dead crickets does anyone know why?

[newfieb]

i always seem to loose alot of crickets. They die and they turn black/brownish and they stink really bad. I usually get around 80-100 at a time. I keep them in the large cricket keeper. I feed them a powder gutload by flukers and also flukers yellow cricket drink with calcium. Am i doing something wrong or is that just what crickets do. Out of 100 i usually loose 30-35 i think for sure. does anyone know how to stop this from hapening.

 

[Tony C]

The high calcium diet and calcium-fortified water crystals are the likely culprit. I don't think it is mentioned on the label, but high calcium gutloads should only be used for 24-48 hours before the crickets are fed off, after 48 hours or so you will have a high mortality rate.

 

[sammer021486]

Agreed with Tony, high calcium diets lead to high mortality rates. Also provide some egg cartons or crumpled new paper in the keeper to increase surface area and provide more room for the crickets. If crickets are kept in too small of and area they will prey upon each other and trample each other to death.

Another thing that I have found, is that if the crickets are provided with too much water they die too. How, I am not too sure, so only provide enough water for them to survive and since you are using the gel, just give them enough for 1 day, that should help with the death rates.

 

[newfieb]

thanks guys. That is something that i think should be on the label. oh well at least i know now

 

[Magic Merlin]

also, the stupid things only live about 8 weeks anyways, some of your mortality could be from old age......try, depending on long it takes you to feed off 80, buy 40 small and 40 med-large.

 

[thegeckoguy23]

here it is for me sometimes one male gets anoyed by another male and they dont breed cuz one male is hasing the other males around. One male kills 3 males lol well maybe not 3 but they do eat eachother if you get a bigger space for them this could lower the deaths but usually they well kill each other alot