Crickets galore

[galeogirl]

I bought some large feeders from the good pet store near my house. I brought them home, dumped them into the cricket keeper with a few inches of peat, some hiding materials, and a dish of cricket cubes (my first try with these little gems; only downside so far, they seem to attract fruitflies).

I went to check in on the crix a few hours later and I had 12 large females depositing eggs into the soil. Looks like I better keep the peat misted and hope for a harvest of pinheads soon.

 

[Empi]

I was doing the cricket thing. They started to stink really bad so I quit and started doing the roach thing. Your probly going to have to take the dirt that they laid the eggs in and put it in another container. The adults will dig into the dirt and eat the eggs and when the babies hatch they will eat them too. Cricket are too stupid to even reproduce. Not to discourage you or anything. Good luck with them.

 

[Ecilious]

I've just started breeding my own crickets. In the past I had various problems with soil on the bottom. Having done some reading on the internet and these board I think I've found what works best.

Keep the bottom plain, for egg laying use a shallow margarine tub filled with a peat sand mix (3:1) kept damp. Have two jam jar lids; one filled with water cubes, one with fish food/crushed dry cat/dog food/cereals. Put fresh carrot in each day and take out the old. Keeping them warm speeds everything up.

I haven't had any problems with canabalism, I've read that givign them perches helps prevent this and my crickets seem to be testament to this. I found a chicken-related-goods supplier on the internet and bough a 100 stack of 12 by 12 egg stack for a few pounds (96 of which are now sitting in my shed >_<), then cut the sheets in four and glued them together and sat them in the tank on the ends so all the waste falls to the bottom. I think keeping the cage dry keeps the smell down too, since I haven't had any noticable problems with it.

Whatever you do, good luck.

 

[galeogirl]

I wasn't really trying to breed the crickets, they did this of their own accord. I'll be feeding them off tomorrow anyway, then I'll see if any of the eggs will hatch. No desire to breed crix as a regular thing in a small apartment, but I should probably get a roach colony going again. Would certainly save on trips to the store.

 

[Malhavoc's]

With gas prices now adays, I dont blame you for wanting to save trips!

I tried breeding Crix, as mentioned their to stupid to save their own race...