Poor Luck Breeding Cricket

[cloud jaguar]

Trying to breed crickets to feed our small ravenous horde. It is not working.

I have a large criter keeper.

Put some super clean moist dirt in there.

Put 20 large and 20 small crickets in there.

Feed them mostly dog kibble with some greens

Water in gravel dish

Hiding space under egg crate piece

40 watt bulb right above the cage

Mist daily to keep dirt moist.

This is what happened.

I keep the water in their dish full and even with the 40 watt bult it dries the heck out of the dirt - i spray it but it just moistens the top layer and nothing. If i put more in there it just drips and dissapears away. What should i use instead of dirt? I tried potting soil but it just molded.

Every day i pull tons of dead and dessicated critckets out of there.

What am i doing wrong?

 

[Katnapper]

Trying to breed crickets to feed our small ravenous horde. It is not working. I have a large criter keeper.

Put some super clean moist dirt in there.

Put 20 large and 20 small crickets in there.

Feed them mostly dog kibble with some greens

Water in gravel dish

Hiding space under egg crate piece

40 watt bulb right above the cage

Mist daily to keep dirt moist.

This is what happened.

I keep the water in their dish full and even with the 40 watt bult it dries the heck out of the dirt - i spray it but it just moistens the top layer and nothing. If i put more in there it just drips and dissapears away. What should i use instead of dirt? I tried potting soil but it just molded.

Every day i pull tons of dead and dessicated critckets out of there.

What am i doing wrong?

Hey Arkanis,

I think you need to keep the container with your adult crickets in it dry, not wet or damp. Use oatmeal or no substrate, but keep dry. Use a smaller container within that container for the damp substrate to lay eggs in. I use sand and I mixed a little bit of mulch in there too just for kicks. And keep that containers contents damp, but not the bigger general housing. I think that's where your problem is. And I think you need a larger container if you want to breed them.

I've bred my first batch of new crickets, and they are about 1/4" - 1/3" big now. Just let them into their own big container. Would you like me to post some pics of my set-up? I'd be glad to...

 

[cloud jaguar]

Katnapper, please post them - it would be helpful to those of us who have a brown thumb for crickets

also, how long do they take to make more crickets?

 

[Rick]

You don't really need a heat lamp. I keep my cricket batch in a large rubbermaid tub with about a half inch of dry oatmeal as a substrate. When the crickets are adult I put in a 8 inch dish that is a couple inches deep filled with damp dirt. They will go in there and lay eggs if they are ready. After a few days take the dish out and put that under a low wattage heat lamp and keep the dirt moist. If it dries out too fast move the lamp further away. This is what has worked for me so give it a try.

 

[Katnapper]

Working up some pics with info, Arkanis... will post later today hopefully.

As far as how long to make more crickets... I didn't record dates of when I put the breeding box in or took it out to incubate the eggs. But I'm guessing it's taken 6 to 8 weeks to get the size of crickets I have now (1/8" - 1/3").

 

[Rick]

When I bred them it took about a week for them to go from eggs to pinheads. I found it easier to just order 1K at a time.

 

[Katnapper]

Arkanis.... as promised, I made up a guide with photos of my cricket breeding setup! I put it in my blog, and you can get there instantly by clicking on the words "Don't you DARE peek at my blog!" in my signature. You'll have to tell me what you think of it.

 

[cloud jaguar]

Excellent! Thanks alot! That is very helpful. Nice blog!

 

[Katnapper]

Excellent! Thanks alot! That is very helpful. Nice blog!

You're very much welcome, Arkanis! I'm hoping maybe it can help others with ideas for their own setup, or at least give those thinking about starting a setup a better idea what's involved. And thank YOU for the motivation to write it up, and the compliment on the blog!

 

[nasty bugger]

Haven't done this, or bred crickets at all, but an idea to kick around -

They have 'crystals' that hold water, that may be put under the substrate in the hatching pan, to keep it moist. Don't know if this would create a problem or not though.

In Rick's post he said to move the dish and keep it moist with the low wattage lamp, if it dries to quickly I would consider putting some saran wrap or something over it for a couple days, and maybe vent it occasionally, but then again, I don't know if this would create a problem or not. Maybe someone that's tried these idea's will pipe up and give their experience.

I don't know if kitty litter would hurt or help with moisture.

I don't know if a 'mulch' of small stone's on top of the egg pan would help keep it moist while maintaining an even heat to that area. Something I do when I want a heat sink to keep plants warmish in cool weather, yet maintain moisture in the root area.

 

[kamakiri]

Finally decided to try breeding crickets...

Main ingrediment is the use of floral aqua foam for the-egg laying subtrate. ~$3 a brick from Michael's. Dirt and other substrate made me think it was a little too much of a hassle to breed. A product like the aqua foam should only have the variable of moisture loaded and I can live with that.

Got the idea from here:

http://littlebrownfrogs.kero-kero.net/pinheads.html

Found the link myself a while back, but thanks to Kaddock for mentioning it in the 'tons o' baby Crickets' thread!

 

[nasty bugger]

A guy at the reptile show this weekend said his key is to have the type of deli tubs that have the holes in the side up at the top of the container, and when he removes the tub from the adult lay area he puts the lid on and it keeps the tub moister, condensation inside the tub, he then puts the small tub inside a larger tub, to contain the pinheads when they get out of the small tub. The pinheads can get out of the small holes on the side of the small tub, cause he puts the peat moss up to the holes, or just below them.

The reason he uses the small tub into the other tub is not just to contain the crickets but to maintain moisture/humidity.

The larger 'tub' that he puts the small one into is about the size of a pie, in diameter. The one's that snakes and large tarantulas may come in.

The small tub is about the size of the squatty cottage cheese tubs, like a 32 oz deli tub, but the shorter version. The size medium tarantulas come in.

The soil should be damp in the couple inches under the top of the soil. The crickets will lay them down a couple inches if they can, and that's why he likes peat moss, but the aqua foam will probably work as well for this, and the top can dry out a bit, as long as the couple inches down, where the eggs actually are, is moist. At least that's how he 'splained it, Lucy. Or how I perceived his explaination anyway.

I just misted mine when I pulled it out, after 30 hours is what the cricketsdirect guy told me to do. I then put the lid on and put it in a sweater/shoe box with a lid and put it in the garden under the tomato plants with filtered light from the grow light for heat.

 

[Katnapper]

Finally decided to try breeding crickets...Main ingrediment is the use of floral aqua foam for the-egg laying subtrate. ~$3 a brick from Michael's. Dirt and other substrate made me think it was a little too much of a hassle to breed. A product like the aqua foam should only have the variable of moisture loaded and I can live with that.

Got the idea from here:

http://littlebrownfrogs.kero-kero.net/pinheads.html

Found the link myself a while back, but thanks to Kaddock for mentioning it in the 'tons o' baby Crickets' thread!

I'm glad Kaddock posted the link too. I'm considering giving that method a go too!

A guy at the reptile show this weekend said his key is to have the type of deli tubs that have the holes in the side up at the top of the container, and when he removes the tub from the adult lay area he puts the lid on and it keeps the tub moister, condensation inside the tub, he then puts the small tub inside a larger tub, to contain the pinheads when they get out of the small tub. The pinheads can get out of the small holes on the side of the small tub, cause he puts the peat moss up to the holes, or just below them.The reason he uses the small tub into the other tub is not just to contain the crickets but to maintain moisture/humidity.

This sounds very similar to how I bred mine in the tubs.