keeping crickets alive

[yourkiddin]

i work a crazy schedule and use crickets to catch bluegill. i tend to buy more than i use in a day so i sometimes leave them on the boat. sun kills those. even in the garage they die. so any ideas would be great.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: keeping crickets alive

keep em in a cool and dark place and feed em. Lettuce, cucumber, etc.. something with high water content. They will eat the dead ones too.

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: keeping crickets alive

Keep em clean & dry in a tote box or aquarium and use a screened top, provide fresh food & water in jar lids or something similar, keep wadded up newspapers &/or egg grates for housing, they need something to climb on and space so as to not puncture each other with their spurs.

You can feed them a piece of potato or fruit, even dry dog food bits and some pet shops have ready made cricket food available in pellet form.

Not disagreeing with Gonefishie, but I've heard, to remove any dead ones as soon as you see them, they supposedly release chemicals upon death that can be toxic to the others

 

[JAY 22]

Re: keeping crickets alive

I agree with hope she floats about the fresh water and food. however instead of putting some kinda lid in with water in it just use part of a sponge soaked with water. we keep crickets around for my lizard and thats the best way to do it. even just a slice of potatoe will feed them and give them enough water to survive for a day or two. and definetly put some egg carton in with em

 

[JAY 22]

Re: keeping crickets alive

also im not sure how your hookin em but they have a "collar" just behind the head you can slide your hook right under it without hurting them. also a good way to do it is take one of them clear bobbers and fill it halfway with water, the clear bobber will make the fish think it's just a bubble on the water but it'l act as a strike indicator and help to keep the crickets from sinking.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: keeping crickets alive

they supposedly release chemicals upon death that can be toxic to the others

I haven't heard of that. Maybe, the smell of death of their comrade causes captive depression syndrome which triggers mass suicide.

I think this called for an investigative experiment.

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: keeping crickets alive

I haven't heard of that. Maybe, the smell of death of their comrade causes captive depression syndrome which triggers mass suicide.

LOL, Would explain the deaths in that P.O.W. camp I call a minnow bucket...might have to post a sign reading - don't drink the kool-aid

 

[yourkiddin]

Re: keeping crickets alive

man i hate to say it but thats alot of work. i was just hoping to leave them in my cricket tube somewhere. it does get quite expensive though when buying a tube every time i go out. i use the crickets to catch brim. then use the brim for cut bait on free line them for cats. crickets seem to be what works for me.

 

[CN Spots]

Re: keeping crickets alive

We always just threw a slice of raw potato in there and kept them in a dark corner of the garage.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: keeping crickets alive

Paper towels, toilet paper tubes, and any type of fruit or vegetable that contains water.

If you don't have some structure in there the little guys pee causes problems as it's acidic or something.

I used to keep them around all the time to feed my tree frogs, anoles and geckos

I want to try fishing with some now, waxworms and crawlers are getting boring