# Cricket Gave Birth Inside My Tank!



## BelfastScorpion (Dec 11, 2006)

Hi Everyone,

I was looking in one of my scorpion tanks last night and I noticed a lot of tiny creatures crawling around the substrate.  At first I thought it could have been mites but then I noticed that they were hopping.  When I looked closer I realised that they were tiny crickets.  One of the crickets must have gave birth in my tank.  There is quite a number of the little things too.  I will now have to change my substrate to get rid of them.

I am scared incase they escape.  Don't think my wife and kids would be too amused to find crickets running about everywere.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

BelfastScorpion.


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## kin-inam (Dec 11, 2006)

If your afraid that they will escape when you change the substrate, heavily mist the substrate first before changing. The pinheads will stick to the substrate and can't move as easily.


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## ScorpDude (Dec 11, 2006)

Even if they do escape they will die off in the cold and dry (in the fact that they can't find water, not that it isn't very humid) conditions in the UK around this time.


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## xVOWx (Dec 11, 2006)

Just change the substrate, they won't "infest" your house or anything. After that just watch the female crix and make sure they don't start giving birth or laying there eggs or whatever in the substrate before they get eaten.


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## Arlius (Dec 11, 2006)

Or ignore them and let it dry out a bit, and they will die in 2 weeks from lack of food, and will not cause rot as they are too small (and they starved to death)
Pinheads are harmless....


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## LeilaNami (Dec 11, 2006)

Had that happen in my T's cage.  I just dumped the substrate outside and completely cleaned out her cage.


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## EAD063 (Dec 11, 2006)

I want to add that crickets lay eggs rather than give birth... you may also have spring tails which I mistaked as cricket nymphs but ruled them out because of the sheer number... to the best of my knowledge a cricket can only lay 20 or so eggs, all of which don't always hatch.... If they are springtails, they are harmless... What type of substrate do you use, I use eco earth and it always seems like they come back, so I've learned to get use to them, they actually benefit your tank rather than hurt it..... Anyways,  I ponder if the springtails are a product of the eco earth itself, I don't worry though


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## Charlie_Scorp (Dec 11, 2006)

EAD063 said:


> to the best of my knowledge a cricket can only lay 20 or so eggs


I think it can actually be more like up to about 4 or 500 per female (on a good day..lol). As you say, not all of these will hatch of course and the amount will depend on quite a few variables, heat and nutritional state for example...


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## EAD063 (Dec 11, 2006)

Maybe I was misinformed...also to my knowledge the eggs are of a size which is visible to the naked eye... thus making it impossible for a modern house cricket to yield that many nymphs.. like I said I Don't know this for certain and it could just be speculation.

Edit.. I simply googled "cricket eggs" and found out that I am absoultly right... You could maybe get partial credit as a cricket can yield about 400 eggs in her LIFE, not at once..

"After mating, female Field Crickets look for some damp soil to lay eggs. They inject their ovipositors, like a needle, deep into the soil. She will lay about 50 eggs at a time through her ovipositor. One female can lay over 400 eggs in her short life."
http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/field_cricket.htm


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## EAD063 (Dec 11, 2006)

I still think he has spring tails.


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## Thaedion (Dec 11, 2006)

I had cricket babies running in my tank also.

I used to buy a dozen large crickets and just dump them all in my 20gal L tank. and on occasions would see some pinheads, no more than 2 or 3 though. I stopped just dumping the lot in, since most would wind up in the watering hole. :drool: 

I would just consider it as an appetizer for your scorpions and if they don't eat them right away they'll grow up to be eaten later. (if they don't drown)

PS: if you have cats they love to chase escaped crickets, mine do, and they'll eat them up if you give them the chance.


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## TheImperator (Dec 11, 2006)

This happend to me numerous times. I would usually ignore them and llet them roam around. Nothing bad ever happend to the scorpions, so they are completely harmless and is not worth worrying about.


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## BelfastScorpion (Dec 12, 2006)

Thanks everyone for your replies.  

I changed the substrate and cleaned the tank last night and got rid of them all.  Maybe they were springtails but they definitely looked like small crickets.

The substrate I use is the Forest Bed expandable substrate.  It is excellent stuff.

I didn’t see any eggs though, just the crickets.

BelfastScorpion.


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## EAD063 (Dec 12, 2006)

BelfastScorpion said:


> Thanks everyone for your replies.
> 
> I changed the substrate and cleaned the tank last night and got rid of them all.  Maybe they were springtails but they definitely looked like small crickets.
> 
> ...


Hey belfast, I'm glad you got your tank cleared up.. I myself swore that some cricket eggs hatched in my tank when I saw my first infestation of spring tails... upon search and finding out that I had way too many bugs in my tank for a cricket brood I came to the forum for help and we decided on springtails which again like I said earlier are harmless and may also be beneficial to your setup as they eat decaying matter....   I myself use expandable substrate, so I assume those bugs are dormant in the dry brick and become active when it's wet, I'm glad you shared your expirences as we may be able to link the springtails to the substrate... I'll buy a new kind next jungle setup and we'll see how it goes..... best of luck.

Ed


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## BelfastScorpion (Dec 12, 2006)

Thanks Ed,

Very interesting about the expandable substrate.

Let me know how you get on with the new stuff.

BelfastScorpion.


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## Charlie_Scorp (Dec 12, 2006)

Ed, I guess you were right! Must be all this paraisitology Im doing at the moment...


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## EAD063 (Dec 12, 2006)

Charlie_Scorp said:


> Ed, I guess you were right! Must be all this paraisitology Im doing at the moment...


Not a problem mate.. I knew I saw it somewhere. I just wanted to prove the point because substrate changing is expensive with most expandable bricks... So if he has springtails then they will most likely come back and I don't want to see him over-exerting himself for no reason  

Cheers


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