Cricket enclosure

[Rango_TheManEater]

So, I’ve been thinking lately… maybe it’s time that I start to keep crickets instead of traveling half an hour every time I need to buy some. (I live in the Midwest, so it’s hard to get shipments here! Most bugs would die in the process )

For a cricket enclosure, could I keep them in some form of fish tank? Or would I need a specific bug enclosure?

These are just feeder insects, and the container will be to have them gut loaded and maybe even eventually breed them.

 

[BleuSaphir]

Go on market classified and look for a deal
With an old aquarium. Or go cheap with a plastic tote and drill holes with glued on mesh screens.

 

[Cacti3]

So, I’ve been thinking lately… maybe it’s time that I start to keep crickets instead of traveling half an hour every time I need to buy some. (I live in the Midwest, so it’s hard to get shipments here! Most bugs would die in the process )

For a cricket enclosure, could I keep them in some form of fish tank? Or would I need a specific bug enclosure?

These are just feeder insects, and the container will be to have them gut loaded and maybe even eventually breed them.

I keep my crickets in a 20 gallon fish tank. I put in egg cartons for them to hide in and stuff. They love them.

I feed them leafy greens like normal and yeah. Also make sure to add water to water bottle caps. They love it.

If you have a big enough tank with food and water, you could possibly make a farm. I haven’t been able to tho. I just keep them in there.


Not exactly sure how to make a farm tho. That’s just what I do and know.

 

[ehdee6]

The process of breeding feed animals is quite a bit of work. @MissSkittles is really well versed in breeding insects.

She has a good post about it here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/cricket-explosion-🦗💣.193540/

You can keep crickets in a glass tank. But even better would be a large rubber bin. Crickets tend to produce a lot of waste, that can eventually create an unpleasant smell. I'm fortunate enough to live close to the pet store. However, when I was younger I kept gecko's. I'd buy about 500 and put them in an 18 gallon Rubbermaid, drill small holes in the lid for air. I had two bins, so I could swap one out to clean every one/two weeks. I kept them in a cooler part of the house like a basement, or garage. One side of the bin was dedicated to feeding (tip: put the food in another separate dish for easy cleaning). And on the other end I kept some egg cartons or toilet/paper towel rolls for them to hide. I like the rolls better because they're easier to pick up and drop them into a cup for dusting/feeding.


I wouldn't recommend keeping them in your bedroom, they can REALLY stink...

 

[BleuSaphir]

The process of breeding feed animals is quite a bit of work. @MissSkittles is really well versed in breeding insects.

She has a good post about it here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/cricket-explosion-.193540/

You can keep crickets in a glass tank. But even better would be a large rubber bin. Crickets tend to produce a lot of waste, that can eventually create an unpleasant smell. I'm fortunate enough to live close to the pet store. However, when I was younger I kept gecko's. I'd buy about 500 and put them in an 18 gallon Rubbermaid, drill small holes in the lid for air. I had two bins, so I could swap one out to clean every one/two weeks. I kept them in a cooler part of the house like a basement, or garage. One side of the bin was dedicated to feeding (tip: put the food in another separate dish for easy cleaning). And on the other end I kept some egg cartons or toilet/paper towel rolls for them to hide. I like the rolls better because they're easier to pick up and drop them into a cup for dusting/feeding.


I wouldn't recommend keeping them in your bedroom, they can REALLY stink...

That why I don’t keep them in the house. I don’t know how will keeping them the garage will work. It gets too HOT. I rather spend crickets every week to just temporarily put them in the critter keeper for the time being. Cause’ crickets do STINK.

 

[MissSkittles]

I have stopped (for now) my cricket breeding attempts. For some reason, it wasn’t terribly successful for me. I think part of that is because I just had far too much going on. I have to admit that there were a few times I completely missed seeing the bin of baby crickets and so forgot to feed them. Another reason is that I think I messed with the babies too much. I tried to keep them clean, like I do for the adults, but the disturbance killed off a lot of them. The babies did best when of course I fed them, gave them lots and lots of egg crate , simple paper towel on the bottom of the bin and didn’t clean them or disturb them in any way until they were close to 1/4”. I do keep my crickets in the garage, which is pretty warm. I don’t give them hydration other than fresh greens and produce that I will lightly spray with water. For the adults/bigger crickets, I use large plastic bins with lots of ventilation…on the sides as well as the top. I’ve been reusing the cute little round vents that Josh’s Frogs uses in their shipping boxes. For the babies, I use a deep medium plastic bin with ventilation at the top only. For the stinky adults, I move them to a clean bin, once or twice a week. I only get banded crickets, which makes a big difference in stink levels. Recently I ran out and had to get some local domestic crickets. A bin of just two dozen reeked more in a couple of days than 1,000 banded crickets stink in a week. No joke!

 

[ehdee6]

I don't think I've ever considered the different stink levels of other breeds of crickets.

 

[Lynn57]

I’ve had fairly good success with keeping 300-500 crickets at a time in a plastic bin with a bio active substrate. I change out the egg cartons every week but besides that there is no cleaning and literally no smell. I couldn’t stand the smell of them before I used this method.

 

[ehdee6]

I’ve had fairly good success with keeping 300-500 crickets at a time in a plastic bin with a bio active substrate. I change out the egg cartons every week but besides that there is no cleaning and literally no smell. I couldn’t stand the smell of them before I used this method.

Can you share pictures of the bio bin? Is there a layer of clay balls ect., like a cage? But for crickets?

 

[Lynn57]

Can you share pictures of the bio bin? Is there a layer of clay balls ect., like a cage? But for crickets?

A photo wouldn’t show the bioactive substrate as the bin is blue and you can’t see through the sides. But yes, it’s got just a layer of the clay balls, and then some reptisoil or organic black soil mixed with a little sand and mulch. The thing with crickets is that you need to keep it very dry for them, but you need it moist for the isopods and spring tails. So what I did was I soaked spagnum moss and buried it in two corners on the one side of the bin. I keep that fairly moist for them but the rest of the bin stays dry enough for the crickets. I put a tray of food and water for them which I change out every day. And toilet paper rolls for them to hide in, which I change out every week or so when they get too soiled. That being said there is literally no to minimal smell.

 

[ehdee6]

@Lynn57

Sorry, I'm going to go off with some questions... Mostly, because; how do you keep this going with a rubbermaid bin?!

What size?

What sort of isopods do you use? Do you buy them online? If so, where?

Can you show a picture of the top?

I'd love to keep a bio cricket bin.

 

[Lynn57]

@Lynn57

Sorry, I'm going to go off with some questions... Mostly, because; how do you keep this going with a rubbermaid bin?!

What size?

What sort of isopods do you use? Do you buy them online? If so, where?

Can you show a picture of the top?

I'd love to keep a bio cricket bin.

Ask away!!! Here is a photo of a smaller bin that I use as well ( forgot I had it lol) this bin easily holds 100 crickets and I get very little die off!
I bought dairy cow isopods from a reptile store. You can use any isopods, but best to get ones that are hardy and can live in dry areas ( if you forget to water). I put tons of springtails in there first. I think they help out tremendously.
I make sure there is leaf litter on top of the soil and I sprinkle tiny bits of dry fish food flakes in as well. I sprinkle a tiny bit of bee pollen to any of the veggies that the crickets eat as well.
I keep this bin in my small grow tent. Then if they escape They are still contained with in the tent. ( well not all the time ) lol.
Let me know if I can help you with any other questions!!