Hi guys...and girls

I have been doing an experiment with crickets again.

I bought 2 tubs of crickets. One container of crickets I kept in a plastic container. The other container I have emptied into a glass enclosure. Same size as the plastic container.

I fed both containers, and I've kept them in the same cupboard, humidity and temp. The crickets in the plastic container started to die off 2 weeks after purchase. The ones in the glass enclosure started to die off a month after this, and still after a few months( 3 months), I had crickets alive in the glass enclosure...

Why is this?

All conditions were the same.

This is rather interesting a topic :huh:
Some extensive research would have to be done to collect more facts :blink:
But as soon as I have some free space again one day I will sure give glass a try
Did you wash buth enclosures properly before putting them crickets in (the plastic might have had some kind of nasties on it :sick: wich killed them crickets)
Other than that there's not much else I can think of.
I never had any luck with crickets anyway

It has something to do with the manufacture of the plastic. I have found my crickets in glass also last far longer. But I bought plastic bins which also work well. I found the containers from crickets for africa were the worst. they have recently changed their containers maybe for the same reason.

Hey, guys

This topic came up a few years back when I started keeping crickets for my geckos. I asked a friend who studies bugs and his long winded explanation can be shortened to this:

Plastic gives off micro particles that, although (mostly) harmless to humans, can harm smaller insects. A plastic such as perspex, where the molecules are compressed tighter, does not realease as many micro particles and is therefor almost as safe as glass.

Another reason for sudden cricket death (I came up with this for crickets dying without reason) COULD be that the toxins they shed could act as a corrosive when combined with plastic and would thus be harmful to them.

All in all, I try to steer away from keeping any of my pets in plastic containers. Hardened plastics (yes, like perspex) are safer and can be exposed to more temperature changes than cheaper plastics.

Does this help?

@RippeR

Jip, I have cleaned out both. And I have done this experiment twice, on different times. And the same outcome.

Ever since, my friend also put all her crickets in a glass enclosure when she purchases them, and well...they last longer...

Cool bananas then, maybe I hate crickets for nothing,
will try the glass thing.
Thanx for th info man