Freezing Crickets

[Mark Scott]

When do you order your crickets and who from? What size do you order? Do you freeze them as soon as you get them and the best way to unthaw them before putting on the bed and breakfast tray for bad weather. Thanks

[ToyinPA]

When do you order your crickets and who from? What size do you order? Do you freeze them as soon as you get them and the best way to unthaw them before putting on the bed and breakfast tray for bad weather. Thanks

Hi Mark:

Everyone has their own way...

I order from Fluker's: https://flukerfarms.com/live-crickets/

I usually order late summer early fall. They have restrictions on shipping during cold weather. They have a chart on their site that lets you know if they can ship to your location. I like to start with a good supply for early spring, as we always have bad weather, which prevents them from finding food. We've had early April snow storms that dumped several inches of snow after the first arrived. This year it was rain, rain & more rain. To date we've had over 75 inches of rain here this year. It was a very hard year for my colony.

Size crickets that most use are 5-6 week. Which are 3/4 to 1 inch. I prefer the 3/4 inch, as I often have to supplement feed once chicks are born & the bigger crickets are too big when they are first hatched. We now lack insects here due to fracking & pesticides.

As soon as the boxes arrive I put each box in a bag, tie it shut & then into the freezer for 24 hours. Note trash can filter out the mesh wire on the ends of the box, so put those ends up/down. The next day I sort & bag around 100 per snack size Ziploc bag. You want to sort out the trash, which is their poo, dead ones that are black, molted skins, feeder beetles, legs, etc. I count the first 100, put them in a clear plastic cup & mark it. Then the rest I guess at by the mark. Then those bags go into a larger Ziploc, per box. I label & date them & then put them all in a large paper grocery bag. I usually order 4000-5000 at a time. Saves on shipping, which is expensive. I average using 5000-6000 per year.

To thaw I pull a bag out & dump them into a bowl & fill it with hot tap water. Let them set a few minutes. If they are too cold I drain the water off & add more hot water. It doesn't take long to thaw 100 at a time. You do not want to cook them, so just thaw them until they are room temp or warm.

Then I drain the water off & put them on a double layer of paper towels to dry off a little. I have a small plastic dish I use only for flipping crickets. I use the long ice cream spoons & flip one at a time. Sounds like a long time, but once you get the hang of it & they are hungry it only takes a few minutes to flip 100 crickets. I use a whistle tune to let them know I have food for them. I've tried many times to get mine to eat off a B&B, but they prefer me to flip them. So I bundle up & go out in the cold, snow, freezing rain, rain, etc., & flip away.

Once you get your colony trained, or they train you, LOL, they will let you know if they need fed. Mine peek in my windows waiting & watching for me to come out. As soon as they see me get close to the door, & put my jacket on they all line up on the power lines that run to my house. It's amazing. Also know they will not take supplemental food if the weather conditions are OK for them to find food on their own. Bad weather would be rain, wind, temps below 50, snow, extreme heat & drought. A lot depends on your location & how many insects you have in your area.

It can take several ties to get them to take supplemental food. The best time to try is after a couple days of bad weather. If the weather is bad when your first few arrive it's the best time to try, as they will be tired & hungry from their long flight. They will then show any others that arrive that it's OK to eat them. I often have several that stop over on their way further north to NY or Canada. They feed up, stay a day & move on.

Best wishes,
Toy in PA