not happy with the net shop i got my Ts food from

[scotttaylor]

i order a box of crickets the brown type and atlessts 60% of them are not big enough for the size i asked for and it says the right size on the label and to top it off there is full growen creepy crawlies with them so i will have to pick them out they look like small millipedes mixed with wood lice or a big wood lice might be a better way or saying it have not put up there name as not sure if i can on here

[Adam Smith]

Dont worry about the little creppy crawlies they are in with crickets all the time. Think of them as natueral vacuum cleaners. As for size maybe the wrong box was labelled and simple mistake. Contact the company who sent you the box and say that they are the wrong size. however if you ordered medium sized there is quite a wide margin and the size varies when medium.

[Phil Rea]

The 'creepy crawlies' are beetle larvae and are there on purpose as cleaners. Leave them, they're fine. They'll turn into little black beetles if you leave them long enough.

Contact the people you got the crix from, and I'm sure they'll sort it.

[Mark Pennell]

They are Dermestid beetles used to eat up all the dead crickets, my cryio juv's love um! There also used my crime labs and museums to clean fleash of bones...

As for the crickets during busy times you find crickets get smaller as then can't rear them on fast enough to keep up with demand.

Just feed the crickets for a few weeks you'll have larger ones

Personally I prefere the black crickets there are larger and don't infest your house if the escape, unlike the browm ones which are in fact house crickets

Regards
Mark

[Adam Smith]

How long can crickets live that escape in the house because me and my other half swear that there is a cricket that has got in the wal cavity or something behind the sofa and was about xmas time. I keep finding them every now but there is def one that has been around since xmas and last time i remember still chirping at night

[scotttaylor]

lol
i have brown and black red on a web page some Ts dont like the black as harder shells, my TS a funny thing now it sending its time harf on the soil (for got proper name) and harft on edge of the tank head facing the side of the tank lol,
im having turble with the humday its 220C but its 55 humiderty ive sprade more water on sides is it because its a cool day ?

[Colin D Wilson]

Adam,

Just routed my way through a load of old paperwork and found a breeding "help sheet" i got from a retired chap who used to breed crick's in the early 90's for reptile owners.

In short and missing out all the techy breedy bits.,......(and according to the notes i have)

Once the crickets reach maturity (from egg to imature adult is dependent on the amount of food available but could be up to a year), house (brown) crickets live for about 3-4 weeks and Black (field) crickets live slightly longer.
field crickets produce one generation (on average) per year and house crickets double that.

Wish the nice guy was still alive, he used to charge 50p for 50 medium cricks and even better..... 2p each for his large locusts.

[Adam Smith]

I have no idea what the brown crickets have been eating in the walls to survive. I found one last night and could be the last one but if it still chirping then there is one left. I had a few crickets escape from the pet pal they were not quite mature, juvenile to sub adult size and seem to have lasted ages. I always thought that crickets lived a few monthe after being mature which is why I always thought it was bizarre and tryed convice my oh that they cant be crickets as they dont ive that long without food. What they have eaten to last I know idea

[Mark Pennell]

I have no idea what the brown crickets have been eating in the walls to survive. I found one last night and could be the last one but if it still chirping then there is one left. I had a few crickets escape from the pet pal they were not quite mature, juvenile to sub adult size and seem to have lasted ages. I always thought that crickets lived a few monthe after being mature which is why I always thought it was bizarre and tryed convice my oh that they cant be crickets as they dont ive that long without food. What they have eaten to last I know idea

Adam
Brown crickets will eat anything! there is plenty for them to eat in the house believe me.

They will breed and multiply within your house they are european house crickets after all, hence why I prefer the black African field crickets.

Cheers
Mark
If you have a cat or dog check the food bowls at night, probley find 200 crickets having dinner!

[Adam Smith]

The cat has found a couple of crickets but just lets them go. Although she has recently taken an interest in the crickets kept in the pet pal in the study. At one point there was a cricket in the kitchen and it was so constant and loud we thought it may have been the fridge packing up and her dad agreed who is a gas/heating engineer so we had the landlord replace the fridge when all along it was crickets lol. I think the last one I caught was the last noisy cricket tough, least I hope so

[scotttaylor]

i have mine in a plastic container i could keep a nuther T in and im used to picking them out quick lol so mine never get out. there kepted in a cool place so they never get to hot or cold and i found they breed ok there too lol
i used to loose sleep when i had them over my lizards when i keepted them till i moved them they would cheep till 2am lol

[Colin D Wilson]

A cricket can survive for months eating mould, dust, cavity insulation, dead insects etc (oh and as a last resort the insulation off your household wiring)

Marks right black field cricks are best, since i've had to start using them again it's all i'll buy.

[Neil Richardson]

Is it possible, and would it be worth setting up colonies of Dermestid beetles in your tanks to help keep them clean?

[Colin D Wilson]

You could try it, but from a bit of research they only thrive well in humidity of less than 50% (lower than most T's) and the "carpet cleaner" larvae are prone to mite attack in more humid enclosures and a colony can be wiped out in a short time.

Woodlice are still my first choice...less maintenance, although i'm trying a small colony of mealworms in my P Cavimanus (scorpion) tank as cleaners, scorpions tend to be more messy eaters and drop a lot of "body bits".
As scorps have a harder exoskeleton they're less prone to being nibbled on by the larger mealworm larvae, a thing to watch out for with T's .

[scotttaylor]

how offen do i need to clean my Ts tank out