# All of a Sudden, All My Crickets Die In A Matter of Hours **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2012, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043 "2012-11-25T05:48:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/21 "2012-11-26T06:44:55Z")
Wait, no one sent them through the Jaunt awake, did they? Was the name of the pet store Stackpole’s House of Pets, by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/22 "2012-11-26T07:50:57Z")
You know, it’s never occurred to me until just now to ask for a refund or replacement. Have you ever tried that? Did they offer? Now that I think about it, my tube theory doesn’t hold water, because if the tubes were acting as a reservoir for the bacillus, then it would happen _every time_. So now I know from what you’ve told me that if it happens to me, then it’s happening at the store too, and at the same time. So if I come in and say “they all croaked,” and theirs are dead too, they know I’m telling the truth. If I come in and say the same thing but theirs are still alive, then they know that it’s either something at my end causing it, or that I’m lying in an effort to evade payment. So if they’re staring glumly at a tank full of dead crickets, by all rights they should give me a refund and just chalk it up to the cost of doing business. I know my place buys them at $15 per 1000 and sells them for $8.50 per hundred, and there’s practically no overhead, so it shouldn’t be that big a deal to have to do refunds every few months or so. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/23 "2012-11-26T13:00:17Z")
My store specifically offers no refunds on feeders, but they gave the new new batch for free anyway. The crickets seems to be doing fine this time. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/24 "2012-11-26T13:09:22Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > Among other things. Like most scientific discoveries, this one was an accident. Can you speed up this mosquito armageddon thing? I live in Florida and while it’s cold now, it won’t be forever… ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/25 "2012-11-26T13:35:43Z")
When do crickets in the wild die? I hate it when the nights trn silent-when all the cricket chirping is stilled. anyway, be ahd a few warm days last week (got into the 60’s)-those nights, I heard a few…feeble, but nice to hear. Do they all die by December? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/26 "2012-11-26T14:24:51Z")
Crickets LOVE our bathtub for some reason. Maybe you need some porcelain. Or maybe the tub is just a cricket singularity. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/27 "2012-11-26T15:13:33Z")
Insecticide is a possibility. I wouldn’t think you’d find it on potatoes or carrots, but maybe they were sprayed for shipping and storage. Possibly something already in your bathroom. When we used to keep reptiles we had a huge box full of the buggers. I remember some big population drops, but they never died all at once like that. In the end we only had an iguana, and vegetarian lizards are much less trouble. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/28 "2012-11-26T15:25:27Z")
Have any dogs or cats? Flea control products, like Advantage, can kill crickets. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/29 "2012-11-26T15:38:28Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > have you done a proper sweep of the crime scene? maybe you should just wait for the autopsy report. [obpedant]You probably mean _ **necropsy** _.[/obpedant] ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/30 "2012-11-26T16:53:36Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Can you speed up this mosquito armageddon thing? I live in Florida and while it’s cold now, it won’t be forever… And after the mosquitoes, how about targeting cockroaches? Crickets can be annoying, but I’m willing to let them live until all the mosquitoes and roaches have met a horrific doom. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/31 "2012-11-26T18:14:35Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > And after the mosquitoes, how about targeting cockroaches? Crickets can be annoying, but I’m willing to let them live until all the mosquitoes and roaches have met a horrific doom. [As for the cockroach thing, its being done…](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17057943). Not by me, but by others. We’re working on the mosquito thing. Check back with me in a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/32 "2012-11-26T23:25:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The reptile store reports no problems with their cricket stock, and they do look lively. > [@RickJay](#): > > “How often does this happen?” I ask the guy. “Every three months,” he says Were these two different pet store clerks? Seems to me that they’re being deceitful in order to get you to keep buying new batches and avoiding any refunds/exchanges. I’d consider a new source. Either they’re lying, or their employees are ignorant of what goes on there. Shoveling out four thousand dead crickets is the type of job that new hires get so I think the news would spread fast. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/33 "2012-11-27T00:52:21Z")
They were, but I looked. They were lively and happy the one day. Dead the next. The guy was legitimately grossed out, and hey, I got free bugs. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/34 "2012-11-27T01:52:06Z")
Woulda been cool if nobody answered the OP for a while, then someone posted: _crickets_ ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/35 "2012-11-27T13:20:42Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > They were, but I looked. They were lively and happy the one day. Dead the next. The guy was legitimately grossed out, and hey, I got free bugs. But if it happens to them every three months, I expect the clerk to tell me it’s a regular occurrence and that I may be on the cusp of another wave. And give me free bugs. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/36 "2012-11-27T13:26:43Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > When do crickets in the wild die? I hate it when the nights trn silent-when all the cricket chirping is stilled. ? _In the still of the night When they stopped chirping the stench was a fright In the still of the night_ ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/37 "2012-11-27T20:09:23Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > have you done a proper sweep of the crime scene? maybe you should just wait for the autopsy report. I pity the one who has to do the chalk outline for 50 dead crickets ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/38 "2012-11-27T21:05:12Z")
What kind of cleaning supplies do you use in that bathroom? If you put them somewhere else in your place, do you have the same issue? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/39 "2012-11-27T21:22:38Z")
Those crickets aren’t dead. They’re pining for the fjords. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-a-sudden-all-my-crickets-die-in-a-matter-of-hours/642043/40 "2012-11-28T21:52:12Z")
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