Problems raising crickets

[Mel]

We are attempting our third try. We are using an aquarium. Is that okay?

The first time I noticed a very peculiar bug all in the tank. The second time they just continued to die. I fed them broccoli which I have seen listed. Both times we used top soil.

Any tips on raising crickets?

 

[KeijiLLC]

We are attempting our third try. We are using an aquarium. Is that okay?

The first time I noticed a very peculiar bug all in the tank. The second time they just continued to die. I fed them broccoli which I have seen listed. Both times we used top soil.

Any tips on raising crickets?

I use oats for bedding, romain lettuce for food, egg carton cuts for shelter, and gut load cricket drink for water in a feeing dish.
I chage the oats and gutload out once a week.

 

[TylerStewart]

I'd use a plastic bin, or something that's easy to clean regularly (something you can flip over and beat the bottom of). Don't try to pick females and males and make it a ratio, just get 1,000 (or more) and let them situate who's gonna mount who. If you're keeping adult crickets, they're breeding already.

Before you do anything with the 1,000 crickets, pick out all the fuzzy "weevel" worms and flying beetles that came free with your crickets. They eat and breed in dead crickets, but usually if you can get rid of them early on, they don't really come back unless you buy more crickets.

I used moist peat moss for them to lay in, although fine vermiculite works good too. The key is to use something that doesn't dry out too fast. Also, keep them very well fed or they'll eat the eggs.

Keep them dry and hot. Moisture is a mess maker with crickets. Try to keep the adults at at least 80 degrees, 85-90 is even better.

Put a lid on the cups where the eggs were being laid, and rotate them out about every 3rd day.... I would leave the females a day or two without a spot to lay inbetween just so they really jump at the soil when you put it back in. It turns into alot of work, but if you leave them in too long, you have too variable of a hatch date when they're emerging from the soil. Keep the eggs at 90-95 degrees, as well as the babies when they emerge 7-10 days later. Keep them hot hot for the first 2 weeks. I go through phases with cricket breeding.... It's great to have esentially free pinheads, but if it's 1/2" or bigger that you need, you're probably better off buying them. The problem I had was that if you neglect it for more than about a day, stuff starts dying. When I did it, I would always buy 3/4" crickets (2 days before the wings show is what I ask for), and use them to produce pinheads while you're feeding them off. With the babies I use the water dispensers with a sponge that American Cricket sells.... Not sure if they're on their site, but you can ask for them. You've gotta clean them every 2 days (light diluted bleach soaking and a good rinse), so plan on buying 3 or 4 and just rotating them out.

This is pretty brief, so if you've got any specific questions or problems, let me know and I'll try to help. Here's a picture of one of my old bins... I use wood, and these boxes will hold about 4,000-5,000. In this pic there was probably 4K. They can really pack into those egg crates. When I bred them, I would put the laying soil on both ends with nothing above it. Just a block of wood so they could climb in.

 

[Fate X]

i failed at my first attempt but i tried till i got it right now i have free crickets most of the time.

i use peat and plastic bins ,after your breeder crickets are done laying eggs i put the lid back on the container to increase the humidity,i leave the lid open a little and wait for them to hatch sometimes it takes 2 weeks, you will see them when they start hatching cause they are very tiny like white dots moving around .

 

[chrisandpugs]

Question: How do you keep your cricket bin sanitary?

Hi!
I only have one Chameleon so I may get at the most, 25 crickets at a time. Even with so few crickets, I find that I have to completely clean out their their plastic container bin, replace with new egg crates for their shelter and take out their wilted veggie gut-load and replace with new food or else it really stinks and it's pretty gross looking.

How do you breeders keep your cricket housing sanitary when you have 2,000 plus crickets at a time? Any tips that you can give to the rest of us if we're thinking of getting crickets in volume to save money!

Christine

 

[TylerStewart]

You've really gotta keep them dry... The reason I use wood is because it stays dry, and if a cricket dies, they dry out instead of getting wet and nasty if they're in plastic. Also, keep their wet foods contained, like on a small plate or whatever so they can't make too much of a mess with it or drag it back to the egg crates. Only feed them enough that they eat it in a day or less (especially the wet foods). Clean crickets don't smell, it's when they start dying off or getting wet that they smell.

 

[Mel]

These are great tips. I'm waiting on an order any day now, Thank you.

 

[Jewel]

I'd use a plastic bin, or something that's easy to clean regularly (something you can flip over and beat the bottom of). Don't try to pick females and males and make it a ratio, just get 1,000 (or more) and let them situate who's gonna mount who. If you're keeping adult crickets, they're breeding already.

Before you do anything with the 1,000 crickets, pick out all the fuzzy "weevel" worms and flying beetles that came free with your crickets. They eat and breed in dead crickets, but usually if you can get rid of them early on, they don't really come back unless you buy more crickets.

I used moist peat moss for them to lay in, although fine vermiculite works good too. The key is to use something that doesn't dry out too fast. Also, keep them very well fed or they'll eat the eggs.

Keep them dry and hot. Moisture is a mess maker with crickets. Try to keep the adults at at least 80 degrees, 85-90 is even better.

Put a lid on the cups where the eggs were being laid, and rotate them out about every 3rd day.... I would leave the females a day or two without a spot to lay inbetween just so they really jump at the soil when you put it back in. It turns into alot of work, but if you leave them in too long, you have too variable of a hatch date when they're emerging from the soil. Keep the eggs at 90-95 degrees, as well as the babies when they emerge 7-10 days later. Keep them hot hot for the first 2 weeks. I go through phases with cricket breeding.... It's great to have esentially free pinheads, but if it's 1/2" or bigger that you need, you're probably better off buying them. The problem I had was that if you neglect it for more than about a day, stuff starts dying. When I did it, I would always buy 3/4" crickets (2 days before the wings show is what I ask for), and use them to produce pinheads while you're feeding them off. With the babies I use the water dispensers with a sponge that American Cricket sells.... Not sure if they're on their site, but you can ask for them. You've gotta clean them every 2 days (light diluted bleach soaking and a good rinse), so plan on buying 3 or 4 and just rotating them out.

This is pretty brief, so if you've got any specific questions or problems, let me know and I'll try to help. Here's a picture of one of my old bins... I use wood, and these boxes will hold about 4,000-5,000. In this pic there was probably 4K. They can really pack into those egg crates. When I bred them, I would put the laying soil on both ends with nothing above it. Just a block of wood so they could climb in.

Tyler don't they climb out of that container, I love the setup but it seems like thay could climb the walls easy.