Black crickets

[Murziukas]

We have those available as prey for invertebrates here in Lithuania. It's not that they are too expensive, but it's not very suitable to go to other part of city just to buy 10 of them.

How can I breed tham? I tried and tried and tried... I keep them on heating cable to provide enough heat, give them various types of food like carots, apples, cat/dog food and something is still wrong as they do canibalize... Is there a solution to heep them alive and to rase new generation of them?

 

[Bungholio]

You need a bigger tank as first.

 

[Murziukas]

got one free 20x20x20 cm. what's the number to keep in it alive?

 

[Stylopidae]

I've recently gotten these to lay eggs.
I keep them in a medium sized KK and gave them a carrot for food. I mist them once a day. I'll know in a week or two whether or not I got them to hatch.

 

[cloud711]

thats the cricket i use to feed my t's and scorps. its very common here in the Philippines. butg i never feed my pets wild caught ones. they are very easy to breed. all you need is one adult male and female. keep them well fed, and provide them a shallow water dish in which they wont drown. provide them retreats like egg cartons to reduce the risk of cannibalism. also provide a small petridish with moist substrate. this is where the female will lay it's eggs. in a few days you will see small eggs at the substrate. when you see the eggs put the petri dish in another container preferably a medium size kritter keeper. after a few weeks the eggs will hatch. you will have lots of pinheads. rearing pinheads is the hardest part. provide them slices of orange and other fruits for moisture. i feed my crix crushed rabbit pellets. they seem to like it. thats about it. sorry for the poor explanation. im not really an expert on this. what i typed is base on my experience.

 

[Murziukas]

thank you for advice One more question: what's optimal temperature for them? And second more: males don't have that sort of horn thing on their rear (females have 3 hornlike "things")?

 

[cloud711]

room temperature is enough for them. i dont have any problem with temperature because theses crickets thrive very well here in our country. just keep them in room temp and they will be fine. what you got in the picture on the left side is a female. females have the long tail which is called ovipositor. that is where the eggs come out. on the right side im not sure because i cant see the tail very clearly my guess is that its a mail.

 

[Murziukas]

Well, winters are cold here... Sometimes like up to - 20'C so room temperature someting like 17'C is enough?
Ok, I'll try and let you know 2 crickets in one 20x20x20 cm tank with damp place to lay eggs.

 

[cloud711]

oh ok. i think around 24-30'c is enough. your chances of eggs are better if you have more crickets. but two is good for now as test run. yup thats it. dont forget to feed and provide water for the crickets. give them a hide. another thing make sure the substrate you use for egg laying is not too dry and not too moist. when the female has already laid its eggs on the substrate put the substrate with eggs on a delicup and cover it. then put it on top of the refrigerator to keep the eggs warm.

 

[Empi]

You have two females... You have to have a male and female cricket to bread them

 

[dtknow]

Good eye Empi...I wouldn't have noticed that if you didn't point it out...I agree he's got two females in there. I've found the easiest way to quickly seperate males from females is the pattern of the veins on the forewings.

 

[Predator]

You have two females... You have to have a male and female cricket to bread them

If he bought them then odds are they are probably fertile already.

 

[Peter_Parker]

Or you can see which one has the big ovipositor in between the cerci

 

[Randolph XX()]

Gryllus bimaculatus from Asia, i guess, they are the domestic crix back home
but they are not as hardy as North American one, and they fight a lot if u keep them seperate and put them back together

 

[Dark Raptor]

Gryllus bimaculatus from Asia, i guess, they are the domestic crix back home
but they are not as hardy as North American one, and they fight a lot if u keep them seperate and put them back together

Yes. This is B. bimaculatus. They also live in southern and eastern Europe (in. egz. Ukraine). You keep them in the same way as other crixs (to this time I've kept 5 species).
I don't like them. This specie is very aggresive and stinks. Probably better large specie for you would be Gryllus assimilis ("Red head cricket").

 

[Murziukas]

Yup Dark Raptor, they do stink in fact... This is getting off topic, but in that case what could you guys offer as alternetive? I keep scorpions and they do eat flies and their larvae, but sometimes some changes are good. My scorps aren't the bigest ones (all buthidae: centruroides, hottentota, tityus, buthus, leuirus) so I don't really need huge prey.
Roaches (I do have prasite ones as I live in student hostel, but there is no way I would start to mess with it )? Other crickets? Room temperature is something like 18 - 22 'C (depending on a season). Are there any insects that would reproduce fast and without complications (no odour would be advantage as well)?

 

[Dark Raptor]

Room temperature is something like 18 - 22 'C (depending on a season). Are there any insects that would reproduce fast and without complications (no odour would be advantage as well)?

I believe that the best solution (in these temperatures) would be mealworms (Tenebrio molitor). They don't breed and grow so fast as crix, but they don't smell and are resistant to 'extreme' conditions. If you buy heating cable you can start keeping Gryllodes sigillatus. They are smaller than other crixs and grow much faster than others.

 

[Murziukas]

Hi Dariusz,

I have 9 meters of heating cable and it's almost all in use. Where could I get those Gryllodes sigillatus as market here, in Lithuania is just developing...
For a begining:

I hope that will do for now as they need to eat all the time...

 

[Dark Raptor]

Where could I get those Gryllodes sigillatus as market here, in Lithuania is just developing...

I get my G. sigillatus colony from Warsaw ZOO. This specie slowly become popular in Poland, so I think you will be able get them soon in Lithuania.

I hope that will do for now as they need to eat all the time...

I'd remove all substrate and left only this white 'box' that will be used by crixs to lay eggs. I keep all my crixs this way:

Without substrate you won't get any mold and crixs won't die so quick. The worse thing is that this specie smells always very bad (with substrate and without it) :?

 

[Empi]

Wow that is one hell of a cricket setup. Very cool!. I switched over to roaches a few weeks ago. The only time I could get any pinheads to hatch is in my emp tank. Damn this woould eat they're eggs in the breeding tank....