Crickets keep dying,,,,,,why?

Hello I know this post is alittle old but i'll try here before posting a new one. I read all your posts and after succesfully keeping crickets for 5 years i'm imberassed to even ask this. But these last couple of weeks my adult crickets are deing by the thousands within 2-3 days from time of arrival. At first i thought hummidity waas the problem since we are having weird weather in cali, one day cold the other hot, and then rain. I reworkerd my cricket cabinet/ keeper and got my hummitty down to 28-35 percent constent temps are between 79-85 all day. my young crickets are doing great they are kept sealed with a lid t keep hummitty higher for them and only them. Now the adults are still dieing, i purchased 3thousand on sunday and by tuesday half were gone, and yesterday the rest.

I'm starting to think its poisons, having learned this mistake a long time ago. Its the only other thing i could think of. I'v tried different vendors etc. I just have doubts sice i don't recall getting anything in the tubs or seeing anything spilled in them. Any suggestions. Thanks

Hey Armando,
I have been doing crickets for a while and something that I learned with the adult crickets is that when they die, different bacterias spores tend to linger in the containers. If you do not clean with ammonia the spores could still be in the containers after you clean them out killing future potential crickets you bring into them. After cleaning with amonia and rinsing out, you can leave the tubs in the sun to help sterilize them even better and try again.

Also overcrowding can be an issue, the more egg cartons the better. Ventilation can be good also(fans can help out). If you start to see a wet or nasty death within the container, quickly remove those cricekts into a new tub (sometimes it might even still be too late). If it is a dry death then it can be old age or fumes that might be killing them. Keep me updated.
Im still trying to master crickets and need all the help I can get!

What all but one of these posts here has missed is feeding them. Potato, fruits or other veggies are not food. You have to feed your food (crickets) too. I tell at least half a dozen customers each show who buy crickets from me at the shows I vend the exact same thing. They all seem shocked that you need to feed the crickets and that potato is not a food source.

Also, with adult crickets you will need to remember that once they are chirping (for those who did not know, the males are the only ones that chirp) they have about 2 weeks before they die. Not knowing how long they have been chirping before you receive them is something to consider. You may want to go with the next size down to lower your losses. Not to mention the adults have more and a harder exoskeleton which is just waste anyhow.

David has a great couple of points there.

Originally Posted by DAND

What all but one of these posts here has missed is feeding them. Potato, fruits or other veggies are not food. You have to feed your food (crickets) too. I tell at least half a dozen customers each show who buy crickets from me at the shows I vend the exact same thing. They all seem shocked that you need to feed the crickets and that potato is not a food source.

What do we feed them if not collard and mustard greens??

Originally Posted by Papa Wyrm

What do we feed them if not collard and mustard greens??

PM sent.



On a note of dying crickets, for those who are not aware, there is a virus that has been hitting a number of cricket farms that is causing paralysis and then death in the crickets around the 4 week mark, around the 3/4 inch size. So your dying crickets may not be something you have been doing wrong.

It is my understanding it has hit the west coast pretty hard and previously Canada and Europe a few years back.

So don't be surprised if your local pet store is not able to get them or your supplier (for those who order larger numbers) all of a sudden can't fill your regular orders.

Dang I forgot I even posted here so long ago. Thanks all for the replies, since then we gave uo on crickets. We found what was wrong and it was a virus that attacked most of If not all the cricket breeders out here in cali. The ones who claim to have crickets I think just won't admit to it. I introduced the virus when I bought some crickets just to refresh my own breeders, and a few feeders. It went all down hill after that it spread Luke a wild fire across all my cricket bins.

Originally Posted by ace9916

Dang I forgot I even posted here so long ago. Thanks all for the replies, since then we gave uo on crickets. We found what was wrong and it was a virus that attacked most of If not all the cricket breeders out here in cali. The ones who claim to have crickets I think just won't admit to it. I introduced the virus when I bought some crickets just to refresh my own breeders, and a few feeders. It went all down hill after that it spread Luke a wild fire across all my cricket bins.

As I understand it, the crickets used here in the US and Canada are a European species and are the ones getting hit hard by this virus. I read somewhere (I'll post the link when I find it again) that the European cricket farms have been pretty much wiped out and are trying crickets from different localities.

Ever since Europe was hit with the virus they breed many different type of crickets including the black cricket. The only problem is that unlike Acheta domesticus "the brown cricket", the crickets they breed are not as prolific as the brown cricket.
They import millions from here in the USA

Like David said, the disease wiped out Europe, was then introduced to some big farms in Canada, moved on into the west coast and rumor has it that it is now even in central and eastern farms. Pretty scary stuff

I always 'fed' my crickets apples and potatos too! I just got some cricket food(looks like brown chicken crumbles) to give them though. Thank you guys so much for posting the advice, I've been losing crickets and just assumed crickets died(haven't lost ALL of them like the other psoters thank goodness!).