welcome

[Kurt]

I have a small bag of dog food. John talked me into getting some to try and feed the rococo with. Damn toad wanted nothing to do with it. Even the box turtle and fire skink wanted nothing to do with it.

[Paul Rust]

I have a small bag of dog food. John talked me into getting some to try and feed the rococo with. Damn toad wanted nothing to do with it. Even the box turtle and fire skink wanted nothing to do with it.

LOL, I don't know why cat food over dog food, just learned to use cat food, blend up the dog food and give it a try.

[Pitbulldoxie]

I have about a dozen small and two large in a cricket keeper ever any issues. I feed Nature Zone brand Total Bites its food water and gutload in a lil green jell they go nuts for it and it smells like jello. I found it at my local petclub ( discount pet store). They have a dish to hide under plus the tubes that came with the keeper. Been in there for almost two months and so far no deads.