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Nov 16, 2023 - 06:08 AM
First, thank you for contacting us and putting your question in our Answerbase. This question can help so many customers now!
Secondly, I'm so sorry to hear your crickets are dying. Let's see if we can get to the bottom of what is causing them to die off. It is pretty likely a temperature problem. When kept at either extreme, they will rapidly start dying, especially if they are kept too cool. Crickets must be exceptionally warm; we keep ours at 90° in our growing rooms. They can survive at lower temperatures but not very long when the temperature is lower than 65°. If you have an instant-read type thermometer, it might help determine if they are warm enough. A reptile basking bulb or an under-cage heat tape can often keep them warm at night. They need adequate food and especially water. We recommend using [Repashy Bug Burger](http://www.rainbowmealworms.net/repas...) as it has their complete nutritional requirements and provides a complete water source all-in-one.
You mentioned you use a high-calcium cricket diet. Be wary of foods marked "gut-loading" as a long-term diet. They are packed with high calcium for the nutritional value of the animal eating your crickets and not for the health of your crickets. If you want to increase the calcium intake of your feeder insects, then a gut-load formula should only be fed for 24 hours before your crickets are used as feeders.
We recommend [Repashy SuperLoad](https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/repa...) with 9% Calcium.
Secondly, I'm so sorry to hear your crickets are dying. Let's see if we can get to the bottom of what is causing them to die off. It is pretty likely a temperature problem. When kept at either extreme, they will rapidly start dying, especially if they are kept too cool. Crickets must be exceptionally warm; we keep ours at 90° in our growing rooms. They can survive at lower temperatures but not very long when the temperature is lower than 65°. If you have an instant-read type thermometer, it might help determine if they are warm enough. A reptile basking bulb or an under-cage heat tape can often keep them warm at night. They need adequate food and especially water. We recommend using [Repashy Bug Burger](http://www.rainbowmealworms.net/repas...) as it has their complete nutritional requirements and provides a complete water source all-in-one.
You mentioned you use a high-calcium cricket diet. Be wary of foods marked "gut-loading" as a long-term diet. They are packed with high calcium for the nutritional value of the animal eating your crickets and not for the health of your crickets. If you want to increase the calcium intake of your feeder insects, then a gut-load formula should only be fed for 24 hours before your crickets are used as feeders.
We recommend [Repashy SuperLoad](https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/repa...) with 9% Calcium.
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