# Dusting hoppers



## heatherjhenshaw (Jan 30, 2010)

Hiya

I have great difficulty dusting hoppers & crickets, just as I try and dust them they bounce out of the way :bash:, I've tried putting them in a box to dust them but end up with escapees

Now although obviously I will maintain my effort to dust them, does it help to dust the food the hoppers & crickets eat ? Thus dusting them 'internally' :lol2:

I always dust the roaches and varieties of worms of course

Heather


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## bw89 (Jan 11, 2010)

If you cool the hoppers and crickets down, like in the fridge or out side for 10-15mins, they become very lathargic and easy to catch. Then just chuck them in a bag or box with dust and shake. If you cool them down long enough you will see them moving very slow and you will find them easier to work with


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## heatherjhenshaw (Jan 30, 2010)

They are in an old gerbil tank, it won't fit in the fridge lolol


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## A111 (Mar 5, 2012)

I used to spray tiny spray of water on them, place them in dry plastic bag, put dust in bag and then shake them.


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## buddah (Dec 23, 2009)

I only dust my food once a week or once every 2 weeks but i make sure they are gut loaded on a variety of things including things high in calcium and all my reps and phibs are very healthy. If you properly gut load i really dont see the need to dust.


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## OrigamiB (Feb 19, 2008)

Tupperware tub, calci powder in, lid on, shake!


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## jarich (Mar 23, 2012)

You can gutload them with high calcium foods, which is essentially the same thing. However be aware that high calcium foods actually hinder breeding in crickets so only feed them a high calcium diet 1-2 days prior to feeding. Alfalfa pellets are one of the cheapest and easiest ways to up the calcium in their diet without it becoming troublesome to their breeding. It's high in calcium but not so much that it hinders their reproduction


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## bloodsyre (Jan 29, 2012)

heatherjhenshaw said:


> Hiya
> 
> I have great difficulty dusting hoppers & crickets, just as I try and dust them they bounce out of the way :bash:, I've tried putting them in a box to dust them but end up with escapees
> 
> ...


I'm currently using an old plastic jar (I saw a specific plastic dusting jar on some rep website, and thought it looked rather familiar to the peanut butter jar I was about to run out of - :lol2

I have toilet roll tubes in with my crickets, and find a lot of them hide in there, so i put the cricket tub, in a bigger tub, and put the toilet roll tube filled with crickets into the peanut butter jar, give 'em a shake, and hey presto, crickets in a jar! pop it in the fridge for 5/10 mins, then i get sluggish crix, easy to dust, and easy to pop in with Dexter..

In your case, i'd put the peanut butter jar (or whatever) in with your crix watch them crawl in, and *BOOM* you've got crickets in a jar!! :lol2:

How's your wee Crestie doing?


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## heatherjhenshaw (Jan 30, 2010)

The crickets had to go I'm afraid lol, kept finding the blooming things all over the house and my elderly dad was not impressed ! The locusts are much better behaved, if they do escape (& they rarely do) they just head for the plants on the window ledge and have a snack while they await capture again lolol not like the crickets wandering around the bathroom, bedroom .....

Anyway Ollie is doing fine thank you, growing, loves his Dubais & locusts


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## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

I have a large jug for dusting. Put supplement in, put livefood in, shake around, job done. Invertebrate death time.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk


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## bloodsyre (Jan 29, 2012)

heatherjhenshaw said:


> The crickets had to go I'm afraid lol, kept finding the blooming things all over the house and my elderly dad was not impressed ! The locusts are much better behaved, if they do escape (& they rarely do) they just head for the plants on the window ledge and have a snack while they await capture again lolol not like the crickets wandering around the bathroom, bedroom .....
> 
> Anyway Ollie is doing fine thank you, growing, loves his Dubais & locusts


Aaaw I'm glad he's doing well, Dexter doesn't seem to be all that interested in crickets to be honest, but he has only been here just short of two weeks, think I'll give locust and roaches a go eventually too... Where do you get your Dubias from? and how long do they last? 

Thanks


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