arobertson02
New Member
Does anyone have advice on breeding my own crickets or roaches? i see posts about it being easy but I am not finding anything with specifics. Thank you! 
crickets and roaches
- Thread starter arobertson02
- Start date
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
We bred them initially, and its relatively easy to do. I was seriously against roaches, but I'm a convert. Will never by crickets again... they stink, are messy, loud, etc. (I had banded crickets). Roaches are pretty much maintenance free, especially in bioactive setups. I just switched mine to bioactive and they seem pretty darn happy with it.
To breed crickets - you'll want to have a large storage bin with some form of heat. Some people use heat mats, but you need to be careful with those. They can overheat and melt the bin, or catch fire if not properly connected. I opted for just a regular incandescent light bulb for heat. We rigged up a special lid so the heat lamp can sit on it without risk of melting or fire, but you can also just leave the lid off if the bin is deep enough. Throw some egg crate in there to give them places to hide and room to spread out. Provide fresh food every 2-3 days. I didnt' bother with water cubes or sponges, I just offered food with a high moisture content, like an orange slice. I also threw in stuff like bug burger, carrots, squashes, and leafy greens. Its easier to make frozen gutload cubes, in my opinion. Just throw your fruits and veggie gutloads into the blender, throw in a little bug burger, and pour it into ice cube trays. So you can throw a cube in the cage every 2 days which provides the food and the moisture content is much higher.
Add a small bin of moist soil and leave it in there for 2 weeks. The females will dig down and lay in it. Move it to another bin with the same exact setup and in another 2-6 weeks you'll have lots of pinheads hatching. Warm temps are important for both adults and babies.
To breed crickets - you'll want to have a large storage bin with some form of heat. Some people use heat mats, but you need to be careful with those. They can overheat and melt the bin, or catch fire if not properly connected. I opted for just a regular incandescent light bulb for heat. We rigged up a special lid so the heat lamp can sit on it without risk of melting or fire, but you can also just leave the lid off if the bin is deep enough. Throw some egg crate in there to give them places to hide and room to spread out. Provide fresh food every 2-3 days. I didnt' bother with water cubes or sponges, I just offered food with a high moisture content, like an orange slice. I also threw in stuff like bug burger, carrots, squashes, and leafy greens. Its easier to make frozen gutload cubes, in my opinion. Just throw your fruits and veggie gutloads into the blender, throw in a little bug burger, and pour it into ice cube trays. So you can throw a cube in the cage every 2 days which provides the food and the moisture content is much higher.
Add a small bin of moist soil and leave it in there for 2 weeks. The females will dig down and lay in it. Move it to another bin with the same exact setup and in another 2-6 weeks you'll have lots of pinheads hatching. Warm temps are important for both adults and babies.
Tony_S
Chameleon Enthusiast
I wish I could help more, but I just started my Orange Head roach bioactive colony a few weeks ago. So far its going well, no breading that I know of but none have died.
I'm using a 24Lx18Wx19H solid side bin, Coco substrate layer, Beetles and isopods for cleanup, egg crates, and using a seeding heat mat to get the temp up to 87 degrees.
I'm using a 24Lx18Wx19H solid side bin, Coco substrate layer, Beetles and isopods for cleanup, egg crates, and using a seeding heat mat to get the temp up to 87 degrees.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I am breeding discoid roaches (I hate crickets) and is pretty easy. Put them in a big plastic tote (created air vent of course), added some egg crates, a heat mat and I feed them fresh organic fruits and veggies and occasionally some bug burger. It took about 1 1/2 months before I finally saw some some babies. Takes what seems like forever for the babies to get big enough to be a substantial feeding size. While waiting on them, I’ve been breeding silkworms with pretty good success. @snitz made a great post about breeding silkworms and has great info on her website too.
arobertson02
New Member
Thank you all!! I am so thankful i have found out about dubia!!! We have had a leopard gecko for about 4 years and have been only feeding him crickets- they stink so bad!! I just assumed since the pet store said that was all he could eat it was true-as i have found out with a chameleon they have no idea what they are talking about! So i just did my own research and found out the gecko can eat dubia also!!! So i will be starting a dubia colony! i just ordered feeder beetles...i read somewhere you can cover the bottom with dry oatmeal? any other suggestions of something that may be better/more nutritious? Ive read so much its all blended together.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Oh! I’m also breeding wax worms and meal worms for my leopard geckos. Am just in the very start of it so haven’t yet had any babies. Is relatively easy. I found a couple of YouTube videos and wiki’s to explain how it’s done. Your geckos can pretty much eat the same as your cham can (appropriately sized of course) plus mealworms.
arobertson02
New Member
We do feed her meal worms as treats, my girls hand feed her them, but i have never done wax worms! i am going to look into it, thanks again!
