# James' Cricket Ice-Cream Tubbery Extraordinaire



## jameslongo (May 5, 2009)

Hello Forum,

I got the idea to fashion a small-scale house cricket breeder out of an ice-cream tub when my work was overrun by the little buggers. It's not in my job description to catch crickets but it gets quiet on weeknights &amp; I have mandibles to feed.

I've already made it but I'm going to put it before you guys to offer any advice on how to improve it or simply chuck it out. Hopefully not the latter  I do not have a camera at my disposal right now, so I drew up a basic overview in Paint. It's pretty accurate if I do say so myself  





From the top:

- 4L ice cream tub

- 2 inch deep plastic container of moist soil for breeding. Soil was microwaved to kill pathogens.

- Bottom of a 600mL Coke bottle for food &amp; water (fish pellets, fruit, etc.)

- 2 Half toilet rolls with one sealed end &amp; small side entry points to provide cover.

- Gravel and kitty litter pebbles to raise ground to grant crickets access to soil &amp; food

- Lid with quarter substituted by mesh with a hole &amp; foam stopper. The mesh is located above the Coke bottle so I can add food easily.

So how did I go? I got most of my info from a topic on Allpet Roaches Forum:

http://www.roachforum.com/index.php?showto...entry5654

Any suggestions for improvement will be greatly appreciated.

James.


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## Rick (May 5, 2009)

Did good. I suggest getting rid of the gravel and cat litter. I like using a bed of dry plain oatmeal which they will also eat. As long as it doesn't get wet it is fine. Crickets love egg crating too and it increases the surface area. You will need to remove the breeding pan after a few days unless you plan on letting the eggs hatch in there. I find that the eggs hatch in about a week under a 50 w red lamp. My cricket tub is a 30 gallon rubbermaid with lid. I cut a 8x8 square out and glued in mesh for ventilation on the lid.


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## superfreak (May 5, 2009)

ohoh!! i SAID get rid of the kitty litter! didnt i?! didnt iiii?!?!?! *sigh* men never listen!


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## jameslongo (May 5, 2009)

superfreak said:


> ohoh!! i SAID get rid of the kitty litter! didnt i?! didnt iiii?!?!?! *sigh* men never listen!


My reasoning was the crickets are going to poop everywhere so I may as well put something down that will soak the moisture out of it. I guess I can always change it for oatmeal. Problem lies with catching all of the crickets again  

And I'm glad you like it, Rick. Or at least some of it. Always nice getting a compliment from an experienced mantid-rearer *glares at Olga* :lol: I don't have a heat lamp so I guess I'll keep it in the laundry next to the water heater. That should be ok.

By the way Rick, what is the mesh made of? I have flyscreen &amp; fibrous netting available. Which would you suggest? Also, was I correct in microwaving the soil or should I just chuck it in next time without thinking twice?

Cheers,

James.


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## Rick (May 5, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> My reasoning was the crickets are going to poop everywhere so I may as well put something down that will soak the moisture out of it. I guess I can always change it for oatmeal. Problem lies with catching all of the crickets again  And I'm glad you like it, Rick. Or at least some of it. Always nice getting a compliment from an experienced mantid-rearer *glares at Olga* :lol: I don't have a heat lamp so I guess I'll keep it in the laundry next to the water heater. That should be ok.
> 
> By the way Rick, what is the mesh made of? I have flyscreen &amp; fibrous netting available. Which would you suggest? Also, was I correct in microwaving the soil or should I just chuck it in next time without thinking twice?
> 
> ...


Cricket poop is very tiny and seems dry. That won't be a problem. The mesh I used is just very thin white stuff. I bought a bunch but rarely use it for anything. I used eco earth that was moist but if you got dirt from outside sterilizing it might be a good idea. I found that it wasn't worth my time to breed crickets so I stopped. THey are pretty cheap when bought online here so I just do that now.


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## PhilinYuma (May 5, 2009)

Superfreak: ohoh!! i SAID get rid of the kitty litter! didnt i?! didnt iiii?!?!?! *sigh* men never listen!



jameslongo said:


> My reasoning was the crickets are going to poop everywhere so I may as well put something down that will soak the moisture out of it. I guess I can always change it for oatmeal. Problem lies with catching all of the crickets again  By the way Rick, what is the mesh made of? I have flyscreen &amp; fibrous netting available. Which would you suggest? Also, was I correct in microwaving the soil or should I just chuck it in next time without thinking twice?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> James.


Although I have never had this happen to me, James, a lot of experienced breeders report having had crix eat their way through plastic mesh, so metal window screen is probably a good way to go.

Superfreak may be attractive, charming, a devoted and skilled mantis and phasmid keeper and possessed of remarkable linguistic skills, as well as (well, you can fill in the rest when you have time) but she is only right 99.9% of the time.

Don't Toss Out the Kitty Litter!!!

As you may know from yr pharmocological studies, attapulgite, from which it is made, has a strong costive effect due to its absorptive and mildly bacteriocidal properties, and some propietary anidiarrheals are kitty litter under a fancy name, like Donnagel. Next time you get the squitters mate, make a beeline for the kitty litter!

Secondly, when you make your next diorama, say for a tank in the desert, instead of wasting money on model railroad ballast, use kitty litter. You can use it as is, or grind it finer for a remarkably realistic terraine, and it absorbs water color washes very well (right Arkanis?).


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## Dinora (May 5, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> As you may know from yr pharmocological studies, attapulgite, from which it is made, has a strong costive effect due to its absorptive and mildly bacteriocidal properties, and some propietary anidiarrheals are kitty litter under a fancy name, like Donnagel. Next time you get the squitters mate, make a beeline for the kitty litter!


Wait, I have a 2 part question if I may...

1. ###### is squitters? Is that a cute word for diarrhea?

2. If it is a cute word for diarrhea... are you implying that we should eat kitty litter as treatment?

Thank you for your time.

PS: I, too, think Olga is a hottie. But I'm straight so she does nothing for me. That is all.

(LOL)


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## PhilinYuma (May 5, 2009)

Dinora said:


> Wait, I have a 2 part question if I may...1. ###### is squitters? Is that a cute word for diarrhea?
> 
> 2. If it is a cute word for diarrhea... are you implying that we should eat kitty litter as treatment?
> 
> ...


!) Yeah, I checked the Wikdictionay, so it must be true.

2) It doesn't look as pretty as Donnagel, but it contains the same stuff. If I say that you should take it though, I could be sued for prescribing without a license, but if you try it and it works, please let us know!

Some people with epiodes of chest pain (angina) take nitroglycerine. Had you ever wondered what goes into that?


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## jameslongo (May 5, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> Although I have never had this happen to me, James, a lot of experienced breeders report having had crix eat their way through plastic mesh, so metal window screen is probably a good way to go.


Thanks Phil. Though I am at al oss as to where one would buy a metal window. Should I ask the Tin-Man where he bought his for his house?  



PhilinYuma said:


> Superfreak may be attractive, charming, a devoted and skilled mantis and phasmid keeper and possessed of remarkable linguistic skills, as well as (well, you can fill in the rest when you have time) but she is only right 99.9% of the time.


I am a lucky guy  



PhilinYuma said:


> Don't Toss Out the Kitty Litter!!!As you may know from yr pharmocological studies, attapulgite, from which it is made, has a strong costive effect due to its absorptive and mildly bacteriocidal properties, and some propietary anidiarrheals are kitty litter under a fancy name, like Donnagel. Next time you get the squitters mate, make a beeline for the kitty litter!
> 
> Secondly, when you make your next diorama, say for a tank in the desert, instead of wasting money on model railroad ballast, use kitty litter. You can use it as is, or grind it finer for a remarkably realistic terraine, and it absorbs water color washes very well (right Arkanis?).


Hmm... I'm not sure about the attapulgite in the ingredients. I believe I have a biodegradable litter, consisting of recycled newspaper &amp; sawdust. Although I am not doing my Honours on the subject of kitty litter.  I chose this substrate with both of your reasonings in mind:

1) the pellets are anhydrous, thus have a high capacity &amp; readiness to take water

2) cat faeces can stay in the litter for some time until the owner finally bites the bullet &amp; cleans out the tray. Apart from the parasitic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii (pregnant women beware!), the pellets act to prevent microfloral colonisation of the faeces, which would run the risk of transmission to Fluffy.

Oh darn, I completely forgot about my diorama of Yuma. I put it aside &amp; it has been collecting dust for some time now. I'll get back into it right away!  Tell me, Phil, which Lego character would you prefer to represent yourself: the pirate or the Star Wars charecter?


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## jacksun (May 5, 2009)

I probably missed it but where is the water dish with cotton or something in it to stop drowning? Egg crate bits are good because they can hide under them, and climb them (they have rough surface).

I'd cut a 4x4 square in the lid and screen it, then drill a couple holes in the lid, and run plastic tubing into the water dish and food dish so I could replenish it without opening it.

Looks like a great design, and nice and compact too which definitely helps!


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## PhilinYuma (May 5, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> Thanks Phil. Though I am at al oss as to where one would buy a metal window. Should I ask the Tin-Man where he bought his for his house?  _When I went to school, James, we learned to distinguish between a "metal window screen" and a "metal-window screen." Perhaps this might help: "Metal Window Bargains_
> 
> www.Hip-Home.com/Windows Save On Top Metal Window Deals. Reputable Brands &amp; Quality Service."
> 
> ...


"Yuma diorama? You aren't ready for the Yuma diorama!" (That movie should have gotten to oz by now).

[boy! I really messed up the formatting on this one!]

Oh, and back on topic, some people have had success using the solid foam blocks [no commas, no hyphens, no ~~~s] used by florists. You soak them in water for a while and use them instead of the soil and change them out every week or so. The crix lay their eggs in them, and the water also provides moisture for the enclosure.


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## superfreak (May 6, 2009)

dang, we just chucked one of those away!


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## jameslongo (May 6, 2009)

Jacksun: I forgot the cotton bud. Thanks mate. I'll put one in the food bowl next to the fruit.

As for the tubing system, I'll give it a miss this time round. Sounds like a great idea but I prefer taking out the foam stopper in the mesh (which is directly above the food bowl) &amp; replacing the food &amp; cotton buds physically, mainly because I'm lazy. They shouldn't make a run for it. I'll consider it in future designs.

Phil: We just had one of those florist foam blocks. I thought it smelt a little funky. Oh well, I've a soil breeding pit in there. Won't retain the water like the block but it'll do the job... hopefully. Hehe Yuma has some colourful residents :lol:


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## nasty bugger (May 8, 2009)

Would that be new kitty litter you'd have others use for the squirters Phil...or does that depend on who it is that needs the help, maybe ?

What's the temp in Oz right now? It's 11pm here and a mere 89 degrees in the other un airconditioned rooms of my apt, so my crickets are thriving in their home depot bucket. My roaches are really breeding and growing with this heat now, so my tarantula's are loving life  The mantis' are all gone, some outside, some forever, so all I have are frogs and T's to feed the crickets and roaches to now, till I get to where I can find some native mantids.

I heated my house while growing tomatoes this winter with a 600w hps growlight, and kept the cricket eggs on top of the light enclosure in a sterilite shoebox, so they stayed warm that way. No extra heat required. I could see the eggs in the small deli tubs they were laid in, and watch the crickets start to come to life.

I just feed dogfood to my crix, but should throw some oatmeal in I suppose. I now have the water crystals and they really help me from drowning my crickets. I suggest them, though they aren't free or as natural as rocks in the water dish.

I have egg crate and a couple toilet paper tubes in the bucket. I harvest my crix from the toilet paper tubes. Fast and simple.


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## jameslongo (May 8, 2009)

'Strailya is going into winter right now, so the temperature in my room where I keep my crickets spans 18-25C (64-77F). It's not ideal, I know. But I collected these crickets outside of my work in the cold in lower temperatures than in my room. N there are hundreds of them. It's a crazy population boom at the moment, so i'm guessing these conditions are pretty good.

It has been 5 days since I added the active ingredient to the enclosure. I haven't seen the females laying eggs but the males chirp ALL THE TIME!!! Should I assume that the eggs have been laid in the soil &amp; replace it? I need to get the hatchlings to feed my L2 Boxer Bark Mantids.


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## Rick (May 8, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> 'Strailya is going into winter right now, so the temperature in my room where I keep my crickets spans 18-25C (64-77F). It's not ideal, I know. But I collected these crickets outside of my work in the cold in lower temperatures than in my room. N there are hundreds of them. It's a crazy population boom at the moment, so i'm guessing these conditions are pretty good.It has been 5 days since I added the active ingredient to the enclosure. I haven't seen the females laying eggs but the males chirp ALL THE TIME!!! Should I assume that the eggs have been laid in the soil &amp; replace it? I need to get the hatchlings to feed my L2 Boxer Bark Mantids.


Poke around, don't assume. When I did this I could move a little bit of the soil and see hundreds of eggs.


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## jameslongo (May 8, 2009)

Rick said:


> Poke around, don't assume. When I did this I could move a little bit of the soil and see hundreds of eggs.


What am I looking for, Rick? I can't seem to find a good image of an _Acheta domesticus_ egg.


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## Rick (May 8, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> What am I looking for, Rick? I can't seem to find a good image of an _Acheta domesticus_ egg.


Just move some of the dirt aside and look for eggs. They look like well,eggs. They are fairly large, very thin, elongated oval. You will know when you see them.


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## nasty bugger (May 8, 2009)

I watched the crickets swarm the soil tubs and could see through the plastic and the eggs looked like something had just pushed a pin or something into the soil and left a filled void with thin kinda clear plastic colored splinters. like the color our plastic milk containers are, not like glass but milky clear splinters pushed downward into the soil. I used moist peat moss.

My crix couldn't wait to get into the breeding soil it seemed like, kinda like frenzied to lay them eggs.

Too bad I didn't take pics of them, but there were hundreds of them visible just around the edge of the deli cup, and I didn't dig in the dirt, so no telling how many there were that were actually laid. I had a bunch of pinheads, but when I watered I spilled, and some drowned, some ate each other.

It got hot in the container and it seemed like moisture condensed and was accumulated in small drops in the bottom of the shoe box, and that created drowning spots for the crickets. My other problem was that fruit flies moved in and seemed to take over the shoe box. There were maggots on the paper toweling that I kept moist for drinking water, and the carrots I put in touched the paper toweling and seemed to foul things so the maggots reproduced. All in all a lesson on how easy it is to raise fruit flies, and not to let my cricket enclosure got to moist or humid.

I keep my water crystals in a 32 oz deli lid, and have to moisten every 3 to 5 days to keep them plump, and put dog food in, with an occasional slice or chunk of fruit in a gatorade or fruit juice bottle lid, sometimes a piece of carrot for moisture and food. Mostly dog food though cause I don't want the fruit flies over running the container again.

BTW I am new to this stuff too, so I don't have the experience that Rick and the others have, or shall I say I probably only have a small portion of some of the experience he may have had.

I haven't used the oatmeal in this unit yet as I keep thinking in terms of collecting, mainly roaches, that may be evasive using the oats. Crickets are usually up in the egg crate or tubes though, so those issues aren't as dominant.

I found recently that some lizards, chameleons in particular, can get egg bound if they don't have soil to lay in, and it affects their health negatively. I wonder if the crickets actually do that also. With such a short life after adulthood who would really notice... ?


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## Rick (May 8, 2009)

The majority of what I feed crickets is leafy greens. They eat the oatmeal substrate too. I have never seen a single fruit fly in there though. I also recall them swarming the dirt to lay their eggs like you did.


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## jameslongo (May 8, 2009)

Rick said:


> Just move some of the dirt aside and look for eggs. They look like well,eggs. They are fairly large, very thin, elongated oval. You will know when you see them.


Thanks Rick. I'll search for them now. I hope I don't have sterile crix.


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## jameslongo (May 11, 2009)

Alright, I've checked my soil over the past few days &amp; could not find the large elongated eggs, as suggested by Rick's photo. What I did find (or at least I thought I found) was small, rounded eggs. I can't be certain if it is actually an egg or not. It looks like the miniature version of a skinless grape. I'll try n get some photos up in the next couple of days to verify with you guys.

This got me thinking that I don't really have _A. domesticus_ at all. I walked into a petstore today &amp; I compared my crickets with their house crickets to find they were dissimilar. Here are some quick pics of the crickets in the container as I could not get one out without them all jumping ship.

Here are 3 what-I-believe-to-be adult females. Notice how they are wingless.







Here's a better pic to show her little nubs for wings.






The soil breeding ground. In the foreground &amp; the left are 2 males. They are brachypterous.






Not so good pic of the female's wing buds (front) but better pic of male (top) with small brown wings that kind of sit like a vest. I know the males are adult because I've seen them chirp with them.






And finally... the tubbery.






So, if they aren't what I thought they were, what species of cricket is this? If it helps at all, I live in Sydney, Australia.

Much appreciated.


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## Rick (May 11, 2009)

Not sure what you have but I think the lack of wings means yours are not adult yet however the long ovipositor seems adult like. My current batch are subadults and they look the same with the wingbuds but the ovipositor is very small so maybe yours are a different species and are adult. What is that you have in there? Rocks?


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## PhilinYuma (May 11, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> Alright, I've checked my soil over the past few days &amp; could not find the large elongated eggs, as suggested by Rick's photo. What I did find (or at least I thought I found) was small, rounded eggs. I can't be certain if it is actually an egg or not. It looks like the miniature version of a skinless grape. I'll try n get some photos up in the next couple of days to verify with you guys.This got me thinking that I don't really have _A. domesticus_ at all. I walked into a petstore today &amp; I compared my crickets with their house crickets to find they were dissimilar. Here are some quick pics of the crickets in the container as I could not get one out without them all jumping s
> 
> So, if they aren't what I thought they were, what species of cricket is this? If it helps at all, I live in Sydney, Australia.
> 
> Much appreciated.


James: I'm betting that the "seedless grapes" are eggs.

So what did you find when you compared yours with the ones in the pet store?

Have you received a "cease and desist" order from the Bulla company's lawyers yet?

Most of us in the US aren't too good at identifying Australian crickets, but there is a Forum member who lives in Sidney and recently aged six years "overnight." Perhaps you could p.m. her through the Forum (it won't reveal yr personal EMail addy) and the two of you could hook up and discuss crix!


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## jameslongo (May 12, 2009)

Rick said:


> Not sure what you have but I think the lack of wings means yours are not adult yet however the long ovipositor seems adult like. My current batch are subadults and they look the same with the wingbuds but the ovipositor is very small so maybe yours are a different species and are adult. What is that you have in there? Rocks?


I know for certain that the males are adult, though I'm 95% sure the females are too. For those who are interested, I'll ask the entomologist at uni tomorrow to classify this unusual species.

The substrate(?) is kitty litter, which has since been knocked to the bottom, &amp; white ornamental gravel (don't tell my dad!  ) Not sure why I added the latter. Structural purposes?



PhilinYuma said:


> James: I'm betting that the "seedless grapes" are eggs.


The problem is that there aren't too many of them. You could well be right. Fingers crossed they're fertile. Conditions here are pretty miserable.



PhilinYuma said:


> So what did you find when you compared yours with the ones in the pet store?


The wings &amp; coloration were the key differences between mine &amp; the store crickets, (_A. domesticus_). The wings of my males are short &amp; square-shaped, whereas the store's male crickets' wings were body-length &amp; ended at a tip. Store females had the same wing structure as their males, yet my females have tiny buds. The store crickets were a bit darker than mine but that's probably due to their poorly-maintained habitat.



PhilinYuma said:


> Have you received a "cease and desist" order from the Bulla company's lawyers yet?Most of us in the US aren't too good at identifying Australian crickets, but there is a Forum member who lives in Sidney and recently aged six years "overnight." Perhaps you could p.m. her through the Forum (it won't reveal yr personal EMail addy) and the two of you could hook up and discuss crix!


Funny you should mention Bulla, Phil. I found my car covered in melting paddle-pops this morning with a drumstick protruding from my exhaust :lol: What is this omen?

Oh, and I'll see if I can't find this Progeria sufferer. She appears learned.


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## jameslongo (May 15, 2009)

Well I found out what I have in my cricket enclosure. THEY'RE NOT CRICKETS AT ALL but a rare species of armadillo.

No  they're crickets all right. Not _Acheta sp._ but _Gryllodes supplicans (=sigillatus)_. Their common names include: Tropical House Cricket, Indian House Cricket, and Banded Cricket. They are distributed pretty much world-wide &amp; located in the SE states of the States, from Louisiana to Florida.


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## Rick (May 15, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> Well I found out what I have in my cricket enclosure. THEY'RE NOT CRICKETS AT ALL but a rare species of armadillo.No  they're crickets all right. Not _Acheta sp._ but _Gryllodes supplicans (=sigillatus)_. Their common names include: Tropical House Cricket, Indian House Cricket, and Banded Cricket. They are distributed pretty much world-wide &amp; located in the SE states of the States, from Louisiana to Florida.


Don't think I have ever seen them. All the ones around here are big and black.


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## jameslongo (May 15, 2009)

Rick said:


> Don't think I have ever seen them. All the ones around here are big and black.


i think you fall just a little too far north for there liking. How different is Carolina from Florida?


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## PhilinYuma (May 15, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> i think you fall just a little too far north for there liking. How different is Carolina from Florida?


Florida has Disney World! :lol:


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