Excessive cricket death

[Jadore axolotl]

My crickets seem to be falling on there back and not being able to get up. I am loosing a lot of crickets due to this... is this normal as I only got them last week? They had no substrate and I thought if I added a sand/ compost mix they would not fall as much but it is still happening.
Cheers,
J.

 

[mechanic380]

I used to lose many by the beginning of the second week. I now use a ventilated little cage and add a small dish of fluckers gut load, which is good for your salamanders, and a little absorbent pillow thing that holds water for the crickets to use. They also make a gel that the crickets cant drown in. With this setup I lose very few and it wasn't expensive to get this equipment. Other than food and water for the crickets I don't know what could be causing your loses.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Them falling on their backs isn't what's killing them, they're doing that because they are dying from some other factor. Your biggest culprit for this would be lack of ventilation and/or too much humidity.

 

[Coastal Groovin]

Are you keeping them in a air conditioned room? If so put a heat lamp on one end of the tank and make sure there is plenty of wet oatmeal or fresh fruit for them to get water from along with plenty of egg crate for the to hide under. Don't forget you do have to clean your cricket tank every week also

 

[John]

Are you keeping them in a air conditioned room?

The only places air conditioned in Ireland are office blocks.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

My crickets seem to be falling on there back and not being able to get up. I am loosing a lot of crickets due to this... is this normal as I only got them last week? They had no substrate and I thought if I added a sand/ compost mix they would not fall as much but it is still happening.
Cheers,
J.

I too would bet on humidity. I cheat with mine. I use those big desiccant packs from shipping containers. I keep them in wire window screening "envelopes" I made for the purpose. That keeps the crickets from nibbling on them. Nice thing about this method is they are "rechargeable" in the microwave, so I can tell my hippie friends I have gone green...

 

[Jadore axolotl]

I think you are right about it being humidity. if i put a ring of tape reaching in around the edge they will not be able to get out without the lid on right?

 

[katebutton]

I take care of lab crickets that are kept in rubbermaid tubs, and I put a strip of packing tape running around the entirety of the inside walls about 1/4 down the wall. I usually always have lids on as backup, but if the cages get too moist I can take the lids off and usually have no escapes. Just make sure that the egg cartons or whatever you have for them to hide in don't go up to the tape, or the crickets will just jump above the tape and be free.

 

[freves]

How many crickets are you talking about? If you are ordering large quantities or if your local supplier handles them correctly then the others are right about it being most likely an environmental factor. I have lost crickets in the past however when buying small quantities from local petstores due to rough handling of the insects when being counted.
Chip

 

[Jadore axolotl]

I have almost lost them all... maybe 10 left and the others are on their backs kicking there legs until they die. even if they are put back on their feet they just flip back over... Most are only small (maybe 1cm long).

 

[Jennewt]

I have almost lost them all... maybe 10 left and the others are on their backs kicking there legs until they die. even if they are put back on their feet they just flip back over... Most are only small (maybe 1cm long).

That sounds really weird. I wonder if they have a disease. I would recommend sterilizing all your cricket-related equipment before you get another batch.

 

[Jadore axolotl]

I now have four left but these four seem to be goinf well and seem healthy. I have no idea what happened to all the others.
Do you think it is possible to breed with just four crickets?