How to Keep Crickets Alive: Stop the Die-Off

Crickets have a reputation for dying fast. Most of that die-off is preventable — it comes down to three things: ventilation, moisture and crowding.

The setup

Use the biggest well-ventilated container you can spare — a 20L+ plastic tub with large mesh-covered windows cut into the lid or sides. Crickets produce ammonia; poor airflow is the number one killer. Stand egg trays vertically inside: crickets are territorial and need surface area to spread out, or they fight and eat each other.

Water without drowning

Crickets drown in open water with remarkable commitment. Use water crystals in a shallow dish, refreshed every couple of days. Dehydration is killer number two, so never let the crystals dry out completely.

Food

A dish of dry cricket chow, always available, plus occasional fresh veg. A hungry cricket colony turns cannibal quickly, and hungry crickets are also nutritionally empty feeders — gut-load with chow and veg for 24 hours minimum before feeding off.

Temperature and housekeeping

Room temperature (21–26°C) is ideal. Twice a week, remove dead crickets and droppings — decomposing crickets release compounds that trigger chain die-offs, which is why one dead cricket becomes twenty. Keep the tub dry; damp tubs smell and crash.

Sizing for your pet

Crickets come from pinhead (2mm, for hatchling geckos and mantids) through to adult. The rule: no cricket longer than the space between your pet's eyes. Order slightly small if unsure, and order the amount you'll use in 2–3 weeks — even perfect care won't hold adult crickets much longer, since adults are near the end of their natural lifespan already.

Escapees and noise

Only adult crickets chirp — buy a size down if the sound bothers you, since they'll be fed off before maturing. A smear of petroleum jelly around the tub's top edge stops climbers.

Live grey crickets in every size from pinhead to XL, packed on shipping day.