The Wild One
Chameleon Enthusiast
I just went out and bought some crickets, how do I breed them?
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Its true - crickets suck. Breeding them isnt too bad, but compared to every other option they are by far the biggest PITA. They stink, die often, cannibalize, chirp, escape, are more likely to carry disease or parasite, etc.
Breeding is kinda easy - it just takes more space than others as you will ideally seperate the babies. This makes sizing them easier (otherwise you’ll end up with pinheads and adults in feeder runs - ie escape artists at every feeding). it also prevents adults from eating the baby pinheads.
Our setup is a bin with a screen lid and a metal hvac vent on top (to protect from heat lamp). We then have a 75-100 watt reg light bulb right on top. Inside the bin is either bare floor (best fornus) or vermiculite, along with 2 stacks of egg crates (dont want egg crTes too close to light).
We put in a container of soil and mist it daily. Feed the crickets and theyll do their thing. We havent gotten eggs since adding vermiculite... Id skip it and just leave the bottom bare. Remove the soil container to a deep hatching bin - mist daily and keep temps around 85-90. Pinheads are easy to miss but we got babies anywhere from 2-8 weeks after laying - so dont throw out the old soil!!
Would you be willing to post a picture of this setup?Its true - crickets suck. Breeding them isnt too bad, but compared to every other option they are by far the biggest PITA. They stink, die often, cannibalize, chirp, escape, are more likely to carry disease or parasite, etc.
Breeding is kinda easy - it just takes more space than others as you will ideally seperate the babies. This makes sizing them easier (otherwise you’ll end up with pinheads and adults in feeder runs - ie escape artists at every feeding). it also prevents adults from eating the baby pinheads.
Our setup is a bin with a screen lid and a metal hvac vent on top (to protect from heat lamp). We then have a 75-100 watt reg light bulb right on top. Inside the bin is either bare floor (best fornus) or vermiculite, along with 2 stacks of egg crates (dont want egg crTes too close to light).
We put in a container of soil and mist it daily. Feed the crickets and theyll do their thing. We havent gotten eggs since adding vermiculite... Id skip it and just leave the bottom bare. Remove the soil container to a deep hatching bin - mist daily and keep temps around 85-90. Pinheads are easy to miss but we got babies anywhere from 2-8 weeks after laying - so dont throw out the old soil!!
Do you have any pics of how the metal vents and lights are? I like that idea just can't seem to picture it.
I’m waiting for my shipment to come in.Dubias, dubias, dubias. Crickets are stinky and disgusting.
Thanks so much, that really helps me out a lot!I took these this morning - sorry for the crappy pic, I couldnt get close enough to get a good one as I have made a mess while re-arranging the racks. We cut out a large square from The lid. On the underside there is a screen taped to the lid, and then the hvac vent was screwed in on top to create a platform for the light. You can see where the lid melted a little - which was from the light not being centered on the vent... no issues if on the vent or over it.
View attachment 245710
View attachment 245711
View attachment 245709