wax worms? crickets?

[awesomebillfromdawsonvill]

Any one having any good links/ tips for ordering and breeding wax worms and of crickets? I think im gonna try to raise these buggers and I wanna know what im getting into.

 

[robo mantis]

You could buy them at a bait shop.

 

[Rick]

Cricket breeding is easy. When your crickets are adults put in a dish of moist soil and they will lay eggs in it. Keep the soil moist and warm with a low watt heat lamp and the eggs hatch in about a week. Much easier to just buy crickets in bulk. I get mine 1000K at a time from wormman. Waxworms are not a good for for mantids.

 

[Ian]

I have tried breeding both before, and actually, it really isnt worth the hastle!

The young crickets take a lot of work to rear (unless rearing them in mass), and the waxworms just take a very long time.

What kind of amounts were you wanting to rear of each?

 

[Chuck]

There is an excellent method for raising crickets at:

http://wildlife.tamu.edu/publications/2602a.pdf

Waxworms are even easier if you have a very warm and humid room for rearing and the right equipment.

Instructions and media formulae are available at:

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/misc/ef011.htm

1 quart home canning jars are good for small cultures. Hatchling larve are incredible small, so we use paper towelling to cover jars with small larvae and switch to fine metal screening for larger larvae.

Chuck

Spider Pharm

 

[awesomebillfromdawsonvill]

Thanks for the input fellas. I was really looking to raise about enough for 6- 12 mantids at the most. So mybe the scale wont have to be to large.