How do you breed crickets????
- Thread starter _Lange
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- Sep 19, 2007
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First, you need to buy the biggest bottle of headache pain killers you can find. We're talking "10 lb vlasic pickle" sized jars here.
http://www.anapsid.org/crickets.html for the rest.
http://www.anapsid.org/crickets.html for the rest.
You don't. You get cockroaches instead because crickets lose at life.
But if you prefer to stay with them, I dug up a thread for you a la search:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=85601&highlight=cricket+breed
Enjoy! Well, as much enjoyment as you can possibly get out of smelly noisy pests.
But if you prefer to stay with them, I dug up a thread for you a la search:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=85601&highlight=cricket+breed
Enjoy! Well, as much enjoyment as you can possibly get out of smelly noisy pests.
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2007
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- 162
wow... i would totally give you a run-down on how to do this but it would turn from help.... into an essay.Very hard work... and messy at that. I've crossed over to the roach side. But here is a condensed-can-of-soup version of how to do it.
What You'll Need:
- Rubbermaid tub.... your going to need two, a big one and a medium.
- You'll need one of those rectangular plastic food containers. It looks like a plastic version of what you would cook brownies in (does that make sense? if you need a visual i will try to find you one).
- Substrate, Coco fiber will do.
- Wire mesh (with small enough holes that the "small" sized crickets you buy at the pet store can't go through).
- Egg crates. LOTS
- A Source of water (Water crystals rec.)
- Food (bought cricket food, veggies, fruit, ect)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Punch holes on the tops of the Rubbermaid tubs.
2. Pack substrate into the rectangular food tub to the very very top. Make sure its nice and moist.
3. Place the wire mesh on top of the dirt filled tub (the tub should be packed high with dirt so that the dirt and wire touch). Attach the wire to the tub with rubber bands so it doesnt move. The crickets will lay eggs in this, and its important that your wire holes are not too large as the adult cricket will try to burrow.
4. Place the dirt filled food tub on one side, in the bottom of the big rubbermaid tub.
5. Stack egg cartons on top of this.
6. Place food and a water source on the other side of this
7. Add adult crickets to the enclosure
8. Close tub and place in warm area
9. In one week... remove the dirt filled tub and place it in the smaller rubbermaid tub. be sure to keep the dirt moist, but not too moist. Baby crickets will pop out of this in a few weeks... they'll be smaller than ants and white.
10. Repeat.
You'll need to keep the different sized crickets in seperate tubs... it will make this difficult job a tiny bit easier. lol.
Oh, yeah, and in between all of this, you need to clean out old food and any dead guys as it will attract bacteria, mold, and flies.
good luck! you'll need it.....
What You'll Need:
- Rubbermaid tub.... your going to need two, a big one and a medium.
- You'll need one of those rectangular plastic food containers. It looks like a plastic version of what you would cook brownies in (does that make sense? if you need a visual i will try to find you one).
- Substrate, Coco fiber will do.
- Wire mesh (with small enough holes that the "small" sized crickets you buy at the pet store can't go through).
- Egg crates. LOTS
- A Source of water (Water crystals rec.)
- Food (bought cricket food, veggies, fruit, ect)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Punch holes on the tops of the Rubbermaid tubs.
2. Pack substrate into the rectangular food tub to the very very top. Make sure its nice and moist.
3. Place the wire mesh on top of the dirt filled tub (the tub should be packed high with dirt so that the dirt and wire touch). Attach the wire to the tub with rubber bands so it doesnt move. The crickets will lay eggs in this, and its important that your wire holes are not too large as the adult cricket will try to burrow.
4. Place the dirt filled food tub on one side, in the bottom of the big rubbermaid tub.
5. Stack egg cartons on top of this.
6. Place food and a water source on the other side of this
7. Add adult crickets to the enclosure
8. Close tub and place in warm area
9. In one week... remove the dirt filled tub and place it in the smaller rubbermaid tub. be sure to keep the dirt moist, but not too moist. Baby crickets will pop out of this in a few weeks... they'll be smaller than ants and white.
10. Repeat.
You'll need to keep the different sized crickets in seperate tubs... it will make this difficult job a tiny bit easier. lol.
Oh, yeah, and in between all of this, you need to clean out old food and any dead guys as it will attract bacteria, mold, and flies.
good luck! you'll need it.....
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2007
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I haven't bred crickets, but have had some kept for a couple weeks alive. Never had a problem with dead bodies because it seemed the other crickets were happy enough to consume their fallen comrades (frequently before they were fallen... evil things)
- Joined
- May 29, 2007
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Crickets are nasty, noisy, stinky, and short lived. Roaches are clean, quiet, mostly odor free (although a few species do emit defensive odors and a few are a little stinky, but nothing compared to crickets) and live a long time. Get roaches instead.
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- Oct 2, 2007
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True, but because of the tray of moist dirt (and the humidity this causes), mold will occur. The toxins from the rot can also kill the live ones and attract nasty little flies.
BREED ROACHES! they are so much easier!
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2007
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Also to get a good colony started, i'd buy a minimum of 300 crix. I have approximately a 1,000 living my rubbermaid tub.
Oh, roaches are easier to breed, do not stink, but when they escape they're a lot harder to find since they don't make noise like crickets do. And they tend to be faster. I hate roaches.
Oh, roaches are easier to breed, do not stink, but when they escape they're a lot harder to find since they don't make noise like crickets do. And they tend to be faster. I hate roaches.
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2007
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Lobster roaches yes, but if you have B. Dubia you won't have to worry about them being fast.
-No Smell.
-Easy to breed. -They can't climb any smooth surface.
-Don't fly.
-Play dead, so they are easy to catch (but they are slow anyway so it doesn't make a diff).
-No need for substrate.
-No need to clean often, as the youngsters eat the messes.
-Though most people do separate sizes, it's not that necessary as they don't eat each other.
-And you don't even have to worry about keeping anything moist.
Plus, unlike crickets they cant survive out of the roach hotel. So escapees will most likely turn up dead.
Sounds like gold to me
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- Oct 10, 2007
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Ditch the cricket breeding idea and breed roaches. I personally like dubias. Slow moving, no climbers, easy to breed...just keep warm and feed well. With a starter colony of 100 within a few months you could have 300+
I feed crickets, because I live in an appartment building. I wouldn't want to be responsible for creating a roach infestation. I tend to let them escape frequently.
The sound of the crickets doesn't bother me. I keep them in my bedroom and luckely I have no trouble slepping. As for the smell, as long as you remove the uneaten food and dead ones, I don't smell them (unless I stick my nose in the jar)
. I tend to let them escape frequently.The sound of the crickets doesn't bother me. I keep them in my bedroom and luckely I have no trouble slepping. As for the smell, as long as you remove the uneaten food and dead ones, I don't smell them (unless I stick my nose in the jar
)
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About six months ago, I had between two and five hundred lobster roaches escape.I feed crickets, because I live in an appartment building. I wouldn't want to be responsible for creating a roach infestation
I'm still finding those crispy bastards all over the place.
you dont have to do a large scale breeding project with these guys. I only have 20 spiders so I don't need thousands of crickets. I get about 2-500 every two weeks. Lol, I also supply three other people with crickets. I would hate for them to go to waste. All of the above info is good, I just do things on a smaller scale. Plus, funny as it seems, I actually enjoy breeding them. I care for them as if they were another pet.
I usually have 30 max in the breeding box, you just have to make sure you have some fat gravid females to start with. I use rubermade type bins, but the smaller ones. and 1/2 quart deli containers with a tight lid for the crickets to lay eggs in, I don't bother with the wire mesh in the egglaying substrate, and I only leave it in the box for 24 hours. The reason for this is flies, if you leave it in there longer flies will also lay eggs--which hatch before the crickets and eat the cricket eggs, and maggots are just plain gross. I only gather two containers of eggs every two weeks and that gives me a wide variety of sizes. I incubate the eggs on a heat mat, with the lid on tight, and in 10-14 days crickets hatch out. I know that crickets aren't supposed to live very long, but I have a bin of mediums that are six weeks old. Mine don't stink, no die offs untill they are adults. I clean the bin every week, and water daily (which takes all of 5 min). Oh, and make sure you get some eggcrate (local feed store is good, I get 50 for $10 I think) If you give them the right environment as far as space, hiding places, food and water, they won't eat each other, or die.
Hope this helps. sorry it's so long, lol, if you have any questions feel free to PM me.
Christin
I usually have 30 max in the breeding box, you just have to make sure you have some fat gravid females to start with. I use rubermade type bins, but the smaller ones. and 1/2 quart deli containers with a tight lid for the crickets to lay eggs in, I don't bother with the wire mesh in the egglaying substrate, and I only leave it in the box for 24 hours. The reason for this is flies, if you leave it in there longer flies will also lay eggs--which hatch before the crickets and eat the cricket eggs, and maggots are just plain gross. I only gather two containers of eggs every two weeks and that gives me a wide variety of sizes. I incubate the eggs on a heat mat, with the lid on tight, and in 10-14 days crickets hatch out. I know that crickets aren't supposed to live very long, but I have a bin of mediums that are six weeks old. Mine don't stink, no die offs untill they are adults. I clean the bin every week, and water daily (which takes all of 5 min). Oh, and make sure you get some eggcrate (local feed store is good, I get 50 for $10 I think) If you give them the right environment as far as space, hiding places, food and water, they won't eat each other, or die.
Hope this helps. sorry it's so long, lol, if you have any questions feel free to PM me.
Christin
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- Oct 21, 2007
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- 1,387
heh
you all make it seem so diffucult. It is a pain if you keep them in the house. All you need is a big tub so they cant get out OR some screening. I breed them and it is fairly simple. I have a big box screen with a little more open screenin on the botton so when they go to the bathroom it drops to a pan so cleaning up is a snap. I throw in 2 egg cartons and some cricket food because apples and such will rot and smell that = bad crickets. They will die and THEN it WILL SMELL when they are alive they arent bad. Crickets breed pretty quickly. The only pain is getting them out of the box. I usually dont. I built a box with TINY TINY holes that only the little crickets can enter. When I need them I simple take it out open the lid and I have baby crickets to feed to slings.
you all make it seem so diffucult. It is a pain if you keep them in the house. All you need is a big tub so they cant get out OR some screening. I breed them and it is fairly simple. I have a big box screen with a little more open screenin on the botton so when they go to the bathroom it drops to a pan so cleaning up is a snap. I throw in 2 egg cartons and some cricket food because apples and such will rot and smell that = bad crickets. They will die and THEN it WILL SMELL when they are alive they arent bad. Crickets breed pretty quickly. The only pain is getting them out of the box. I usually dont. I built a box with TINY TINY holes that only the little crickets can enter. When I need them I simple take it out open the lid and I have baby crickets to feed to slings.
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- Nov 25, 2007
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Crickets always die fast with me, maybe because I am too lazy to take care of them. Anyways, dead crickets is good food for mealworms hehehe. Not that good, but they eat it like anything else.
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- Oct 13, 2005
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I raised some crickets cheeto style last month. I just threw some gravid females into an enclosure with substrate a water dish and some food. I've had two batches. The first one netted me a total of three pinheads. The second batch gave me two. :wall: But hey, a couple of my spiderlings had a feast for Thanksgiving, and they were free.
--Chris
--Chris
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2006
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- 570
Well, I heard they're good protein... Raisin bran, anyone? :}
Raising crickets is HORRIBLE - I tried, and it's just one of those things that's really difficult to do. The eggs never hatched even though conditions were fine, which was a total bummer :wall: I'm sticking with roaches, even though they take a while to get started. Everybody has already posted the pros and cons of roaches versus crickets. Cricket suck! ;P
-Sarah
Roaches are just so much easier to take care of, and are near perfect. Spend less money on them, less money in feeders in general, and will allow you to build up your collection of inverts and reptiles without taking a hit on feeder costs.
Want directions for breeding roaches?
1. Acquire roaches
2. Put roaches in bin with food and water
3. Wait
4. Profit
Want directions for breeding roaches?
1. Acquire roaches
2. Put roaches in bin with food and water
3. Wait
4. Profit
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2007
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- 107
I should check for it. I raise mealworm beatles, but I need raise something else too to keep some diversity in my T's diet, and I hate crickets. It makes noise, it dies too quickly and it smells bad. Roaches looks really interesting too me.