Cricket Problems

[riffraff]

They. Get. Everywhere.

There seems to be no reliable way of transfering a limited number of crickets into my beardie's cage without some of them escaping and my kitchen chirping for the next few days. I remember this being a problem when I was little and my mom had a frog, too - we would constantly find escaped crickets in the room where the frog was.
Any suggestions?

[Kyle1989]

Dont they have those special critter keepers with the tubes coming out of them for that?

[1nstinct]

Cricket keeper works great if you have less than 300 crickets other wise it's too small. Get a bunch of paper towel roll and use them shake into a Tupperware, then put into cage. Or do what I did go with dubia roaches, no smell no sound. And have a higher meat to shell ratio. And they are much more filling and stay alive much longer(up to two years) if you go dubia you can get a colony going and not have to buy insects anymore like me!
Tom

[MikeM75]

x2

I was doing crickets for my leopard geckos and bearded dragon and buy the time you buy some most of the die before you can feed them off which makes it a HUGE waste of money.

If you can get over the thought of them being roaches, they are actually extremely easy to keep. Keep them hot, keep them with good water crystals, and keep them with some chow, either bought from online or make it yourself with dried foods. And I give them fresh fruit twice a week, oranges are said to be a great breeding food for them.

There is zero smell and they don't climb very well. The meat to chitin ratio and they stay alive were my main sellers so I bought a lot from online and now I don't see myself ever spending more money on my lizards.

[Don]

I hate crickets. After the massive cricket escape of 2008, I switched to Dubia roaches and have been happy ever sense. It took months for me to get rid of all of those crickets in my house.

There are many advantages to Dubias over crickets, the most important is nutrition for your reptiles.

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

I too highly recommend Dubias over crickets but for those who can't or would rather not use dubias... there is a new great cricket called Gryllus which a few limited cricket suppliers have started selling. They have a better nutrition content then the standard Achetas and they are naturally larger so the prewing size is the same as Adult Achetas. This means No Chirping and large enough crickets for adult beardies.

For transporting, try using a disposable paper cup to scoop the crickets up and immediately transfer to a large red solo cup. The slick sides and height prevent the crickets from escaping. The paper cup is necessary if your trying to scoop smaller size crickets which a solo cup would crush.

[babyknees]

I don't do crickets anymore. They're a pain for all the reasons you listed. I've switched my beardie to a diet of various worms (meal, super, silk, Repti/Phoenix etc.). What's even better is I can just fill his little bowl with greens and veggies and then throw the worms on top. It also encourages him to eat more greens because he wants to get to the bugs but normally gets stuck eating some veggies too! They're easier to care for too and seem heartier (well not the stupid silkworms but everything else) than crickets.

[riffraff]

Thanks everyone!
Crickets are a pain, but I just got my beardie and he was eating crickets at his previous home so I thought I would keep him on them for a week or so before trying to switch to something less chirpy/escape prone. A new home, new people and new food all at once seemed like a bit much to put him through.