# how to breed crickets



## mr bug guy (Jul 10, 2011)

ok so i have 4 tarantulas  i need to know how to breed the adult kind my dad doesnt wanna keep running to the store every week how would i do this


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## Sam_Peanuts (Jul 10, 2011)

I've never done this personally, but from what I hear, they need substrate to lay eggs and you need to keep it as clean as you can(remove the cadavers and the old food) and always provide them fresh vegetables(carrots and lettuce works best since they tend to dry up instead of rot) to eat. Also mist it once in a while so they can drink the drops.

Put a bunch of them in this setup and they should reproduce on their own.


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## bravesvikings20 (Jul 10, 2011)

mr bug guy said:


> ok so i have 4 tarantulas  i need to know how to breed the adult kind my dad doesnt wanna keep running to the store every week how would i do this


Be prepared for the smell. :barf:


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## MB623 (Jul 10, 2011)

*Breeding Crickets*

Hi, I just started breeding crickets this year and it's working great,  I only need enough to supply my 3 T's and my 4 scorpions, so I breed on a small scale, but this will work to breed hundreds if necessary. I use three Rubbermaid containers about 7inx7in.x7in., but any deep, wide plastic container will work, just as long as it will contain all the crickets that will be produced in the end. 

1st- Fill one container half way with moist (not wet) Eco-Earth, or at least 3in. deep, and lightly even out and pack down. Then place a couple hides for the crickets that will not mold due to the high humidity that is required.

2nd- Place 1-3 adult female crickets (the ones with a stinger looking thing) in the container with the Eco-Earth. If there is too many crickets in one container they'll cannibalize each other, they may do this anyway even if there is food available.:wall: Then let them stay in that container for about 5-7 days while checking regularly and keeping the humidity around 70-75% with light misting, then remove the adult crickets, otherwise they will eat the hatching babies.

3rd- After removing the adults keep checking on the incubator (container with the Eco-Earth), keeping the humidity around 70-75%, and after a few days you'll see tiny crickets. Given that you keep your humidity around 70-75% and your temp. around 75-80F degrees they should thrive.

4th- When the pinheads (baby crickets) get to around 1/4in. you should put them in a separate container large enough to keep cannibalization to a minimum. This is easily done by crumpling up a small piece of paper into a ball and laying it on the substrate and the pinheads will crawl up onto it, then you simply take and shake it into a separate container with no substrate. The container should be large enough to accommodate the number of crickets. 

5th- Once the crickets reach about a 1/2-3/4in. put them into yet another separate container with no substrate.

This is just how I do it, and it gives you all different sizes of crix to feed to your T's. I'm sure everybody has their own way of doing it. Youtube has some videos on it that explain pretty well, but practice makes perfect. I haven't had any problems and only go to the pet store for Eco-Earth now. Hope this helped somewhat, Good luck.


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## Tym Hollerup (Jul 10, 2011)

I started breeding roaches. Much easier, no smell, and much higher protein (and just overall better) for the T.

This is how I did it...
[YOUTUBE]XEXiWaAWY6I&feature=channel_video_title[/YOUTUBE]

BTW - They didn't really like the cat food much, so now I just use the Cricket food, fruits and vegetables, and anything else that would be healthy for the most part. Cereal will even work if you want!


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## MB623 (Jul 10, 2011)

*Stinky crickets*



Tym Hollerup said:


> I started breeding roaches. Much easier, no smell, and much higher protein (and just overall better) for the T.
> 
> This is how I did it...
> [YOUTUBE]XEXiWaAWY6I&feature=channel_video_title[/YOUTUBE]
> ...


I'm always worried about roaches getting out and infesting my house, just paranoid I guess, but yes crickets tend to have quite a smell, especially the adults.:barf: I've never tried roaches, but it may be worth trying to avoid that horrible smell. Is cannibalization a problem with roaches?


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## Tym Hollerup (Jul 10, 2011)

MB623 said:


> I'm always worried about roaches getting out and infesting my house, just paranoid I guess, but yes crickets tend to have quite a smell, especially the adults.:barf: I've never tried roaches, but it may be worth trying to avoid that horrible smell. Is cannibalization a problem with roaches?


Don't worry about them getting out. They can't jump, nor can they climb. They don't eat each other that I know of at all, and even if they did, you probably wouldn't even notice! Plus if you find yourself "overwhelmed" with them for any reason, you can easily pick out the adults, Plus (unlike crickets) you can tell males and females apart. Also, if you ever want to slow the breeding for any reason then just keep them a bit cooler. Put them in the basement for example. And you can get Dubia (the kind more widely used) pretty much anywhere! People sell them on eBay for Gods sake!!! Go to eBay and check it out sometime. I'm sure there's people selling them now. Hell, you get enough of em and maybe you too can start selling them on eBay.


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## akpropst (Jul 11, 2011)

the OP is from florida. Not knowing all the laws, I believe he is out of luck for dubias? As far as telling males from females with crickets, the females have a 3rd "stinger" for inserting eggs into the ground. Pretty easy to pick out. If you cant breed crix because of the smell I hear mealworms are super easy to breed as well. a simple google search would do the job. Whatever you do, dont start feeding it wild caught food. pesticides from surrounding areas can be harmful.


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## mr bug guy (Jul 11, 2011)

i live in florida so i can only breed surmariane and discord r those good feeders or no


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## bravesvikings20 (Jul 11, 2011)

mr bug guy said:


> i live in florida so i can only breed surmariane and discord r those good feeders or no


Discoid's are good feeders as well. Able to move quickly than dubias, but are better then crickets. 
Heck anything is better then crickets, the smell is truly horrible.


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## Hobo (Jul 11, 2011)

Breeding crickets is a pain in the butt, but if you ever want to try, don't waste your time with actually trying to get them to breed. Simply place adult female crickets you get from a pet store into a container of moist substrate for a few hours before feeding them off. In a few weeks you'll have tons of baby crickets, and it will just be a matter of raising them up. If you don't keep 'em warm though, they take forever to hatch/grow.

Another solution for your problem would simply be to buy like 12 or so at a time and keep 'em alive. It's not as hard as everyone makes it out, just don't get adults if possible. Even 12 could potentially last you 3 weeks, or at the very least 2.

Or you can always go with discoids.



Tym Hollerup said:


> Plus (unlike crickets) you can tell males and females apart.


What? Yes you can! Females will have ovipositors. They are even visible well before they mature.


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## mr bug guy (Jul 11, 2011)

do you think my tarantulas can adapt to roaches


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## Tym Hollerup (Jul 12, 2011)

mr bug guy said:


> do you think my tarantulas can adapt to roaches


Some T's take a while to adapt, but I think they should be fine. Only one way to find out though huh?


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## mr bug guy (Jul 12, 2011)

my blue will eat or will try to eat anything moving but i dont know about my red knees


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## Bugs In Cyberspace (Jul 13, 2011)

In my opinion, crickets don't actually smell unless they die and their bodies lay around. They don't die if they are cared from properly (and fed off before they reach old age). I used to experience a lot of stinky crickets before I had so many species of roaches to compensate. Using similar methods to those outlined below, I don't have them same smell issues I vividly recall from earlier years. I've been using these so-called super crickets/Jamaicans for awhile now and I wonder if anybody else suspects they are hardier and less likely to die/stink?? Another trick is to keep either isopods or roaches in with your crickets. They may feed on cricket eggs to an extent, but sufficient food in combination with the enormous number of eggs crickets lay, helps to ensure this doesn't put too much of a dent in your next generation of crickets. Best of all, these tankmates will help to eat up any dead crickets!

I occasionally buy adults crickets rather than growing the immatures all the way to adulthood. I agree with Hobo that it's just easier this way, plus it makes it easier to keep multiple generations of immatures and sizes available for the variety of mouths they're destined for in my collection.

Finally, I really do find this new breed(?) of crickets attractive. I can hear a few chirps from the bugroom as I type!


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## Fuzzy (Jul 16, 2011)

Tym Hollerup said:


> Plus (unlike crickets) you can tell males and females apart.


Hmm? The females have a very visible ovipositor.


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## Tym Hollerup (Jul 16, 2011)

Fuzzy said:


> Hmm? The females have a very visible ovipositor.


Got it. But I don't know anything about crickets, because I breed roaches. But no matter if you can tell the difference, that doesn't mean they don't smell and aren't NEARLY as good for your T's as roaches are.


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