Crickets

[JoshDM020]

Im not entirely sure about where to post this, but it's about something i feed my Ts so i feel like here is good as anything.

About how long does it take cricket eggs to hatch, and do they change appearance before they do?

I caught the biggest female with the longest ovipositor i could find in the last batch i bought and put it in a different container with some moist coco fiber. She laid the eggs, some of em i can even see.
Its been about a week and it looks like some of em have gone from white and thin to a reddish brown and kinda swollen looking.
I really dont know much about cricket eggs, so they could be bad or about to hatch and id never know the difference.

 

[TRection]

Im not sure about them changing appearance but i know they usually take about 2 weeks to hatch from what i have read, i tried breeding them back when i first got my Beardie but they always died for me and turned black.

 

[TRection]

With regards to the color of them, they start off white and start to darken as they get closer to hatching so if you see them become a redish/brown color that's normal, but like i said i never had one successfully hatch for me so i cant say for sure. For all i know they could turn black just before they hatch and i threw out perfectly good baby crickets... (my reasoning was that after keeping many different feeder insects they all turn black when they die so i just assumed, but dont really know for sure)

 

[SchubertHelm]

Im not entirely sure about where to post this, but it's about something i feed my Ts so i feel like here is good as anything.

About how long does it take cricket eggs to hatch, and do they change appearance before they do?

I caught the biggest female with the longest ovipositor i could find in the last batch i bought and put it in a different container with some moist coco fiber. She laid the eggs, some of em i can even see.
Its been about a week and it looks like some of em have gone from white and thin to a reddish brown and kinda swollen looking.
I really dont know much about cricket eggs, so they could be bad or about to hatch and id never know the difference.

About a year ago I tried breeding and if I remember correctly it took the eggs a week or so to hatch.

If you keep the substrate the eggs are in moist and temp up you should have baby crickets soon.

I can't say I noticed the eggs change colour. They very well could tho.

 

[darkness975]

I have had them hatch unexpectedly in moist enclosures in the past. It doesn't take much really.

Make sure the lid is the right type so they don't squeeze out.

 

[Ellenantula]

I haven't kept crickets in a while. I left my females in colony to mate; and kept a condiment cup of damp soil for females to lay eggs in. Males did dig out a few for snacks, but eggs were mostly fine. I removed condiment cup about every 10- 14 days and placed a new dampt soil condiment cup in enclosure.
The crickets would then hatch in their own enclosure from condiment cup. I mostly fed dampened greens so pinheads could get some hydration and nutrition. Once they reached the size where they truly looked like miniature crix -- I put them back in main colony. Rinse and repeat.

I even sometimes left the condiment cup in main enclosure -- had some survivors in spite of adults around. Feeding catfood to satisfy their carnivore/cannablistic natures helped (They are really omnivores -- eat plant and insects).

Mine thrived but I got tired of this ordeal plus the cricket odours.
I bred banded crickets, but imagine care is the same.

 

[cold blood]

I bred banded crickets, but imagine care is the same

Banded crickets are so much hardier that its almost like a different animal altogether.

 

[Ellenantula]

Banded crickets are so much hardier that its almost like a different animal altogether.

I've no others to compare to -- but they reached long age spans. No wish to breed again though.

 

[kevinlowl]

Just keep the substrate containing the eggs moist and you'll have pinheads in no time. I would breed crickets again if I wasn't living in an apartment. They're quite fun to keep and interact with compared to mealworms and superworms.

 

[Paul1126]

Hate to hijack a thread, I'm wanting to make a new cricket bin is it safe to drill 0.5mm holes in the lid for ventilation? Can crickets climb smooth plastic the one I have at the minute has a bad moisture problem and can't seem to climb plastic. Just don't want to return home to find escaped crickets everywhere

 

[JoshDM020]

I dont know why i never recieved a notification but this is all very useful and helpful information! Thanks guys!

Hate to hijack a thread, I'm wanting to make a new cricket bin is it safe to drill 0.5mm holes in the lid for ventilation? Can crickets climb smooth plastic the one I have at the minute has a bad moisture problem and can't seem to climb plastic. Just don't want to return home to find escaped crickets everywhere

They cant climb smooth surfaces like glass or plastic. Plastic tubs are used for most feeders for this reason, i believe. If they cant reach the holes, they cant fit through em

 

[Paul1126]

They cant climb smooth surfaces like glass or plastic. Plastic tubs are used for most feeders for this reason, i believe. If they cant reach the holes, they cant fit through em

Thanks, I bought a ridiculously deep and large container I actually bought two... 30L tubs really deep. Surely these disgusting creatures can't get out. First night with them in there no escapees. None of them can seem to climb the walls not even the smaller ones.

 

[JoshDM020]

Unexpected update time! When i had posted this thread, the eggs had been there roughly a week i do believe. So. Three weeks. Ish. Thats how long it took these eggs to hatch. I was just about to give up. Mold spots kept popping up a d i thought for sure that was eggs dying. But nope! Now ive got roughly a metric crap load of these guys.
I got reports of one week and two weeks, but this batch took 3! Figured itd be useful to update in case someone needs the information one day. Thanks again, guys!

 

[miss moxie]

Unexpected update time! When i had posted this thread, the eggs had been there roughly a week i do believe. So. Three weeks. Ish. Thats how long it took these eggs to hatch. I was just about to give up. Mold spots kept popping up a d i thought for sure that was eggs dying. But nope! Now ive got roughly a metric crap load of these guys.
I got reports of one week and two weeks, but this batch took 3! Figured itd be useful to update in case someone needs the information one day. Thanks again, guys!

Congratulations on your brood of walking filth monsters. May they all meet drawn-out ends at the fangs of your tarantulas.

 

[Ellenantula]

Unexpected update time! When i had posted this thread, the eggs had been there roughly a week i do believe. So. Three weeks. Ish. Thats how long it took these eggs to hatch. I was just about to give up. Mold spots kept popping up a d i thought for sure that was eggs dying. But nope! Now ive got roughly a metric crap load of these guys.

Yeah, I sometimes had a white mould film coat covering the dirt containing the eggs. I mean, you gotta keep them damp. Mould never seemed to affect them though. I noted a newly hatched cricket could drown in a drop of water (like they walk inside water drop and get encapsulated or something! So I only offered hydrated but paper-towel dried greens/lettuces (real: romaine, green leaf -- not iceberg).

Happy for your success. It was always so cute to me when they doubled in size and truly looked like miniature crickets.

 

[OliverWhatever]

I don't get the hate for crickets. a breeding setup may have a foul odor, but the crickets themselves are adorable.

 

[Walker253]

Crickets, a necessary evil. @OliverWhatever its the smell, the chirping and once you have roaches that some tarantulas won't eat, the price.

 

[miss moxie]

I don't get the hate for crickets. a breeding setup may have a foul odor, but the crickets themselves are adorable.

I used to think crickets were adorable too. I'd sit there and watch them walk around and groom themselves the way a cat would. Then I cut off one's head to snip it up for some slings and the head fell back into the cricket tank. I watched it's mandibles continue to work and it's antennae twitch all over the place.

Then some other crickets walked over and began to eat the still animated head.


Adorable? Not so much after witnessing that.

 

[efmp1987]

I used to think crickets were adorable too. I'd sit there and watch them walk around and groom themselves the way a cat would. Then I cut off one's head to snip it up for some slings and the head fell back into the cricket tank. I watched it's mandibles continue to work and it's antennae twitch all over the place.

Then some other crickets walked over and began to eat the still animated head.


Adorable? Not so much after witnessing that.

I keep hearing about this cricket stench and said it can't be that bad, so I gave in. Took a whiff (in actuality it was a lungful) and lo and behold - cringe-worthy indeed. Turned me off for a bit, flushed all my crickets in the toilet lol. But forced to buy again another batch the next day as none of my new slings would take dubia.

 

[miss moxie]

I keep hearing about this cricket stench and said it can't be that bad, so I gave in. Took a whiff (in actuality it was a lungful) and lo and behold - cringe-worthy indeed. Turned me off for a bit, flushed all my crickets in the toilet lol. But forced to buy again another batch the next day as none of my new slings would take dubia.

The next day? You gave up too quickly. Where was your moxie?