Cricket Sex

[KylieT]

Hey guys, so I have some questions on the taboo topic 1st. Are winged crickets the only crickets that are sexually mature? I got a batch of 75 to breed but only 5 of them are winged. (4 girls 1 boy) and I have separated them from those that are not winged. 2nd is the chirping sound the sound of trying to get a mate then? cause last night my guy was chirping and other not winged females seemed to like it but he didn't get any to my understanding. 3rd should I keep those that are sexually mature separated from those that are not, or should I just separate them by gender (because I don't want them breeding constantly) and figure the rest out later? 4th If I already have females that are sexually mature and they came from a petstore should I just do the smart thing and assume that they are pregnant? last but not least are females usually bigger than males?

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Both sexes get wings. They become sexually mature after getting their wings. Females have a long tube out the back for depositing eggs. Males lack this. Females do get bigger with egg production. I have female panther chameleons that love eating female crickets full of eggs.

 

[K9Luvn]

Great photo and explanation!

 

[Solid Snake]

Crickets have three "songs".
A mating call, a defensive song, and an after mating song.

 

[KylieT]

so now I have just a couple of questions, Should I assume that my females that I have are pregnant? and I have some that are trailing a little bit of skin from them and are looking whitish, is that molting? and How do I know why my crickets are dying? Most of them are flourishing yet I have those couple that just always can't make it.
And thanks for the previous replies!

 

[coldbloodedAL]

so now I have just a couple of questions, Should I assume that my females that I have are pregnant? and I have some that are trailing a little bit of skin from them and are looking whitish, is that molting? and How do I know why my crickets are dying? Most of them are flourishing yet I have those couple that just always can't make it.
And thanks for the previous replies!

If all crickets are together, and you have the tub of substrate for them to lay eggs in then yes they are probably pregnat and laying there eggs.
The white skin is them molting, and usually crickets die from lack of ventilation.

Do you have any pics of your set up?

Edit: and to answer your question in your op... dont seperate them by gender, you can leave them all together. To stop them from layings eggs/ having babies, just pull the tub of soil from the bin

 

[KylieT]

Yea I can get some pics. I didn't quite understand the box of dirt thing, which I now understand, and I have substrate all on the bottom. I will remove that today. 1 of my biggest crickets got out, should I just wait for it to find the heater vents and silently panic till it shows up? or should I just assume it'll find a corner under furniture somewhere and I'll find it later? We have hobo spiders and the more loose bugs I have the worse it is for me in the long run.

 

[KylieT]

 

[coldbloodedAL]

Yea I can get some pics. I didn't quite understand the box of dirt thing, which I now understand, and I have substrate all on the bottom. I will remove that today. 1 of my biggest crickets got out, should I just wait for it to find the heater vents and silently panic till it shows up? or should I just assume it'll find a corner under furniture somewhere and I'll find it later? We have hobo spiders and the more loose bugs I have the worse it is for me in the long run.

That crickey will turn up somewhere most likely not on the furniture but somewhere on the ground.
So you have dirt on the entire bottom of your cricket bin? Imo the easiest way to do it is a small tupperware with moist dirt in it, placed inside the cricket bin with access for the females to get to it and lay eggs. Just remove it after a week, put in a warm spot and keep slighty moist. Then within a few weeks to a month you will have TONS of baby crickets. Make sure you have a lid on the tupperware or place it in another bin.

 

[KylieT]

I figure that I will just put the tub with dirt in another bin. Does the tape around the edge of the bin thing really work for the babies to not climb out? I don't want them to breed constantly because I only have one chammy to feed and one batch of the 1/4 inch will do him a long time.
Yea I lost three and found the other 2 already. I had quite the scare this morning when I stepped on a piece of cereal on the floor after losing the crix. I screamed like a little girl and now I'm paranoid to walk around. she'll turn up.

 

[coldbloodedAL]

I figure that I will just put the tub with dirt in another bin. Does the tape around the edge of the bin thing really work for the babies to not climb out? I don't want them to breed constantly because I only have one chammy to feed and one batch of the 1/4 inch will do him a long time.
Yea I lost three and found the other 2 already. I had quite the scare this morning when I stepped on a piece of cereal on the floor after losing the crix. I screamed like a little girl and now I'm paranoid to walk around. she'll turn up.

Tape around the edge works for me it has to be that clear packing tape though.

 

[KylieT]

Gotcha! I found her, thank jesus. I put a pile of newspapers on the floor near the baseboard on a wall. caught 2 of them that way.

 

[coldbloodedAL]

Gotcha! I found her, thank jesus. I put a pile of newspapers on the floor near the baseboard on a wall. caught 2 of them that way.

Lol, sticky traps work wonders for catching loose insects