Raising Feeder Crickets

[ReneeScooter2022]

I know this is more for spiders and scorpions but I have a real problem. I’m trying to raise feeder crickets and have followed all suggestions from people who I found online but I can’t see me to keep them alive. I have coconut substrate down, an extra bowl for breeding. I feed them orange cubes and flukers cricket food. They also get gel water. I clean the habitat every day to prevent ammonia problem. i have a heating pad on low beside the habit and mist down the habitat everyday. I watch thier food and water everyday to make sure it isn’t dirty. This is all I’ve been told and I still get dead ones everyday and they are not breeding. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Veno Manus]

I honestly think those cubes and the gel suck and are terrible for your critters. Imagine wanting water and it ended up being gel? Or imagine a fresh cut orange but turns out to be a cube of processes. I don't trust the gel stuff cause it adds a variable into the diet. Once you bugs eat that stuff then it gets transferred to the pet. Now I know the cube stuff isnt the worst and probably has some value but I want to give my critters what they find in the wild like vegetables and fruits and grains. Make the diet more healthy and worth consuming. I feed apple, carrots, leafy greens and grains. Bunch of different kales and such. I'm a believer in if you give the bare minimum you get the bare minimum so go the distance. I put rocks in water to keep the hydration so they don't drowned. The tiny pin heads are harder to keep cause they get caught in the cracks of the rocks and drowned. But keep them warm in the 75-80° range. Repti soil works very well for them. The female's need substrate that's little moist and misted to plant eggs.

 

[SpookySpooder]

What am I doing wrong?

You're keeping crickets instead of roaches

I mist down the habitat everyday.

But if you must know, it's probably this.

 

[darkness975]

I know this is more for spiders and scorpions but I have a real problem. I’m trying to raise feeder crickets and have followed all suggestions from people who I found online but I can’t see me to keep them alive. I have coconut substrate down, an extra bowl for breeding. I feed them orange cubes and flukers cricket food. They also get gel water. I clean the habitat every day to prevent ammonia problem. i have a heating pad on low beside the habit and mist down the habitat everyday. I watch thier food and water everyday to make sure it isn’t dirty. This is all I’ve been told and I still get dead ones everyday and they are not breeding. What am I doing wrong?

Here's what I have for my crickets:

I use Banded Crickets ( Gryllodes sigillatus ) instead of the sickly inbred "house crickets" ( Acheta domesticus ) that are sold in pet stores.
Large kritter keeper (which has lots of ventilation).
Eco Earth substrate kept BONE DRY.
Water dish with a paper towel soaking in it that I change every other day when I clean the water dish (to prevent bacteria buildup). I use bottled water to avoid chemicals.
Fish food in the food dish.
Egg cartons for hiding / climbing.

That's it.

I change the egg cartons every week or so as they get pretty gunked up with waste.

 

[Veno Manus]

That's interesting you mention bone dry cause mine only did it on moist substrates.

Here's what I have for my crickets:

I use Banded Crickets ( Gryllodes sigillatus ) instead of the sickly inbred "house crickets" ( Acheta domesticus ) that are sold in pet stores.
Large kritter keeper (which has lots of ventilation).
Eco Earth substrate kept BONE DRY.
Water dish with a paper towel soaking in it that I change every other day when I clean the water dish (to prevent bacteria buildup). I use bottled water to avoid chemicals.
Fish food in the food dish.
Egg cartons for hiding / climbing.

That's it.

I change the egg cartons every week or so as they get pretty gunked up with waste.

 

[darkness975]

That's interesting you mention bone dry cause mine only did it on moist substrates.

I'm not breeding them in this particular enclosure. In enclosures that I do breed I provide a tub of moist substrate the gravid females can lay their eggs in.

 

[Veno Manus]

Ahhh ok. Ya I've had a couple times where they have bred in my ASF enclosures. And I was like well alright then haha.

I'm not breeding them in this particular enclosure. In enclosures that I do breed I provide a tub of moist substrate the gravid females can lay their eggs in.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

"The Cricket Lady" YouTube channel has fantastic tutorials on how to breed and raise crickets.

https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealCricketLady