Crickets escaping!

[Kurt]

I would add, when using screen mesh on a cricket enclosure, make sure that it is aluminium and not nylon. They can chew threw nylon.

Also, this past week I had a massive cricket escape, several hundred. I have been rounding them up and throwing them back in the bins or feeding them to the rococo toad. I wouldn't worry about them picking up any toxins in your house unless you have an open container or rat poison or something similar lying around.

[Sublime]

@Kurt Yes, very good tip about aluminum over nylon. How did the mass cricket escape happen? That sucks. The reason I just throw out the escapes is by the time you catch them they've lost all their nutritional value... Also I take extra precaution because I still live at home, but that does make sense if you make it a habit of not leaving anything on the floor that could potentially harm your herps indirectly.

[Kurt]

They chewed their way out of the case they came in. Given enough time, they can chew their way through cardboard. I got two cases on Sunday at the Manchester show but couldn't set up the bins till Tuesday. In the meantime they chewed their way through one of the boxes, there were crickets every where. I have rounded up the majority of them and put them in the bins where there is food waiting them.
I would't through out a cricket simply because it is no longer "gut-loaded". Just toss it back in the bin and feed it. Besides no matter what, a cricket still has some nutritional value, even if its only protien.

[Sublime]

Oh yeah, I've experienced similar situations with paper plates set inside that they chewed through to get to the food. Very tedious to clean through all of it and get all of the paper fluff out. Also, they probably digested a bunch of it chewing through it with their mandibles.

Good job rounding most of them up though, lol. That's an accomplishment. Good point, I do it mostly because of concerns of what is lying on my floor - just a little bit paranoid. I've never had more than a few escape during feeding time so it's really not needed for me to throw a couple escapes back in when I have 500-1000 crickets in my feeder bin. My pixie goes through so many it's ridiculous.