I have raised 3 batches of..PLAIN DIRT..what am I doing wrong

[little leaf]

I have to laugh - my husband keeps teasing me as I so tenderly tend my DIRT - if I do not get baby crickets out of one of these 4 bins of dirt- I will never here the end of it - the bins are from 4 weeks old- now growing grass , but no cricket babies to one I just took from the cage of 1000!! today - as some of you know, I lost my little cham Gail a few weeks ago, so while I am "cham free" ( and I hate it ) I figure now is the best time to hone my feeder/breeder skills ( so if I kill them all off in my efforts I wont have to worry about someone going hungry, my meal worms have gone mad- lol there must be 1000 of them now-) I am using a mix of dirt from the yard ( we dont treat our yard for anything ) and "organic" potting soil - 1/2 and 1/2 - I mist them daily , and they are on a heating pad keeping them about 85 - but NTHING is hatching ? any ideas ?? the last batch of dirt I kept a screen just over the dirt so the females can lay the eggs in the dirt, but the males can not get to the dirt because the screen keeps them out
I thought I saw a link on how to do this, but cant find it - can someone post it
THANKS - I dont want to look like a fool to my husband

 

[tenchijin]

The only thing I can say is that I had crickets sometimes breed in my cham cages. I used to plant in large rubbermaid containers, and every once in awhile a feeder would escape and sometime later I'd have baby crickets all over. So it can't be *that* hard. You might be over thinking it, but I've seen that they can be hard to breed on purpose!

 

[little leaf]

lol - that is what happend with the meal worms- I did not even know I had any left, so I just tossed the whole bin in the closet (for like 8 mos- they bred like crazy with out me knowing) now I have to many I am going to take a few handfulls out to the chickens - they will love them - but I am just messing around , to see if I can get this to work- maybe I will just let it all alone, and see what happens like you say - or ship them all to your house- and you can put them in your chammy cage

 

[ChamHoudini]

I use eco earth for my substrate in a 55 gallon glass aquarium and I put a heat lamp on top of it.The light keeps it about 85 to 90 in the tank and I have lots of babies hatching all the time. I just spray the dirt a couple times a day when I am misting the chameleons to make sure it is moist.

 

[little leaf]

I use eco earth for my substrate in a 55 gallon glass aquarium and I put a heat lamp on top of it.The light keeps it about 85 to 90 in the tank and I have lots of babies hatching all the time. I just spray the dirt a couple times a day when I am misting the chameleons to make sure it is moist.

ok, THANK YOU I have lots of tanks - not 55 gal, will a 10 work?) I will try that , do you know where I can find "eco earth" ? like maybe a garden center? or do I have to order it?

 

[ataraxia]

This is how i do it https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/685-breeding-crickets.html

 

[little leaf]

This is how i do it https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/685-breeding-crickets.html

thanks so much =) this was the link I saw- I am just messing around, but it would be nice to know how to do this- I wonder how many eggs 1000 crickets will lay- I left the tub of dirt in for a week lol

 

[nightanole]

I got a good batch my first try. I just popped in 2 trays of 1/2" deep mix (dirt/sand/vermaculite) for 5 days in the cricket bin, then put the dirt in an old coffee can with a sealed lid for 2 weeks in the lizard area. Boom 2 weeks od low 80's and high humidity and i got crickets:0 They seem to grow at half speed at 76-78 which is my temps during the winter.

 

[SamsontheCham]

I use Organic Cactus Potting Soil and a 10 gal tank. I put the soil in the tank about 1/2 thick and let about 10 crickets go. I let them lay their eggs for about 3 days and then took the females out. The females have the long ovipositor. The inject that into the soil and let the eggs go. I also keep a heating pad underneath the tank to keep the soil warm as well as a heating lamp to keep the top warm (I turn off lamp at night). I make sure to spray/mist the soil frequently to make sure the soil doesn't go dry. 1 week later I had a batch of baby crickets and they kept hatching a week after. I probably have about 100 crickets now growing to pinheads. Now my problem is trying to transfer my baby crickets into new bins so I can start a new batch.

 

[chameleoman]

Ive had luck doing this but the heat killed my 2,000+ babies.

I just get eco earth and fill it up to an inch in a 10 gallon tank then keep it moist and just throw about 200-500 Female crickets and keep it moist and soon you will have tons of eggs just keep it moist. I actually put eco earth in a Tupperware container and wet it and put it in the cricket bin and took it out a week later and there was TONS of little clear eggs all over then they hatched about 3-4 weeks later

 

[ponders]

Make sure the soil you are using doesn't have inhibitors in it to prevent insects from hatching.Some do, I had that problem before.

 

[little leaf]

I threw them all out - but I am confused on the hatch time- i have been told 7 days, up to 4 weeks- anyone know the REAL time it takes? I have not given up on them, just got tired of my husband making fun of me and my dirt- lol and nothing going on in the bin - I will also change to better soil- we do not treat our yard, but now all the dirt here is frozen solid, and maybe there was something in the clay messing them up

ty for all the help- I WILL get babies at some point

 

[crocky]

Persistence will pay off....or drive you crazy one

 

[SamsontheCham]

I threw them all out - but I am confused on the hatch time- i have been told 7 days, up to 4 weeks- anyone know the REAL time it takes?

It should take 7-10 days if kept moist and warm at all times. Some eggs will still hatch up to a week after the fact.. Mine hatched on Dec. 14th and I STILL see little newborn crickets.