How can I help feeder crickets live longer? I use egg crates and gut load from the pet store but they still die fast. I buy 6-12 at a time to feed a frog.

Adding a quarter of a potato and an orange slice to your cricket tank will help to prolong their life. Also, a damp but not soggy hunk of sea sponge will provide enough water for them to drink. A quarter of an apple will work in place of the potato. Be sure to change these daily and refill the sponge. Before you feed the crickets to your pet gut load again with one of the products you can find at your local pet store. Bon Appetite!

Well, the first problem is buying them from the pet store.. I buy mine from healthycrickets.com and they live a lot longer! The other problem is that if you are buying fully grown adult crickets they are only going to live a few more weeks no matter what you do, so you could try buying younger crickets. They do need a very warm environment, around 85 to 90 degrees, and access to plenty of fresh food and water. Make sure not to give them an actual bowl of water though or they will just drown themselves in it. You can give them orange slices or cricket hydrate and that will keep them hydrated.

Keep them warm, give them fruits and veggies like oranges and potatos and leave them alone in a dark, humid place, they should breed if kept well saving you money from buying them from the store