My cricket setup

[Jakama]

Tomorrow I will be getting about a hundred crickets to start a colony with. Previously I have just been buying them in packages of 30. I will be keeping the adults in this container, and the eggs/pinheads in a different one without mesh. What does the community think? I am still a bit unsure on lighting/heat for these- I have two 100W heat lamps that I can use for whatever, one with bright light and one with subdued red light. And lastly, what do I need to put in the container with the eggs and pinheads?

Pics:

 

[DChalo]

It looks great, just make sure you have a lid because they can surely climb out of that

 

[Mr Wilson]

Yeah definitely!!! It does look good though! How will you go about cleaning it? When we use to use crickets, we kept empty paper towel rolls in our container as well. This way they had extra hiding/climbing places to go and it made for very quick and easy dispensing!

 

[Eltortu]

Is that setup for pinheads?...

 

[Jakama]

Yup, I have a lid for it, just had to take it off for pictures. I didn't think this one would be good for pinheads because it has mesh that could be escaped from by little guys. I was going to use a large plastic bin for the pinheads. Thanks for the advice, Mr. Wilson, that sounds really convenient.
Anyone got any advice on lighting/heat?

 

[Mr Wilson]

We have a dubia colony. For heating we bought one of those under the cage heating pads you'll normally get for desert reptiles. It works great and it's not too expensive. We have our egg crates stacked on top of each other so they can get away from the heat if they want to.

 

[DChalo]

You also might wanna put some sort of bedding because crickets poop a lot, and it could stick to the bottom of the cage and cause problems.

 

[Eltortu]

For heating, I wouldn't use a pad because of the wood bottom -fire hazard, poor heat transfer-, so keep it in a room where it should not get below 60F?...

 

[Mr Wilson]

Ah right.. you have a wood bottom. Totally forgot to take that into consideration hahaha. What about just attaching a heat bulb or just a regular incandescent light bulb with one of those clamps? I've never bred crickets so I don't really know much about this at all, but I figure any idea is helpful, no?

 

[Jakama]

That sounds like a good idea. I wonder if there's any temperature that is too hot for crickets, though?

 

[armando]

hundred of them?
Im not an expert...
but I think you need more egg crates..
As far As I know, they need more hiding places... That will prevent fighting and problems like that

 

[Jakama]

Guess I've just got one more question: How will I know when to take out the tray of eggs and put them in their own container? I'll assume that I don't want to wait until they start coming out.

 

[jack77772010]

yea , that looks good , u can also use a big tub

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Not to rain on your parade, but crickets poop a lot and smell. And I'm not sure you will be able to clean the wood well enough to eliminate that mess or smell, especially if you put heat on it. Sometimes I have to scrub the plastic I keep mine in to get all the gunk and odor off. Just wanted to throw that in to give you an idea about a potential problem. Cutting the sides out of some cheap storage containers works really well and is much easier to maintain imo. But if yours works too then no worries!

 

[Mr Wilson]

Maybe, on the bottom, you can find cheap paper towels to put down to make the cleaning easier?

 

[summoner12]

If you are planning to breed crickets with that dirt you should put screen over the dirt. The females will lay eggs but the males will dig up the dirt and eat them.

This is my cricket setup. I don't breed crickets. I just buy 1000 to 1500 and keep them in this bin. I have low die off because of the fan that draws in fresh air. I can keep crickets up to a month or more in this bin with not much issue. Hydration, food and ventilation will keep the crickets going. They don't need a lot of heat either. Just keep it room temp and no colder than upper 50's.

 

[melric]

I bought 2k adult crickets at the Pomona show and they are still alive and thriving. So far I've hatched out two batches of pinheads. The 3 week old ones I am now feeding to my baby cham's. I've been keeping them in a 10 gallon aquarium the whole time with next to zero death rate and smell. It might be because they're the crazy black cricket hybrids.

 

[Jakama]

Thanks for the advice about mesh, that helps muchly.
How long do you people generally wait before taking your egg trays out?

 

[pmui]

where do you keep the crickets? I'm planning to get a cham. very soon. Just thinking out the logistics. Would you keep them in a plastic bin in the garage, during the colder months? During the spring and summer could we keep them on the porch? The holding container would have vents.

 

[SULEMA2221]

nice set up

If you are planning to breed crickets with that dirt you should put screen over the dirt. The females will lay eggs but the males will dig up the dirt and eat them.

This is my cricket setup. I don't breed crickets. I just buy 1000 to 1500 and keep them in this bin. I have low die off because of the fan that draws in fresh air. I can keep crickets up to a month or more in this bin with not much issue. Hydration, food and ventilation will keep the crickets going. They don't need a lot of heat either. Just keep it room temp and no colder than upper 50's.