Crickets smell disgusting??

I have a large plastic bin (with ventilation holes) and store 100 crickets at a time inside. I don't use substrate, I just lay down 2 bowls of the orange cube diet and plenty of egg crate. But they're dying off pretty quickly and it stinks up the whole room. This happens all of the time and it's not only disgusting but if maintenence came for a cleanliness check and caught a whiff I'd never hear the end of it! Am I doing something wrong here? What is the perfect cricket setup?

My wife switch to Dubia Roaches for that reason and has been very happy. She was a little uncomfortable at first because they are roaches, but after a while they're all just bugs anyways. She actually has an order of 500 coming on Monday that after shipping only cost $22. I believe she gets them from dubiaroaches.com through Amazon.

The stench of crickets is the reason why I won't have any animal that eats them.

Dubias are the way to go. No smell. No noise. There more nutritious. My bearded dragon goes crazy for em.

Crickets smell horrible. They kill each other off quickly. They have a lifespan of weeks. They make a lot of noise. Some species that have been appearing recently on the market can even attack your herps.

You're doing everything right. Crickets used to be the gold standard as the insect diet staple but there's a lot of downsides, even when kept optimally. Dubias are replacing them as the primary feeder and its past time. Lose the crickets and get some dubia.

Also, there's no need to waste your money on commercial diets. They'll do great on some sort of grain like stale bread, cereal, chick feed, etc. and some sort of fruit or vegetable for hydration. I prefer oranges, cantaloupes, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

If you order from dubiaroaches.com, They even send food with. We won't by from anywhere else. Crickets are the biggest pain in the butt.

We made the switch to Dubia a long time ago because of the waste of money on crickets.
Once a couple die it sets off a chain reaction and soon the whole tub will be gone.

Ya'll are amazing for the suggestions but I have to sadly announce that I live in Florida where it is illegal to have Dubias!

What about discoids?

There is a FL legal roach species that people there use instead of Dubia. It's not quite as good as Dubia but still way better than crickets.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky Dragons

What about discoids?

There is a FL legal roach species that people there use instead of Dubia. It's not quite as good as Dubia but still way better than crickets.

---

I want to try them, but my fiancee is very anti roach because "ew gross". I'm not going to lie...I had a palmetto bug crawl up my leg and onto my arm this morning and I did scream and curse (I am a woman after all LOL). I would have to get used to it. I wouldn't even know how to keep them or keep them clean

I too switched from crickets to starting my own dubia colony years ago. Crickets smell, nothing you can really do. They are cannibalistic, jump, bite, die left right and center, and are noisy. Dubias are so much better and more meaty. Plus the bonus is I just sell off excess or trade them for F/T rats to my local reptile shop. Under good condtions, they breed like crazy and you will never need to buy food again. I was up to over 5k at one time. I had to sell a bunch off lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky Dragons

What about discoids?

There is a FL legal roach species that people there use instead of Dubia. It's not quite as good as Dubia but still way better than crickets.

---

Yeah I don't remember which species is legal in FL. The thing is dubias cant climb really smooth surfaces and only the males can fly. That's why they are the preferred roach. I've dealt with red runners aka Turkish roaches before and those things are freaky. Bright red little alien looking things and they move at light speed. You drop one of the floor and it is off and cruising. There are also lobster roaches but they can climb glass so you need to seal the tops really good. I personally like dubias up here in Washington State since its cold enough up here that if I get an escapee, they will die in the winter without heat.

Just check the roach sites and see if they ship to FL. Then you will know lol. I honestly cant remember which ones are legal is FL, it might be the lobsters but i'm not sure.