Raising crickets..Questions

[Bloodletting]

OK...I have put a bunch of threads on about my sixth grade class project with tarantulas. Now, this concerns crickets....

We have a 40 gallon cricket tank and I am having problems with the pinheads. I get tons crawling around...100's and then over the weeks, they die. It is like all of a sudden there are hardly any.

I will get some pics but I will explain a bit now. I have mites in the tank. Can't control them, cant' get rid of them. Fruit flies, but I have that under control. I keep the substrate moist. I have egg cartons, I use cricket quencher and the cricket feed (both flukers).

How do ppl raise crickets? I order them 1000 at a time. How do they have them set up to live and thrive? I want an awesome cricket tank the students can observe and so I can have crickets constantly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Scott

 

[Bloodletting]

ok...

ok, found a bunch of answers on my own. so i need to know. are the mites a problem? will they hinder the production and or survival of the crickets?

that question i need answered. found rest out.

scott

 

[Wade]

The mites will probably reduce the survival rate of the young ones.

Predatory mites, Hypoaspis sp, may be the answer. These prey on other mites (and minute insects) in the soil, and the die off when the food runs out. They can be purchased from www.biconet.com

Wade

 

[Bloodletting]

Wade,

Will I have a problem with the baby crickets with the other mites you suggested or will they only eat the mites I have now?

Thanks for the info. I found that very interesting, I had no idea I could purchase something to eat the mites.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Bloodletting]

question 2

I read up on them a bit. Will I have a problem with the mites eating the eggs the cricket lay?

Scott

 

[Wade]

I don't think so, but am not certain. They do eat fungus gnat eggs, but these insects are VERY tiny, smaller than the crickets eggs!

Wade

 

[Bloodletting]

Thanks much. the smallest amt. is 27.00, will that be enough??

scott

1/2 liter

 

[Wade]

That will be more than enough. While you're at it, you might as well treat your other invert cages. A 1/2 liter will go a long way.

Wade

 

[Windycity]

I’ve been raising crickets for my tarantulas for a couple of years without any mite problems. Your problem I believe is the damp substrate and possible too high of a humidity level. I don’t use any substrate at all with either adult crickets or the small offspring. I use a small 5”x5”x2” Tupperware dish of constantly moist soil within a larger 2’x2’ plastic box (completely bare except for egg cartons, food dish and water dish) as the egg laying medium and once the larger box is swarming with pinheads, I remove the adults and the smaller egg laying box. I use very shallow yogurt lids (3” diameter) as the food dish and the water dish. I put a couple of cotton face cleaning pads (2” square) that you can buy in the drugstore in the water dish to soak up the water so as to provide a moist surface for drinking without providing a water pool for the pinheads to drown in. I throw out the lid and the cotton pads once a week as they become soiled. I use finely ground up cat food as the food source. I use a small paint brush to sweep up and remove the cricket sheds and other detritus from the bottom of the cricket container once a week or so to eliminate the food medium for mites to thrive on. My T room where I keep the crickets is maintained at a pretty constant 75 degrees. Other than the water dish, the box is kept bone dry. I’ve never had a die-off or a mite problem with this setup. I've sometimes seen a few mites in the egg box but they never have a chance to establish themselves in the larger box due to the dry environment. Mites need moisture and dead debris to feed on to survive.

If you want a display tank with soil, plants etc. you might raise your crickets in the dry environment and transfer them once they have grown a bit and are more hardy. Hope this helps.

<edit> Opps, I see Wade has said the same thing basically in another thread. I guess we have consensus.

 

[Bloodletting]

That helped a lot. I will try some of those suggestions and see how things go. never tried without substrate before.But I will give it a shot. I hate the mites. So small but you can actually see the ground move when they are piled up on a dead cricket or fruit piece.

Thanks,

Scott