Food for slings?

[ralfkonen]

I got eight slings and one adult. Been buying squats for the slings, but they do not seem to keep very long. They come in a tub and I put them in the fridge, but they are all dead after 10 days. Is my fridge too cold or what else can I do to keep them alive longer. I just do not want to waste hundreds of squats every two weeks. How do you feed your slings?
Even for my adult I have to buy a tub of at least 20 crickets every now and then. How do you care for your crickets to get the best out of them? And what can you do against the awful smell?
It's not the money that bothers me. It's just such a waste.
Any suggestions?
Thank you very much.

[Alistair Kennington]

Not a great answer

Hi this is not the best answer but it is one i like...you just need mor slings & more adults problem solved,but you can buy food for crickets i actualy just use
a cheap breakfast oat type of poradge stuff & sliced carrot,& mine are still alive
you need a much bigger container for them though,& i cant get squats so i just cut a maggot in half with a stanley & my slings are more than happy with that,
& i dont buy half a pint,i just had a word with the tackle shop"chapmans"owner told him what i needed them for & he just gives me a few in a sling pot for 50p
still far to many realy but not as bad as half a pint .....

[chris carter]

I got eight slings and one adult. Been buying squats for the slings, but they do not seem to keep very long. They come in a tub and I put them in the fridge, but they are all dead after 10 days. Is my fridge too cold or what else can I do to keep them alive longer. I just do not want to waste hundreds of squats every two weeks. How do you feed your slings?
Even for my adult I have to buy a tub of at least 20 crickets every now and then. How do you care for your crickets to get the best out of them? And what can you do against the awful smell?
It's not the money that bothers me. It's just such a waste.
Any suggestions?
Thank you very much.

Put Some slices of raw potato and some tropical fish flakes in with them, they will suck the moisture from the potato and eat the fishflakes, this time of year keep them outside in the garden so you dont need to worry about the smell, (ensure they are protected from rain).If the Fish flakes get wet they mould up quite quickly so put fresh in if this happens

I have kept size one black crickets alive for over a month using this method, and adults even longer. although mine are usually all eaten well before they have time to die in any other way. ( NICE STIR FRIED)

[Peter Lacey]

I gave up on maggots when my room became full of green bottles, yuk!
For slings I use small crickets or bean weavils but I also buy buffalo worms (small mealworms) which seem to last ages.
Perhaps your fridge is too cold but tbh with only 8 slings I'd go for something a little more practical. I have bean weavil cultures for sale if you're interested. Simple to colonise and no danger to your slings.

[Lisa Baines]

Firstly when it comes to squats... freeze them! Then thaw what you need. our slings readily take them. make sure you take uneaten squat out the next day or they go mushy and 'orrible!

as for micro crickets.. food items have been discussed here but I would also recommend keeping them on a substrate of vermiculite with the egg crate on top. I swear it is like cat litter for crickets! the smell is dramatically reduced and does help the crickets survive better. We breed thousands of them using vermiculite as substrate. (obviously not for the egg laying though lol!)

We found that when keeping them on a food substrate, they died off no matter how well we tried to keep them.

[ralfkonen]

Well, thank you all very much for your advice. Those weavils sound interesting, Peter. Can you tell me more about them please?
And thanks, Lisa, will try the vermiculite with my crickets

[Jennifer Todd]

I use bean weevils too and get on really well with them, really easy to keep and they breed so I don't run out of food. I have never tried maggots though.

[mary walters]

It's easier to get a maggot into a small pot than get a micro in there.

[Peter Lacey]

Bean weavils: they don't require food although I have noticed them taking water. Use a cricket tub with 1 layer of dried beans, place the culture in the tub and leave for 3-4 weeks. The adult weavils lay eggs on the outside of the beans and the larvae bury into the beans. They emerge as adults and the process is repeated. Certain beans will speed or slow down the process (I use black eyed or mung beans) and raising the temperatures will also speed things up.
Safe to put into your sling tubs and great for feeding the likes of dart frogs etc.