What to expect when I am expecting??

[RicoRoxy]

I have my first batch of veiled eggs, laid 3/1/12. I am trying to get everything set up for the big day.. What is a common mistake made? What should I be sure to have?

I plan to use a large tub with vines and mesh for the babies to start on. I have a smaller screen cage with a hood cover light fixture ready when they get bigger. I am starting to work with breeding crickets but do not have any knowledge of fruit flies.

What can you tell me I am forgetting?

 

[Syn]

Do you have a backup food supply just in case your crickets do something weird until the babies are ready?

 

[RicoRoxy]

describe back up food? I have heard that I should use FF but not sure how? What do I need? What do I do? help..

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Just wait til the eggs get close to hatching date. You'll start seeing stress cracks and the eggs will get alot larger and start showing almost transparent windows into the egg. At that point I'd start getting my food choices ready. Buy ready made ff cultures or you can make your own. Ive found its not really worth culturing your own unless youve got multiple clutches of babies to feed all at the same time.

Also you can get some mantis ooths and hatch those nymphs out for your babies. I'd wait and buy those a cpl of weeks before they hatch. It takes about 2-4 weeks for most ooths to hatch after you get them. You can feed the ff's to the newly hatched mantids. Then feed them off to your clutch.

If you have a dubia colony you can feed the newly born nymphs to your babies also. I usually wait til they are at least 2-3 weeks old before i start trying to feed dubia nymphs though.

 

[Seeco]

Get all the supplies for FF at http://superiorshippingsupplies.com/

I recommend breeding Drosophila hydei (the bigger flies).

Get it going now and you can trade your fly cultures for crickets at your petshop.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

My Lps wont trade feeders. The only thing they will trade is if I give em dubia for cricks. Which is cool if I need to thin the colony out some. They turn around and sell em for .50 each.