just set up a breeding container for crickets. any suggestions on how to increase offspring?

[K-TRAIN]

last night i set up a container to breed crickets.

i only know alittle about breeding feeders, and i went off of what i know of starting the colonies.

the enclosure is a rubbermaid storage container that at the moment i have no clue of its size, only that its got floor space almost equal to a 40 or 50 gallon tank, a dish of flukers powdered cricket food, a paper towl dipped in water then sqeezed to get extra water out, and a egg carton, and a small dish of moist peat moss.

does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get the crickets to produce more offspring? so far i only have about 30 crickets in the enclosure, and only 20 are ready to breed. i plan on getting more though.

also is a heat source need for them?

i think the enclosure is warm, because the crickets are chirping and the room there in is somewhat warm. but im not sure.

 

[Xaranx]

Place some wire mesh over the moist peat moss, will keep the crickets from eating the eggs but still allow for the females to lay. Then remove that dish after a while before they start hatching.

 

[magikscorps]

How thin or thick of mesh screen to use.........would insect screen of a screen door work or is it to thin,I know the tube is thin,,,,,,,,

 

[Jer]

If that Flukers cricket feed you are using is the stuff that is high in calcium it will cause your crickets to die. It is meant to be used as a gut load 24-48 hours in advance to feeding. Feed them fish food.

Using wet paper towel is a hassle because you have to change it every day or two days maximum otherwise bacteria will thrive, again causing your crickets to die. For moisture use cricket gel or a potato cut in half.

I would recommend starting with about 500 crickets to get a good start at it. Supplying heat will cause the eggs to develop faster, but it is not required.

 

[K-TRAIN]

ok.

by fish food i assume your mean the flakes?

 

[willywonka]

I wish you good luck with this project. I tried it with some success but the container needed to be cleaned frequently because crickets stink. I don't know what your feeding but if they can take roaches I would make the switch. I use B. dubia and have had great success with them. You can find plenty of information on them by doing a search.

 

[K-TRAIN]

I wish you good luck with this project. I tried it with some success but the container needed to be cleaned frequently because crickets stink. I don't know what your feeding but if they can take roaches I would make the switch. I use B. dubia and have had great success with them. You can find plenty of information on them by doing a search.

i wish i could get roaches, i love b. dubia. i take care of a small colony of them that are in a classroom at my school. but my parents would kill me. (im trying to figure out either how to convince them, or to get them to believe there not roaches.lol)

im planning to feed my four leopard geckos, my two golden geckos, my 11 tarantulas, and if i can get a good colony of crickets going i plan on giving some to my one teacher. (she has alot of t's in the classroom)

 

[Drachenjager]

last night i set up a container to breed crickets.

i only know alittle about breeding feeders, and i went off of what i know of starting the colonies.

the enclosure is a rubbermaid storage container that at the moment i have no clue of its size, only that its got floor space almost equal to a 40 or 50 gallon tank, a dish of flukers powdered cricket food, a paper towl dipped in water then sqeezed to get extra water out, and a egg carton, and a small dish of moist peat moss.

does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get the crickets to produce more offspring? so far i only have about 30 crickets in the enclosure, and only 20 are ready to breed. i plan on getting more though.

also is a heat source need for them?

i think the enclosure is warm, because the crickets are chirping and the room there in is somewhat warm. but im not sure.

my only suggestion is to get rid of the crix and raise roaches lol

 

[rosenkrieger]

i wish i could get roaches, i love b. dubia. i take care of a small colony of them that are in a classroom at my school. but my parents would kill me. (im trying to figure out either how to convince them, or to get them to believe there not roaches.lol)

Bring the roach cage home one weekend, let them smell the roach tank, then let them smell the crickets. If that doesn't convince them, I don't know what will. lol

 

[willywonka]

Bring the roach cage home one weekend, let them smell the roach tank, then let them smell the crickets. If that doesn't convince them, I don't know what will. lol

We get crickets every once and a while for our lizard and it is amazing how fast the cage will stink up in such a short time. With the roaches, there hasn't been a smell at all.

 

[Nich]

my only suggestion is to get rid of the crix and raise roaches lol

What he said^^^^^

 

[kingfarvito]

i wish i could get roaches, i love b. dubia. i take care of a small colony of them that are in a classroom at my school. but my parents would kill me. (im trying to figure out either how to convince them, or to get them to believe there not roaches.lol)

im planning to feed my four leopard geckos, my two golden geckos, my 11 tarantulas, and if i can get a good colony of crickets going i plan on giving some to my one teacher. (she has alot of t's in the classroom)

talk to your teacher...ask her if you can expand the dubia colony and use them to feed your own pets....if she dosent mind then just bring home as many roaches you need to feed when ever you need them

 

[K-TRAIN]

talk to your teacher...ask her if you can expand the dubia colony and use them to feed your own pets....if she dosent mind then just bring home as many roaches you need to feed when ever you need them

thats the problem though. my parents hate roaches. they wont allow me to bring them home. what im going to do eventually is get a container they cant see through and keep the roaches in there.

 

[kingfarvito]

that wont work....trust me they'll wonder and open it....what i did was hid them under my bed and after 6 months had passed i told my mom and she was totally cool with it

 

[K-TRAIN]

that wont work....trust me they'll wonder and open it....what i did was hid them under my bed and after 6 months had passed i told my mom and she was totally cool with it

maybe i'll try that. thanks.

 

[Jer]

ok.

by fish food i assume your mean the flakes?

Yes, tropical might be better.

 

[Jer]

that wont work....trust me they'll wonder and open it....what i did was hid them under my bed and after 6 months had passed i told my mom and she was totally cool with it

Ha, they will only open it once!

 

[kingfarvito]

Ha, they will only open it once!

haahhaa........but if they're anything like my parents you'll wind up with a container and a bunch of roaches......separated

 

[teewhy]

If that Flukers cricket feed you are using is the stuff that is high in calcium it will cause your crickets to die. It is meant to be used as a gut load 24-48 hours in advance to feeding. Feed them fish food.

Using wet paper towel is a hassle because you have to change it every day or two days maximum otherwise bacteria will thrive, again causing your crickets to die. For moisture use cricket gel or a potato cut in half.

I would recommend starting with about 500 crickets to get a good start at it. Supplying heat will cause the eggs to develop faster, but it is not required.

I'm looking at the cricket feed container and it says 20% calcium. I'm looking at my fish food, it says 50% calcium.

Here's what I do:

I put BOTH in there, the fish flakes get eaten up first, but they're mold prone, so don't put a crap load in there. They'll initially go after the gut load, but the fish flakes run out A LOT faster. I don't have ANY canibalism deaths since I've offered both. Lots of hiding space (egg crates), watersorb, and a damp end of the tank, I use potting soil on my young'uns, keep them alive and tickin.

Heat will help to get lots of hatchlings, just don't end up with cricket eggs over easy! Misting the eggs, even if they don't have any air circulation has worked for me as well.

 

[Jer]

I'm looking at the cricket feed container and it says 20% calcium. I'm looking at my fish food, it says 50% calcium.

Hmm well I don't know what you are looking at but it isn't calcium. I just checked my labels, and the Flukers High Calcium feed is 8% calcium, while tropical fish food is 0% calcium. I mean calcium dust for dusting crickets is only about 40-50%. Fish eating fish food that is 50% calcium would die within days.