DIY Cricket Keeper Design, tell me what you think!

[AustinDay]

I've been working hard, mentally and physically trying to make a cricket enclosure that is both effective at keeping crickets alive and also easy to collect crickets from during feeding times.

I have all 4 sides, top, and bottom partially made of aluminum screen. The bottom is particularly interesting because cricket droppings, poop, pee, food crumbs, eggs if breeding, etc. will all be able to drop through onto the pan underneath.

I also have two pvc pipes on opposing sides where crickets can climb in and allow for easy feedings. When you pull the pvc pipe out of the cage a lid automatically falls down and covers the exposed opening. The pvc pipe also is low profile because it fits almost completely inside the cage with just a little pipe and an attached string hanging out able to be removed easily.

I also made a custom food container (using the container's materials) to use for effectively gutloading. It has 4 compartments that the crickets can use for wet, dry, water source, and anything else.

Let me know what you think of the keeper. I was hoping to possibly earn a little extra money selling them if other people thought they were as effective and inventive as I think they are.

 

[Mike Fisher]

I'm not envisioning how the PVC pipes work for feeding. I understand that the hole gets covered after their removal, but what about crickets jumping out of the pipe when you pull it out of there?

 

[Owl city]

Poop everywhere!

Your going to have issues with the smell think about this if that's in your house , your going to basic,y have 1000 crickets pooping every day for weeks on end pooping laying eggs in the carpet or on your hard wood floor one or two eggs is bound to get out and I feel that is irresponsible because you can basically infect your home or even neighborhood or apparment with thousands of crickets . I just think you went od. I think that this is amazing little cage for maybe a baby Chamelon for outside ! I love your tube design

 

[AustinDay]

I'm not envisioning how the PVC pipes work for feeding. I understand that the hole gets covered after their removal, but what about crickets jumping out of the pipe when you pull it out of there?

You pull the pvc pipe out, most likely with crickets in it, then as your pulling it out point it upward so the crickets fall down the tube and can't climb up and then transfer to dusting bin,cage, or wherever.

 

[AustinDay]

Your going to have issues with the smell think about this if that's in your house , your going to basic,y have 1000 crickets pooping every day for weeks on end pooping laying eggs in the carpet or on your hard wood floor one or two eggs is bound to get out and I feel that is irresponsible because you can basically infect your home or even neighborhood or apparment with thousands of crickets . I just think you went od. I think that this is amazing little cage for maybe a baby Chamelon for outside ! I love your tube design

There's no way crickets can escape though. The poop, pee, and eggs (if the right conditions were met, would fall on the aluminum tray underneath which covers the entire bottom. The tray can be disposed of as it gets nasty. This allows the cage to stay cleaner and less often needing a cleaning. The eggs also couldn't hatch because the right conditions would not be met for them to lay/hatch.

 

[Mike Fisher]

You pull the pvc pipe out, most likely with crickets in it, then as your pulling it out point it upward so the crickets fall down the tube and can't climb up and then transfer to dusting bin,cage, or wherever.

In theory that sounds good. Let us know how it works in practice. My luck would be that they would all jump out of the tube before I could tip it upright.

 

[Norcal55]

Thanks for sharing, looks like you put a lot of thought and work into it ;-) Keep us posted after its full of crickets

 

[matt2310]

the tubes do the same thing as a cricket keeper would.

In theory that sounds good. Let us know how it works in practice. My luck would be that they would all jump out of the tube before I could tip it upright.

 

[kj9]

Would the crickets poop/eggs be small enough to fall through that screen or would it still just build up in the bottom? From breeding my own crickets in totes, it seems to me like it would be to big and would still just make a mess on top of the screen. Let us know how it works out?

 

[Video Master]

Looks interesting, but I find that toilet paper and paper towel tubes are the best things for a cricket enclosure. I just asked friends and family to give me their empties and within a week I had over 100 tubes. I use fresh tubes every couple weeks in the enclosure. As for the enclosure itself, I have a 10 gallon aquarium that will easily house over 1000 crickets, but I only get a couple hundred at a time because I do not want them getting too big as my little guy is only 3 months old.

 

[nick barta]

Well thought out, and good attention to detail. I have used the screen bottom idea for crickets, and it does work well allowing the frass and dry spilled food to fall through.
I think it reduced smell, as the airflow through the bottom out the top screen "aired out" the dying cricket bodies, but hard to judge.
Inventive and practical.

 

[CLP]

I definitely like the screened bottom idea. I might have to try that Very well thought out. Obviously you put a lot of thought into it. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Ahtee]

Here's how I get crickets out of the bin, imo the simplest and most straight forward method, put in paper towel rolls in the bin and when it's time to feed just remove the tube and shake em into whatever feeding bowl/station u got. No worry of escape and guaranteed crickets in the rolls! This is what I do, and no troubles at all!

 

[vcao333]

Wow i think thats brilliant! can i copy some elements of your design? i was planning on doing this eventually but never got around to it, but now i think i will.

 

[AustinDay]

Wow i think thats brilliant! can i copy some elements of your design? i was planning on doing this eventually but never got around to it, but now i think i will.

Thank you for the compliment! You can absolutely steal any idea you would like. I have one more idea to add but I haven't done/tested it yet so I won't let the cat out of the bag yet! I'll be sure to let you know when I do though!

 

[AustinDay]

Here's how I get crickets out of the bin, imo the simplest and most straight forward method, put in paper towel rolls in the bin and when it's time to feed just remove the tube and shake em into whatever feeding bowl/station u got. No worry of escape and guaranteed crickets in the rolls! This is what I do, and no troubles at all!

I come from a family of engineers (father, brother, other brother, granddad). It's in my blood to complicate things