Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright. I'd seen some people asking about this before, and since I had some new beetles I decided to make another one so they'd be seperated from my pupae. Here goes the comprehensive insect keeper guide, with everything you should have in your own home! (and if you don't, you really need to get them!) Cheers! (also please excuse some pictures being blurry, I didn't notice before I loaded them up)

Disclaimer:
If you hurt, maim, or otherwise kill yourself, it is not my fault. I assume you all know how to use common house hold items (knives, glue guns, nuklear devices, etc.) That is all.

Items you will need:

Boxcutter,knife, axe, blowtorch, machette, what have you. Something that can cut

A lovely (insert size here) qt Sterilite container. I think mine are 16qts or so.

A top for said container.

A glue gun.

Glue sticks (go figure)

Some screen. (left over from tops of reptile cages)

Oats! Perfect living space. (they seem to eat it too)

Process:
Plug your glue gun in!

Okay, so here's what you want to do. Grab your knife, and cut a hole about 2x6in on the top of your lid, like so.

Now cut some screen, and have it be about a half inch all around bigger than your hole. Good! Now, we're going to glue it on. You want to make sure that you put the screen on the inside of the lid, or else you might get some critter hanging out on the lip. Get your screen where you want it, and glue a line along one of the wide sides (not the long side).

Now, take the end of your box cutter, and make sure to mush the hot glue through the screen onto the plastic.
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/post4space/Insect Keeper/?action=view¤t=IMG_6894.jpg

Now you want to run the end of your box cutter down the line, as to smooth out the hot glue (so if a beetle/cricket DOES get up there, he won't be able to hang out)

Complete on the other 3 sides.

Throw away your trash!

Now, this may not be necessary for you, but I do it because I have cats, and in the off chance one does get in my room, I don't want them breaking through the insect cages. Turn your lid over (top side up) and start to glue down close to where the top of the whole and the screen meet. Be careful, as some of the hot glue might drip through.

Sweet! Done with that part.

Now, you're going to want to grab your oats, and lay down a thin layer. On top of this thin layer, I usually put down some toilet paper so the oats don't compact too much, as the beetles seem to have a harder burrowing time than the mealies do.

Finish piling the oats on top, and voila! Put down a carrot and some more toilet paper for hiding places, and you're all set!

This set has worked well for the few months i've had my mealworms going on. In the following pictures, you will see how my little guys have been growing up!

Mealworms.

Pupae


Beetles.

I've also used the same set up for my crickets. Just get a higher and larger container, as you're going to need to use some egg crate for them.


Crickets are pretty easy too, just give them a carrot every so often, and some flukers hydration cubes.

That's that! I hope this helps anyone that might still have questions.

If your making it for crickets, make sure to use metal screen. They can chew through fiberglass.

MM, wasn't aware of that. I'll just have to wait for that to come up so I can squash em!

Beautifly done , im sure that that will help many people (including myself) to give their bugs a nice boudoir. Well done Andrew, hope they dont escape!

Allie
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Can you tell me what rhymes with moon,
And can be written on a page,
Or on a rock for age on age,
This ancient letter tell me soon!

>>If your making it for crickets, make sure to use metal screen. They can chew through fiberglass.

Ilearned that the hard way doing something similar with a home made cricket bin. However, as I also found out glue doesn't hold the metal screen to the lid. I had problems with it constantly coming apart due to the flexible nature of the plastic lid.

I solved the majority of the problem by using Silicone to hold the screen down but even then after a while of heavy use, the screen would eventually start to peel away from the lid.

Someone suggested I rivet the screen to the lid but by then I had decided to trash that bin and bought a nice deep bin with metal screen lid made specifically for crickets and have been using that for years now.
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PHWyvern

My worst mistake was to silicone some screen to the top, then put a heat pad on it. I was watching TV and wondered why there were like 50 crickets crawling up the wall. Half of the silicone softened and fell into the container making a nice cricket escape ramp. So I spent half the evening trying to round up as many of the 1000 crickets that WERE in my cricket keeper.

I find that a pair of pantyhose works great over the top of the bins... allows lots of air flow and keeps the mealworms in (wouldn't recommend it on crickets tho).

Just another variation on the same thing.

For mealworms, I just loosely lay the lid on top of the tupperware container. I've never seen the beetles climb the walls at all (too slippery) nor have I found any rogue elements straying around the house. Seems to do ok as far as air circulation goes and the climate is dry enough around here that mold hasn't been an issue.

Crickets are a whole 'nuther story...

For keeping mealworms you don't really need lids. Unless you have pets or spiders in your house. My two cents.
Sam

Absolutely wonderful job! Great pictures.
Have you tried breeding either mealworms or crickets?
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http://wkern.msspro.com/supremegecko.html

I started with mealworms, i've got a few beetles right now. It's just a project I figured i'd try. My container have tops because, well, they were free, and my cats want to eat anything that moves. If they get in my room I can keep them away from the cages, but they'd dive into anything on my floor.

Same thoughts here. Figured I'd use the lid. Didn't want my dog getting too nosey.

N.F.

Just curious
im gonna be breeding SUPERS;
will supers/beetles climb the walls of my plastic rubbermaid container?
because i drilled holes instead of putting ths screen :S

let me know please
thanks

I keep supers in a set up much like Andrew described. I haven't had any escapees, and I often don't use a lid at all. My bugs live up on a shelf where nothing can get to them

BTW, I switched from oats to corn meal about a year ago. Much easier to get to the worms with a flour sifter

Good luck,
Indiana_Dan

I roughly do the same thing.
Sam