Propogation SUCCESS!!!

[seanUTD]

I'm feeling soo jazzed so I thought I would share my excitement! I have been so tired of buying bugs... Even in bulk its expensive and annoying so I have begun propagating EVERYTHING!! And finally FINALLY I got my crix to breed and now I have like 100 pinheads crawling around and more by the minute!!! So that means I successfully propagated silks although a recent conversation has me worried about that future colony (I'll have a thread coming soon with a side-by-side company comparison), my dubia colony is finally showing nymphs, my supers will be pupated soon, and my crix have FINALLY let loose some babies... I'm so happy... Now I just have to keep them going

 

[AESara]

Good for you! I've never had luck with crickets or silks...

I had awesome luck with soldier fly larvae though, and soon we'll see how I do with isopods.

 

[clarkrw3]

That is awesome! Congrats!! I have had my crickets lay twice but no pinheads and I have about 50 super beetles but haven't gotten any babies yet But I am working on it

 

[DavidBuchan]

Yeah! Good work -I gave up on my locusts, because they ate each other. When I got up and saw 40 tiny babies it was top! Didn't really save much money, because I had to buy the adults..........but it did make me wonder how happy I'm going to be when I see baby Chameleons hatch out, lol

 

[clarkrw3]

That is awesome! Congrats!! I have had my crickets lay twice but no pinheads and I have about 50 super beetles but haven't gotten any babies yet But I am working on it

I have PINHEADS!!!! After I thought for sure they were not going to come up again this afternoon I have hundreds of them Just had to tell someone that would understand my excitement

 

[AESara]

I have PINHEADS!!!! After I thought for sure they were not going to come up again this afternoon I have hundreds of them Just had to tell someone that would understand my excitement

Congrats! I'm jealous.

 

[a2zcreatures]

I feel the same way.. i just figured out how to get them to hatch out too!!! they lay tons of eggs all the time but getting them to hatch is the hard part!

 

[seanUTD]

Lol I forgot about this thread haha I'll update myself... I have 500 pinheads now! Unfortunately I would have had like 1000 but some ants made it into the incubation tank and started stealing my eggs What's weird though is that they don't seem to want the crix that have already hatched so since I can't get the pinheds out yet they're still in there with the ants and it's become some sort of freaky ecosystem haha

 

[lslcronk]

I feel the same way.. i just figured out how to get them to hatch out too!!! they lay tons of eggs all the time but getting them to hatch is the hard part!

How are you guys doing this? I see success varying from "I just threw a cup of dirt in with my crickets" to having these crazy incubator boxes set up...whats the secret??

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Agreed, please share your method! Pictures maybe? I would be so happy to get cricket babies with all these little mouths to feed!

 

[seanUTD]

Basically I kept it super wet, and pretty damn hot... I put organic soil in a tupperware like 2cup bowl and filled it... The I SOAKED the stuff... Drained it and left it in with about 200 adults.... I left it for 2 days and by then I could see eggs everywhere... Then I put the top on it and poked about 25 small pin size holes to allow SOME fresh air circulation but not too much, then I put it on a heat source that reached about 90 degrees for 5 days... Then I took the top off and placed the tub into a rubbermaid tub and put THAT on a heat source for 2 more days... After that I saw a few babies and so I put in a toilet paper ladder from tub to the rubbermaid floor and stuck some food in and voila... Just remember they need the heat so keep them there until at least 24 hours after they hatch or until they turn from white to brown

 

[a2zcreatures]

its quite simple actually... i just put damp pete moss in a small Tupperware and let it sit in with adult crickets.. too much water and you get mold and its all over... when breeding bugs dont dont dont let mold start! we used over 500 adults.. i leave the Tupperware in there for three to five days then incubate at 87-90 degress. then presto.. within a week you see really small ant looking crickets.. they grow fast. make sure the adults have plenty of food and water.. the key is getting the adult comfortable enough to breed and ovi-deposit!! hope this works as well for you as me!!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I had tons of eggs but none ever hatched. That gives me some ideas to try! But I guess it doesn't help that the last cricket I heard chirping got thrown out the back door to make it shut up...

 

[clarkrw3]

I guess I got lucky. I went with a pretty low tech method. I put about 15 females in a bin with coconut substrate egg crate and a laying bin with wet organic soil. Left them in there for about 5-7 days you could watch them laying. Then took them out and placed the substrate and laying bin in another bin with food water crystals and sat the bin on top of the florescent light fixture for a couple of weeks and misted it daily. Now I have babies running all over. I think the key is keeping it somewhat moist for them to get out of the soil and not dry out.

 

[Texas Ranger]

Thats awesome man. The first time I breed crickets I bought 1000 adults and then did the same thing you did and BAM 1,000,000,000 pin heads

 

[laurie]

I am a complete failure at cricket breeding. i have tried several times. Maybe I will I try again as I have 25 baby deremensis cooking. Everyone cross you fingers.

 

[Solid Snake]

I am going to start my cricket project today, thanks for this info
I did find a darkling walking across my floor yesterday, so I guess Ive started on supers on accident??? No clue how it got free, and then hid long enough to pupate, somewhere, I realy dont want to think about it...

 

[suzi]

Congratulations on your success! It is truly rewarding with all the ups downs and struggles we through during the learning process once we finally achieve our Objective! Kudos!

 

[clarkrw3]

Congratulations on your success! It is truly rewarding with all the ups downs and struggles we through during the learning process once we finally achieve our Objective! Kudos!

Thanks Suzi!! It's funny because I have been having a gnat problem and when I first looked in the bin and saw things running around I was sure I had been breeding gnats But on closer inspection I have pinheads I couldn't contain myself and had to tell someone so I told my wife to which I got a and great LOL

 

[lslcronk]

I had tons of eggs but none ever hatched. That gives me some ideas to try! But I guess it doesn't help that the last cricket I heard chirping got thrown out the back door to make it shut up...

Amen to that!! lol I got one batch of crickets that were WAY too old and they started chirrping instantly...I fed them quickly to my crested and the rest were liberated out to the railroad tracks and the slew beyond!