Finally Cricket Nymphs - Help breeding?

I describe my setup below, but if anyone knows anything I should add/change/do to make them breed more and be a self-sustaining colony I would greatly appreciate it.

I have looked for books on the topic too, but it seems most are expensive collector priced out-of-print ones, tiny eBook reader versions, or such -- very little detail is really found online besides the very basics.

Well I was keeping crickets to feed my adult mantis. Of course if any crickets laid eggs and hatched, great as it would be less crickets to buy. Well my adult mantis died about a month ago but I kept up their maintenance.

After several months of crickets laying eggs in the "dirt" container (since late October) that I have setup, finally some have hatched lately. I've kept it plenty damp, but it seems what finally allowed some to hatch was the addition of a heating pad. They are so tiny (see images below) that they are barely larger than Springtails and wouldn't make much of a meal for my mantis nymphs right now even if I could catch them without squishing them.

As I know if the crickets are raised by me I do not have to worry about diseases/sickness/feeding problems when using them as feeders for my mantises versus the common problems that occur from pet store stock.

The crickets are housed in a tall 35 gallon "breeder" aquarium with a mesh reptile lid. The crickets are unable to climb the glass so the lid acts more as insurance for my family. I buy fresh egg crates from a local farm supply store for $0.50 each, and change them as needed.

The heating pad is set on a 24 hour timer, and stays on 45 minutes, off 15 minutes, repeating (to allow the pad to cool some, and avoid the auto 1 hour pad shut-off). Anyway the heating pad is on the right-side of my cricket tank to ensure the egg "dirt" container stays warm, and if the crickets get too hot they can escape to the room temperature left-side of the tank.

I feed them various fruit and vegetables as I buy them, they get scraps or at times specially bought just for them. Out of everything I've fed them they seem to prefer apples. They also eat a custom mix of powered dry food I make them, and they seem to love it.

I have a colony of thriving Springtails in their "dirt" container, I figure the crickets can use them as feeders and they help keep the tank clean. I also have a lots of Isopods (sow/pill/woodlouse/roly-poly/etc) in there as well to clean the tank. The Isopods like to bury themselves in the "dirt" container and at times the self-waterers. I haven't noticed the Springtails or Isopods annoying the crickets at all, and the female crickets will lay eggs with either even beside her.

They are watered by the water misting I do often, and by two self watering devices I made (they use them often). Also to help with humidity and for them to walk around, I did a thin (1/8") layer of coconut fiber substrate. As it is so thin they only lay their eggs in the large "dirt" container.

That is it in a nutshell, and I posted pictures of it below too. If anyone knows anything that will help it would be grateful. So far it seems I was just missing the heating pad.

looks ok to me.

hibiscusmile said:

looks ok to me.

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Thanks for taking a look Rebecca, I appreciate it.

Looks great to me too cozzy. I breed my own to here and there... Pretty straight forward task lol. Just keep the eggs moist and in incubation.

LAME said:

Looks great to me too cozzy. I breed my own to here and there... Pretty straight forward task lol. Just keep the eggs moist and in incubation.

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Thanks. I imagine so, but after simply adding a heating pad and now I can get them to hatch (after months of nothing) I want to make sure I'm not missing something else simple.

I usually would have a removable dirt "pool" I can take out and replace once its full of eggs. I'd take that dirt pool and stick it in a type of covered (vented) container... Keeping the soil moist at all time, put them under a desk lamp. Mine usually hatched anywhere from 2/3 weeks.

LAME said:

I usually would have a removable dirt "pool" I can take out and replace once its full of eggs. I'd take that dirt pool and stick it in a type of covered (vented) container... Keeping the soil moist at all time, put them under a desk lamp. Mine usually hatched anywhere from 2/3 weeks.

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That is what I have too, it is just sitting there so it can be removed. In the end though I thought I would just let them all live together... but now after seeing them hatch there is no way to use some of them as feeders for a long time (no way to capture them). I'll try another container next time for sure to let them hatch out into.

MantidBro said:

Nice work!!

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Thanks It's hard to believe though after months of trying to raise them the only thing missing was a heating pad.

What were you temps before the heating pad? Depending on your room temperature they may not need it, but they will hatch and grow quicker with the added heat. I personally never used a heating pad for mine since I managed to overproduce as was. For simplicity reasons I preferred keeping everything in one bin so I never hatched out the eggs elsewhere.

Your set up sounds great, so I would suspect you will be overflowing in no time. Waiting for the first nymphs to start popping can be the hardest part. To help ensure a steady production when you start your colony it helps to start with adults and nymphs since then generally by the time your initial adults start to conk the nymphs you got with them will already be adults. Even without trying though in a couple generations you should get a nice constant flow of all sizes for freshly hatched nymphs to adults.

Krissim Klaw said:

What were you temps before the heating pad? Depending on your room temperature they may not need it, but they will hatch and grow quicker with the added heat. I personally never used a heating pad for mine since I managed to overproduce as was. For simplicity reasons I preferred keeping everything in one bin so I never hatched out the eggs elsewhere.

Your set up sounds great, so I would suspect you will be overflowing in no time. Waiting for the first nymphs to start popping can be the hardest part. To help ensure a steady production when you start your colony it helps to start with adults and nymphs since then generally by the time your initial adults start to conk the nymphs you got with them will already be adults. Even without trying though in a couple generations you should get a nice constant flow of all sizes for freshly hatched nymphs to adults.

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They are kept in a hallway which runs about 68 to 70 degrees. If they do hatch and grow quicker with a heating pad that alone is worth leaving it with them. I was thinking simplicity too originally, but due to the size of the nymphs it would be really difficult to sort the smaller ones out.

Thanks, I hope they will be breeding like crazy - might have to stock my pet store with my overflow Good point, as I haven't bought any more crickets in about a month, nearly all of them have recently molted to adults. I'll have to make a stop at my pet store and get some varying sizes to keep them going.

Many thanks for having a look and the thoughtful responses, it helps.

CosbyArt said:

They are kept in a hallway which runs about 68 to 70 degrees. If they do hatch and grow quicker with a heating pad that alone is worth leaving it with them. I was thinking simplicity too originally, but due to the size of the nymphs it would be really difficult to sort the smaller ones out.

Thanks, I hope they will be breeding like crazy - might have to stock my pet store with my overflow Good point, as I haven't bought any more crickets in about a month, nearly all of them have recently molted to adults. I'll have to make a stop at my pet store and get some varying sizes to keep them going.

Many thanks for having a look and the thoughtful responses, it helps.

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Oh brrr, yah you will need a heater at those temps. Breeder bins of feeders are lovely. I can't remember the last time I stopped in for something like crickets. Recently however I decided I wanted to try something new and switched over to roaches. I must admit even though I always found crickets pretty easy, roaches are even easier in terms of care. <__<

I used to breed crickets, but I found them too much a hassle in comparison to feeder roaches. The only crickets I have now are some Gryllus sigillatus that I caught during the winter in southern California. So far they're just as prone to cannibalism, but are capable of handling cooler temperatures.

Feeder crickets just too prone to dying if kept too cool, they'll cannibalize each other even if you give them a good source of water and protein-rich food, and they're rather susceptible to disease. It was always a bit difficult to get a large enough number of them to feed all my pets with only one large bin. I'm easily able to raise several times more roaches in the same sized bin as what I raised crickets in.

Krissim Klaw said:

Oh brrr, yah you will need a heater at those temps. Breeder bins of feeders are lovely. I can't remember the last time I stopped in for something like crickets. Recently however I decided I wanted to try something new and switched over to roaches. I must admit even though I always found crickets pretty easy, roaches are even easier in terms of care. <__<

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Yeah I am leaving it as the eggs hatch with it.

Ranitomeya said:

I used to breed crickets, but I found them too much a hassle in comparison to feeder roaches. The only crickets I have now are some Gryllus sigillatus that I caught during the winter in southern California. So far they're just as prone to cannibalism, but are capable of handling cooler temperatures.

Feeder crickets just too prone to dying if kept too cool, they'll cannibalize each other even if you give them a good source of water and protein-rich food, and they're rather susceptible to disease. It was always a bit difficult to get a large enough number of them to feed all my pets with only one large bin. I'm easily able to raise several times more roaches in the same sized bin as what I raised crickets in.

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I appreciate the advice on roaches, but that is a definite no. There is no way I can convince my wife to allow me to have any - too many bad memories of infestations growing up in city apartments. Even the lowest infestation rated roach I read about is still a possibility.

Thankfully mantises don't require roaches otherwise I wouldn't be in this hobby.

If you wish to produce a stable colony of crickets, you will need to obtain eggs on a weekly, if not a daily basis. It takes longer for them to mature than an adult female can remain alive and laying, so you'll need to maintain a steady supply of crickets at every stage of their life cycle to prevent the occurence of a sudden lack of feeders or breeders.

CosbyArt said:

Yeah I am leaving it as the eggs hatch with it.

I appreciate the advice on roaches, but that is a definite no. There is no way I can convince my wife to allow me to have any - too many bad memories of infestations growing up in city apartments. Even the lowest infestation rated roach I read about is still a possibility.

Thankfully mantises don't require roaches otherwise I wouldn't be in this hobby.

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My mother has always been the same way because of memories with her childhood involving roach infestations. That being said, even she has grown accepting enough of my Panchlora nivea that she often saves the scraps of veggies/fruit she uses when cooking for me to give to them. The adults are a stunning green so they don't read like a normal roach. It is a species time and time again is known for winning over people that would normally be terrified of a roach. The nymphs are still brown, but they are goofy, hide in the substrate type bugs. I live in one of the states where roaches can easily live year round, and I have zero fear of an infestation of these guys. We do have wild populations of them down here and that is one of the reasons I chose the species, but they never bother houses.

One of the things I love about them is it is so easy to do a natural setup for them so there is no need for egg crate or cage cleaning. I have several inches of Eco Earth, some leaf liter, cork bark, and springtails and lesser mealworms for cleanup duty. All I got to do is provide food and keep the soil moist and that is it. The cage smells like fruit.

Crickets can be fun too though so I understand wanting to try them out. The only thing I disliked about them was it felt like I needed to do more work maintaining their environment since crickets seem to have a heavy bio-load on their surroundings. It kind of reminds me of the the same thing as goldfish. Come to think of it they are also both really fat derpy eating machines. =p

Ranitomeya said:

If you wish to produce a stable colony of crickets, you will need to obtain eggs on a weekly, if not a daily basis. It takes longer for them to mature than an adult female can remain alive and laying, so you'll need to maintain a steady supply of crickets at every stage of their life cycle to prevent the occurence of a sudden lack of feeders or breeders.

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Thanks for the tip. I will get some various sized crickets to keep them going, as I have another month or two before they can really be feeders again. I doubt if I can get a true self-sustaining colony going, but should be able to at least have one that can maintain some of it's numbers.

Krissim Klaw said:

My mother has always been the same way because of memories with her childhood involving roach infestations. That being said, even she has grown accepting enough of my Panchlora nivea that she often saves the scraps of veggies/fruit she uses when cooking for me to give to them. The adults are a stunning green so they don't read like a normal roach. It is a species time and time again is known for winning over people that would normally be terrified of a roach. The nymphs are still brown, but they are goofy, hide in the substrate type bugs. I live in one of the states where roaches can easily live year round, and I have zero fear of an infestation of these guys. We do have wild populations of them down here and that is one of the reasons I chose the species, but they never bother houses.

One of the things I love about them is it is so easy to do a natural setup for them so there is no need for egg crate or cage cleaning. I have several inches of Eco Earth, some leaf liter, cork bark, and springtails and lesser mealworms for cleanup duty. All I got to do is provide food and keep the soil moist and that is it. The cage smells like fruit.

Crickets can be fun too though so I understand wanting to try them out. The only thing I disliked about them was it felt like I needed to do more work maintaining their environment since crickets seem to have a heavy bio-load on their surroundings. It kind of reminds me of the the same thing as goldfish. Come to think of it they are also both really fat derpy eating machines. =p

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Great to hear you have a converted roach hater, so there is hope.

Many thanks for the information, and especially the species of the so called Green Banana roach. The color and look of the adults at least may give me a edge in the battle as it looks nothing like the typical roaches around here. Also it is the only one I have seen that is not considered a pest as it rarely is found inside homes as you said too. A interesting species for sure and worth looking into.

If I were sneaky I might order some of them and pass them off as exotic crickets for awhile anyway. Maybe when busted I could say they must have been mis-listed, and she would be over her fear

Yeah goldfish can be messy, I hated the constant water changes/refilling/cleaning - large tank and lots of carried buckets.. something I don't miss. Although here is a goldfish I originally bought as a feeder 12 for $1, he lived for over 5 years and I sold him to another pet store for $15 when I got rid of my fish. He had Calico and Black Moor fancy goldfish as tank mates at one point. In the end he grew over 8" when I sold him, never had such a huge goldfish.

The photos are from September 1998, so the image quality isn't great for sure. The camera I used, and still own, was 0.3 MP resolution (Sony Mavica MVC-FD5). Although the battery doesn't hold much of a charge and I have no floppy access, I tried it a few months ago for fun

CosbyArt said:

Yeah I am leaving it as the eggs hatch with it.

I appreciate the advice on roaches, but that is a definite no. There is no way I can convince my wife to allow me to have any - too many bad memories of infestations growing up in city apartments. Even the lowest infestation rated roach I read about is still a possibility.

Thankfully mantises don't require roaches otherwise I wouldn't be in this hobby.

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Ditto on the roaches. I don't like them - but my wife would definitely kick out all my bugs if I brought in any roaches! She already has enough issues with my flies.

Jay said:

"She already has enough issues with my flies..."

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Im in the same boat. LoL

Jay said:

Ditto on the roaches. I don't like them - but my wife would definitely kick out all my bugs if I brought in any roaches! She already has enough issues with my flies.

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I read your response to my wife and she laughed and said exactly. Then went on to say with all my mantises, crickets, springtails, isopods, various types of fruit flies, etc. is enough now - cockroaches is just asking too much! She would send me and all the bugs out to the curb if I got roaches.

Although earlier today I showed her a large picture of a adult Green Banana (Panchlora nivea) roach, and told her it was a new feeder for my mantises. She didn't realize what it was, but said she didn't like it - "it looks creepy". I don't think I'll try to push it and order some, as the roach nymphs are easily identifiable...

I did though get her convinced I need some Blue Bottle flies to feed my nymphs as a in-between feeder from fruit flies to crickets. Worse case scenario we would just have to break out some fly swatters earlier this year. So I'll be getting to add another insect to that list after all.

CosbyArt said:

Yeah goldfish can be messy, I hated the constant water changes/refilling/cleaning - large tank and lots of carried buckets.. something I don't miss. Although here is a goldfish I originally bought as a feeder 12 for $1, he lived for over 5 years and I sold him to another pet store for $15 when I got rid of my fish. He had Calico and Black Moor fancy goldfish as tank mates at one point. In the end he grew over 8" when I sold him, never had such a huge goldfish.

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Such a pretty goldfish. I had a fancy goldfish named Chomper Aka Sir Chomps A Lot who was going on a couple years, but he passed when I tried to introduce a sucker fish that must have had something. I quarantined but apparently for not long enough and missed it. I had just upgraded the tank too at the time. I haven't had the heart/energy for fish since that

CosbyArt said:

Although earlier today I showed her a large picture of a adult Green Banana (Panchlora nivea) roach, and told her it was a new feeder for my mantises. She didn't realize what it was, but said she didn't like it - "it looks creepy". I don't think I'll try to push it and order some, as the roach nymphs are easily identifiable...

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I always have a hard time seeing what other people see when they say roaches are creepy/scary because I find them so adorable. Then again when I was a little kid I used to find the xenomorphs from the Alien movies to be adorable too. :wub:

The P. nivea are such silly little bugs. When I was adding food to their tank today there was one large nymph attempting and failing hard at hiding in one of the crevices of the cork bark. The nook was already filled with another roach so it could only fit its head inside and while the majority of its body and its fat rear was sticking up in the air. Still it attempted valiantly to pretend having its head stuck in a hole was enough to hid it.

Heh, I'm probably not helping your decision not to try them right now. Crickets are a lot of fun too. I often refer to the feeder ones over here as the domesticated chicken of the insect world. I was even going to name my dog Cricket but my mom said it sounded too girly. He is a good cricket catcher though.