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Thread: Cricket Massacre

  1. #1

    Default Cricket Massacre

    I dont know if its the food i was feeding the crickets that was attracting them or if it was just crickets in general (i will expiriment with this)
    WHAT? you ask it is that is being attracted to these crickets and thier small enclosure and brutally killing them....

    Well it was rainy day this morning, it had rained all weekened and the roads were flooded so I had no school today. Anyway, after finishing my breakfast I figured I would amuse myself by feeding some crickets to my 4 year old bearded dragon, Darla, and watch her catch them all (its usually fun to watch her hunt for them). I went up stairs to to my room to feed her. I went over to the shelf where the cricket box was and anger suddenly welled up inside me. What I found in the cricket box was a grusem massacre of crickets. The culpret(s), ANTS! The were every where and ALL of the crickets were dead and torn apart. It was absolutely disgusting. I was so mad that I sprayed the entire thing with hairs pray, brought it outside, and torched it.

    Well now I have to go back out and get some more crickets and put it in a better container. I will also have to put out some ant hotel things and try to get rid of the ant infestation.

    Has anyone ever encountered this problem? If so, post what happened to you. Also, I would appreciate it if someone could tell me how to get rid of these invaders

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Elwood, IL - Southwest Suburb of Chicago (about an hour away)
    Posts
    573

    Default

    Well, I would assume they came inside because of the mass amount of rain... to stop it from your crickets, you can put a litter pan on the ground and fill it with soapy water, and then put like a dog bowl in the middle that sits higher than the water and then put your crix on there... We used to have to do that at the crappy pet store I worked at, or they'd all be mauled... To keep them out of your enclosures, you can use provent a mite around the tops of your enclosures, that will kill them before they enter... umm... or just use fly paper, they'd get stuck... and then place those lil hotels all around your room with the reptiles in it....they like moisture and dark, so your enclosures most of them anyhow are pretty nice homes for them... good luck, keep us updated on what you do and how it goes. :wink:
    -Art-

  3. #3

    Default

    thanks for the advice. they had been coming in my romm/house even before the rain but thats a different story.

    ill keep you updated

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Bay Area,Ca
    Posts
    339

    Default

    I've had a lil trouble with ants this week as well, i had forgotten to pull out my tegus dish w/ a pinkie in it and a bunch of ants went on a rampage, my gf frantically called me at work panicing about what to do, she said my lil tegu was obviously distressed by the ants so i told her to pull him out and place him in a holding container i have, easier said than done, my lil tegu ended up escaping from her and running loose in the living room underneath the couch and giving her a good 15 minute work out till he was caught, anyways I told my gf to pull the pinkie/dish out,blast the culprit ants with water and turn off the thermostat, boosting the ambient cage heat to 94f after about 2 hours or so i got home and was able to release my tegu back into his enclosure 98% free of ants and i thought i was victorious
    then,
    i come home from work the next day and my juvenile tiger ameiva seemed to be acting odd, i take a look in his cage and the floor is covered in ants, i was just like WTF, they were tearing apart some crickets,
    so i had to pull the lizard out, drag the tank down a flight of stairs, wash it out, wash all the furnishings,put in new substrate and put the lizard back in
    luckily there were no ants attacking anything when i came home today but i sure do hate the hell out of some ants

  5. #5

    Default

    yea definately. stupid rain forced alot of em in but the had been in my room since the beginning of spring.

    ill have to put up some ant traps and see if those dont work

    luckily the ants were only in a small box ( those cricket keepers from any pet store you go to) so i was able to make sure 100% of all the ants were fried.

    ill have to put crix in a small 10 gall tank with a special lid so they dont get mauled again

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    120

    Default

    You could place ant traps/bait around the outside of your enclosures. start feeding your guys only what they will eat and put your cricket bucket in the sink surrounded by water. It's all a pain in the *** but once you get ants those suckers are hard to get rid of.

    Good luck and happy hunting

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    201

    Default

    put vasoline around the outside of the cricket's sweater bin / tote that is about 1/2" thick. the ants wont cross it.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    England
    Posts
    187

    Default

    are they any physical danger to the reptiles?
    because in my tank theres a few crickets that have been torn apart, but not by the reptile.. and sometimes I see the little things crawling around my room, then get into the tanks through the substrate in the cricket boxes

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