How to breed feeder crickets without also breeding mites?

[Wayfarin]

They don't need soil or moisture

How can they not need moisture?

I'm actually pretty sure that both crickets and Dubias have similar moisture requirements.

 

[i like reptiles]

How can they not need moisture?

I'm actually pretty sure that both crickets and Dubias have similar moisture requirements.

They don't need to be misted unlike crickets, you can literally put them in a tub with some egg crate and provide some heat and they'll breed perfectly fine

 

[Wayfarin]

They don't need to be misted unlike crickets, you can literally put them in a tub with some egg crate and provide some heat and they'll breed perfectly fine

Crickets don't need to be misted.

Oh, I get what you mean. The crickets need moist soil to lay their eggs, but the roaches give live birth, so they don't need a moist place to lay their eggs.

The nymphs don't require humidity, either?

 

[Taffy]

(Warning: This thread may be too long and boring to read and may be easier to ignore. But please don't.)

Hey, folks!
It's me again.

I may have already mentioned in some of my other posts that I have quite a few pets. Among them is our bearded dragon lizard.
We call her "Beardie" even though we know she's a female. I mean, she still has a beard.

She's a rather picky eater, but we know she relishes crickets (especially when we feed them to her on tongs).

Where we used to live, we have a Petco only a short drive from our house (that's where we got her, although I would not buy another dragon from there).
There were plenty of crickets there that we could buy for her whenever she wanted some.
Now, however, our local pet store is much further away.

Because of this, I would like to start our own cricket farm.
I think it would be fun, as I'm intrigued by insects, even if they are just feeders.
However, there is one thing I am not looking forward to, and that is the possibility of mites.

I've had lots of terrible experiences with mites. I know, they are probably not that harmful, as they usually seem to be grain mites, or something similar, rather than parasites.
(They are sort of microscopic, and sort of not. I can only see them when the light hits them just right.)
But I'm not fond of them. I would like them better if they could not climb smooth surfaces, like the crickets.
But whenever mites take over any ventilated bin, they seem to find their way outside of it, too.
The same is true of my second enemy. The dipterans. Better known as flies.


I would really like to breed some feeder insects without having to worry about uncalled-for invertebrates that I didn't summon.
I would not mind beetles in my cricket farm, however, because I've heard that some are actually sort of good at keeping mold, mites, and flies at bay.
I've heard that dermestid beetles and buffalo beetles are both good for this, especially their larvae.

But I doubt that "cleaner" beetles alone could stop infestations.

One method of mite prevention that sounds promising to me is keeping the cricket habitat really dry.
I know that cleaner beetles can survive lower humidity levels, and I know that crickets can survive lower humidity at least than mites.
I've heard from at least one source that crickets can be kept at 40-50% humidity.
Any cricket habitat with a humidity level lower than 50% sounds like it would be largely mite-free, since most mites need humidity levels of at least 55% or higher.
The only problem is the eggs and nymphs.

I've heard that cricket eggs and newly hatched pinheads need rather high humidity levels to thrive.
I also don't know if cleaner beetles need higher humidity levels to breed as well.

So, does anyone have any tips that would help me combat mites without killing the cricket eggs?
I've heard that some people separate the pinhead crickets to keep them in higher humidity levels. But how is one supposed to even do that? And will mites also infest the pinheads?

Could a cricket/dermestid beetle habitat be kept at a humidity lower than 50% without inhibiting the breeding of the desired insects?
And is there any way to efficiently combat the mites, aside from exposing them to almost absurdly hostile conditions?

Thanks for any input. God bless!

i breed my crickets a bit different then others. i keep my crickets in a nice setup. they have live plants, i mist them everyday, i offer lots of cork bark for them to climb/hide under, i have dwarf white isopods with them, and i provide a heat lamp for one spot of their enclosure. they breed like crazy

 

[ladyratri]

i breed my crickets a bit different then others. i keep my crickets in a nice setup. they have live plants, i mist them everyday, i offer lots of cork bark for them to climb/hide under, i have dwarf white isopods with them, and i provide a heat lamp for one spot of their enclosure. they breed like crazy

Do you feed them anything other than having the live plants in there? How big is your cricket enclosure?

 

[Taffy]

Do you feed them anything other than having the live plants in there? How big is your cricket enclosure?

Do you feed them anything other than having the live plants in there? How big is your cricket enclosure?

the way i breed crickets is absolutely not necessary. i see people just use a plastic tub and cardboard and they have more success than me lol. but i offer them all kinds of veggies and fruits, and i’m cricket enclosure is just a large plastic storage bin

 

[ladyratri]

the way i breed crickets is absolutely not necessary. i see people just use a plastic tub and cardboard and they have more success than me lol. but i offer them all kinds of veggies and fruits, and i’m cricket enclosure is just a large plastic storage bin

I'm not necessarily trying to breed them, but I'm always looking for things to try to reduce the mass die-offs

I'm pretty sure the current weak point is not giving them enough water. Misting night help with that.

 

[Taffy]

I'm not necessarily trying to breed them, but I'm always looking for things to try to reduce the mass die-offs

I'm pretty sure the current weak point is not giving them enough water. Misting night help with that.

misting has helped me a tonnnn. mine used to have mass die-offs too until i started misting them

 

[ladyratri]

misting has helped me a tonnnn. mine used to have mass die-offs too until i started misting them

As much as everyone loves watering day...


Maybe even if I watered them actually every day that'd be a good start...

 

[Taffy]

As much as everyone loves watering day...
View attachment 433733

Maybe even if I watered them actually every day that'd be a good start...

misting will keep them alive a long time

 

[Wayfarin]

misting will keep them alive a long time

Wow, I'm surprised. I heard that humidity actually causes die-offs. Maybe it's more the moisture in the air without ventilation to evaporate it that kills them.
My experience has shown that humidity without ventilation causes major die-offs of crickets and superworms, but promotes the breeding of flies very well.
It's a shame that the crickets and superworms are not as easy to keep as the flies!

One thing I know is that dead crickets kept at high humidity smell like, well, corpses! They don't smell nearly as much when the bodies dry out.

 

[ladyratri]

One thing I know is that dead crickets kept at high humidity smell like, well, corpses! They don't smell nearly as much when the bodies dry out.

Yes! I am finding that I have almost no issue with crickets smelling given the extensive ventilation in the lid of the cricket bin.

I expect misting to more effectively make water available on the walls, where they can drink more than in the sub, but still not drown

 

[darkness975]

Banded crickets, dry fish food, water cubes.

 

[ladyratri]

misting will keep them alive a long time

Ok I haven't even set up to mist, but have been much more careful about watering them daily/every time the sub dries out... And today for the first time I had a cricket cleanup with two molted exuviae and ZERO fatalities. Wild. Lol, water, who knew?

Also first time ever seeing a set of wings in my cricket bin


My husband was like, "wait what, they have wings???" Yeah only been doing this since last February......

Thanks for the cricket advice, I'm sure my T's already appreciate the better-hydrated food