Breeding crickets question??

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Dutchy88

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So it's come to the point I'm sick of constantly buying crickets so I'm gunna have a crack at breeding some I've done my research doesn't seem that hard one question no care sheets,you tube vid see to answer is how long do you leave the breeder box (the little tub of dirt they lay eggs in) in there tank before taking it out? Anything else that you know about breeding crickets that isn't in care sheets on the net or anything from your own experience feel free to comment also..
 
Don't know much about cricket breeding but I remember reading a forum post somewhere that made me laugh. It was something along the lines of "crickets can be frustrating and difficult for a beginner. Some days you just have to walk into the room wearing the wrong colour shirt and they die. I would suggest you consider woodies instead. They are pretty much indestructible and the best bit is they don't make noise"
 
Breeding crickets is a lot of effort, with many losses unless everything goes well. I find that, depending on how many animals you have, maintenance for crickets takes longer than for you herps. If you get them to breed, a lot of young crickets die (some people I have spoken with can't get any of their crickets past pinhead stage).
If you don't mind the trial and error and want to give it go, then go for it. I had heaps of tubs set up, and have adults in one tub. A couple of containers of dirt in at a time, and I leave it in for a week (this stage will depend on how many adults you have, how many crickets you need, how many lizards to feed etc), then swap it for new tubs each week. That way, once you get into the swing of things, you should have all sizes available every week.

If the effort is not worth it, have you considered buying your crickets in bulk lots of 1000? There are companies that will freight to you if you live far away?
 
I found crickets really easy but haven't done it for years so I give you a.quick rundown on what I can remember but maybe other people may be able to help more!
You just need a few 3 ft glass fish tanks with escape proof lids and a few heat Mats!
First I threw about 100 adult crickets ( females have long things at the end of body which lay eggs through) into a glass tank filled with egg cartons etc, on one side I had a large Tupperware like container to put veg in etc so it's easy to clean etc as it rots fairly quickly and on the other side put 3 or 4 tubs of peat moss on top of the heat mat set on low you'll notice the crickets laying eggs in there so leave for a week or so but keep the soil moist with spray mist, after a week remove and put into other tank on heat mats, replace peat moss and again remove after one week and place in same tank as others! Again replace the peat moss and after a week remove and place in the last tank and just keep repeating! They take a couple of weeks to hatch, by using the 3 tanks you always have crickets at different stages, after a few months replace the adults in top tank! Hope this kind of helps, I'm no expert on breeding them but it worked for me! But they do stink they do make noise and do escape so it just depends on how many you are going through if it's worth while or not! For me it was! Anyway good luck
 
I'll put this out there again, for those of you interested...

I used to breed these critters for my dragons a few years ago… I used a large, tall plastic container (from Woolies/Go-Lo/Cheap As Chips) for about $7. Cut a reasonably large hole in its lid, hot-glue flywire/old stocking into the gap. Put Natural Unprocessed Bran in the bottom for substrate – about 2 inches (5cm) worth – available from Woolies or any Produce Store. Give them toilet rolls, egg carton pieces etc for hiding in. Using another container, approx. 1 – 1.5” (3-4cm) deep (mine was about 3” (7½cm) square), put potting soil in this to the brim, (make sure it’s “pure” potting mix with no fertilisers etc), moisten by misting, keep it moist at all times. This is where the females will lay their eggs. On a lid of another container (one of those chinese food/take-away containers will do), put a layer of either cotton balls or paper towels – 2 sheets thick – (cotton balls are the better choice, as they retain the water for longer), moisten by misting with a squirter bottle, must be fairly wet, put slim wedges of orange, apple, potato, sweet potato, carrot rings, etc, mist well. Throw in a few cat or dog biscuits onto the substrate. Try to keep the substrate from getting wet, as this will encourage mould. Start your colony from one or two tubs of large crickets, as “fresh” as possible. Females have “stick” things out of their butts – the ovipositor - from where they lay their eggs. Males don’t. Your colony should consist of about 10 – 12 females to 4 males. Keep the colony in a warm, sunny position, mist the food (vegies, not the dry food!) every day, change the vegies every second day. In next to no time you’ll see the females dig into the dirt, backwards, and lay their eggs. Each female will lay about 500 eggs each time, eggs take a while before they hatch, but you will see what looks like tiny ants in the colony. A closer inspection will tell you they are cricket babies!!! After about a week of the females laying, to avoid confusion, remove the container of cricket eggs to another colony, already set up the same as above, keeping the container of eggs damp. Pop in another container of potting mix to the adult colony and start again! Hope this helps – any other queries on this, just let me know! J

 
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