Time to breed my own Crickets

I have decided for economic and convenience reasons to breeed my own crix.
I figure several large tubs going at any time should be enough for my use.
Im looking for simplified 'how to' from anyone who breeds their own.

Thanks to keepers here, I now how a booming colony of superworms going
(thanks again) .

Im aware of sex differences (females have the ovipositor) and that they lay in moist soil/sand.

What I dont know is how you tell when your females have layed?
How long to provide each laying tray/s before removal to raising tub?
How warm tubs/media need to be kept?
How long they take to hatch?

Cheers

I would love a detailed breifing on this too. Steve told me some things yesterday, but I'm about to order 1000 crickets and would like to breed them.

Glad you posted this, I was planning on doing this myself soon.

Same here.....just got 1000 adults and just ordered 100 3/8 size these guys are constantly eating!!!

I believe my worst problem is going to be cleaning..

go here...its perfect.

repticzone.com....then ask for the breeding crickets 101 thread it is awsome.

Jo and others.

..... and Syn (cleaning is the easy, almost nonexistant, part). Glad brand sandwich containers are the perfect size, or anything similar (a plastic container made to hold one sandwich). Fill 80% with a medium to fine grade vermiculite. Add 6-8 fluid oz of water. Put in with your adult crickets such that it is touching something that allows the crickets to get into it. We have 44 cricket bins here, with plywood sides, so when pushed up against the sides, they have easy access. Uncovered.

Your crickets will lay in this. Your problem will be cricket pollution. If the crickets are laying such that they cover the entire surface (or more), you can only leave it there as a laying container for no more that 5 hours. Otherwise, the crickets own waste pollutes the medium, and will cause mold growth before the eggs hatch, often resulting in no hatch. If the crickets cover half the suraface or less, you can leave it there for 12-24 hours. Usually if you get in a batch of adult crickets, they will lay like demons the first night, then back off some.

Put a 1/8" hole in the lid of the sandwich container, and then snap it on the egg-laden container, and put it on a shelf. If put in an area that maintains mid 80's (up to 90F), the cricket eggs can hatch in 8-10 days. You will see them no problem in the container. Lower temps, and the hatch can take much longer.

When you see hatch, take the lid off, and set the container at an angle in a sweater box, etc. The bottom of the sweater box should have cricket food in it. I suggest you get 50lb bags of Purina Earthworm Chow ordered thru any feed store that stocks Purina. $13-17 per bag. Put 1/4" of it in the bottom, all over. Some egg crates glued together in sections of 3, like a honeycomb (maybe cut to be 12" X 12" X 6" is perfect) will work in many ways, to include getting crickets out when needed. Just shake a honeycomb over an empty container. Water can be the crystals, or a sponge-bottom water bottle, etc. Don't use melons, although such as collards or romaine is good, and can help with water if sprayed. Change the water source every 2 days (bacteria). As the crickets grow, you will need to add more food.

They will grow fine on the Purina, but it is not a gutload. Switch a daily feeding portion of crickets to a good gutload for a minimum 4 hours (up to a day) before feeding. Crickets thrive at 85-88 F. But you can keep them in the mid 70's to reduce growth rates if it works for you.

naich said:

go here...its perfect.

repticzone.com....then ask for the breeding crickets 101 thread it is awsome.

Click to expand...

Found this on that site.


http://chamownersweb.tripod.com/Other_Pages/breeding_and_raising_the_house_c.htm

Wow, thank you so much Chameleon Company!!

Thanks Jim, I've just never had much luck keeping smaller quantities, probably due to ventilation issues, it just always seemed difficult for me.

WOW, thanks Jim!! Made it sound easier............

Thanks for the Info Jim, Ill give it a go with the next bulk batch.

Syn,

Having a cricket bin with the top fully open, or with a screen lid, is the way to go. I mention that our bins are plywood (and large, usually 6 ft long). The top edge is 4" of acrylic, kept clean, and the crickets cannot cross it. A new sweater box will also be unclimbable, if at least the top 3-6" are kept wiped clean. A little bit of dirt, water spots, heavy dust, worm chow dust stuck to a wet side, etc., and small crickets can climb it. Larger crickets need more residue, as their own weight works against them.

You really do not need to clean out a cricket bin unless it gets wet. Otherwise, just pour in more of the worm chow. I say use Purina worm chow, as Purina stopped making cricket chow in 50lb bags a few years ago. Other local grain and feed providers may have cricket chow available inexpensively through your local feed store, but some of it is pretty poor, as the crickets won't eat 25% of it. Other times, I have been able to get excellent regional product. But Purina worm chow is a safe product, well eaten.

We glue our cardboard crates as honeycomb. You may want to scrape out the used bottom of a cricket bin every 15-25 days, or just let it pile up, lifting the honeycomb every week or so, as it will be 1/2" sunk into the dry debris. Dry cricket waste is really not a problem though. When its wet, as in a leaky water bottle, its a huge problem. Clean the wet out, get a non-leaky bottle, and get back to business. Change those water sources every 2 days !!!!!!

When kept at 85-88 F, crickets mature to laying their own eggs in 42-45 days from when they hatch, with a total life cycle of about 55 days. Once they "wing out", as in grown wings, they can usually lay (and males chirp). Cooler temps extend that up to 100 days or more, simply by reducing the growth rate. But then you need a larger cricket colony, as everything takes longer to get to the size you want.

Screen tops may help keep some crickets in. But often, if you raise a lot of crickets, its to keep adult dermestid beetles out. Dermestid larvae kill young crickets, by the 1000's. Also known as cadaver beetles, they eat other living (or almost living) things. Taxidermists use them to clean skulls, etc. They can ruin a cricket bin of smaller crickets in 1-2 weeks or so, if allowed to propogate in quantity. You never get rid of them all, but you can minimize them with well-fitting screen lids.

It takes a little practice, getting your set-up right, learning from mistakes, etc. The article linked was pretty good too, but was wrong on needing high protein to raise the crickets. Not so. Just have a good gut-load (we call it the "Last Supper" here) for those crickets to be fed to chams that day. I go thru 10K crikets daily (I don't really count them, and its nothing to blow thru 5000 crickets of 1/8" or less) and all my advice is based on experience here. A good cricket set-up for the hobbyist might be 6-8 sweater boxes on a set of shelves, kept warm, and hopefully not PO'ing the spouse. Good luck.

LOL! The first time we kept crickets (couple years ago before I got into chameleons and was old enough to keep the crickets) we ended up buying a tupperware bin with non-smooth sides. Long story short we had to bug bomb the house.

Where do you get your cardboard crates? No one local to us will give us clean ones.

Anyways, thanks for all the information, I'll be sure to read up on it.

You can buy egg crates on line ....

..... although I have no links at my fingertips. Otherwise, save them from when you order crickets. They may be a bit soiled, but you can use them for up to a year when glued into honeycombs. Elmer's glue works fine, with some weight applied as they dry. Put glue on every point. Its a task I often give to my youngest who still lives with me. Easy job. As mentioned, many egg crates are 12 X 12. Cut them in half, then glue as a honeycomb of 3. Work great for roaches too.