Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know this is a common topic, but I need to know what/how to start up a small cricket colony. I do NOT needs thousands...I only have a few herps that take insects, but I am spending more for bugs than I am for snake food..which just seems wrong to me.

ALSO, how do I keep them alive?? I just bought 300 crickets 3 days ago...and ALL are dead!!! that is $15.00 in the trash..

So...any advice??

thanks,
Harpy
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Have You Hugged Your Herp Today?

I used to breed crickets for my arachnids but the smell was too bad. If you want to breed them then you need to setup a container-rubbermaid and they need to be kept warm. i use paper towels as a substrate and egg cartons as hiding areas. on one end of the container i put the egg carton and on the opposite side i keep a ver shallow plastic dish with a medium sized wet sponge in it for their water. next to the water dish is a food dish with store bought cricket gutload, veggies, and other foods. some people just give fruit every few days for moisture. this should keep them alive and they will breed. after a few days put a small (wider than higher) should not be more that an inch high, with potting soil in it. the soil must be moist, not wet at all times. this is where the females lay their eggs. after about a week take this out and put a new one in(repeat every week. cover the egg container and put it in a warm spot and keep it moist. once the babies hatch (they are so tiny) you can keep them in the egg container for about a week so all hatch. Then you transfer them to a larger container and feed them like the adults. you must keep each weeks babies seperate or else they might eat each other. hope this helps but it really isn't worth it to breed them unless you need a large amount of crickets, so just use the adult setup for the feeders and just don't put in an egg box. Good Luck
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~~~Amy~~~

If you lost them that quickly I would think you didn't feed/water or keep them warm. Once you get the hang of them they are not hard. But you do need to feed them....(I feed a baby cereal mix) and water...(I use a jnon soaped scrunge pad in a shallow dish misted down every day) and I keep them with lots of hide spots.....ie cardboard egg cartoning.
Breeding I use a shallow layer (1/2" of sterile soiless potting mix in the tub.....15 gal sterilite type. I mist down the dirt each morning. I keep the egg carton and food dish dry. I offer greens every morning too. Keep them at 75 or so and not cooler.
I don't need a ton so I throw in a handful of adults and let them die off after they lay eggs. 2 weeks to pinheads. If you want more and a continuous supply you will want to use flats of dirt and shift them to their own tub after a week with the adults.
Sonya

>>>Keep them at 75 or so and not cooler.

Is that a breeding temp?? or a keep them alive temp..Is it possible for them to all drop because of colder room?? I do feed them, a mix of baby cereal, powdered milk, and oatmeal. The water is the gel stuff I get a petshops.. So I really don't know what else I could be doing wrong..

Harpy
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Have You Hugged Your Herp Today?

First off. Was this a one time thing or have you consitantly been having problems. If a one time thing it could have been the crickets. Where are you located (shipping temps could have something to do with it) and what size crickets were they, and what were you keepig them in.

Unless you plan on using them all within a week I wouldn't recomend buying adult crickets. Go with 3/4" they will last longer. Take a large (15 gallon) rubbermaid tote, cut the center out of the lid (leave about a 2" around each side) glue (or silicone is the best) aluminum screen to the lid ( they will chew through fiberglass screen) Personally I do not use a substrate in my containers, Just put in lots of paper towel tubes or cardboard egg carton. Use a variety of grains plus some crushed dry dog food to feed them. For moisture, you can use the gel or you can use sponges or some other method that has been suggested. Temps around 75 are fine, but I used to keep mine in my basement at around 60 degrees and they seemed to last forever.

As far as breeding them goes I'll ask a few more questions. What kind and how many and what size are the animals you are feeding. I have found that unless I need a lot of pinhead or small crickets it isn't worth the effort to breed them. getting them to hatch is easy enough but raising them to any size can be tricky (the pinheads deydrate very easily but the also drown in very little moisture so its hard to get them past that stage.

I would suggst working with getting a large amount to live and then buying large quantities. A in the setup I described above you should have no problems keeping 1000 1/2" alive for a month or so. If you are buying 1000 at a time I would go with the 1/2" because they will live longer.

Good luck, feel free to email me with any questions.

Steve Schindler

>>>First off. Was this a one time thing or have you consitantly been having problems. If a one time thing it could have been the crickets. Where are you located and what size crickets were they, and what were you keepig them in. >.As far as breeding them goes I'll ask a few more questions. What kind and how many and what size are the animals you are feeding.
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Have You Hugged Your Herp Today?

>>>First off. Was this a one time thing or have you consitantly been having problems. If a one time thing it could have been the crickets. Where are you located and what size crickets were they, and what were you keepig them in. >.As far as breeding them goes I'll ask a few more questions. What kind and how many and what size are the animals you are feeding.
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Have You Hugged Your Herp Today?

Sorry for the TWO bad posts, I am having a heck of a time with my AOL today.. I HATE AOL!!! Any hoo..this is what I had posted:

>>>First off. Was this a one time thing or have you consitantly been having problems. If a one time thing it could have been the crickets. Where are you located and what size crickets were they, and what were you keepig them in. >.As far as breeding them goes I'll ask a few more questions. What kind and how many and what size are the animals you are feeding.
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Have You Hugged Your Herp Today?

Read the posts above this. Roaches are a much easier bug to keep and breed. There carry more protien than crickets and will have your reptiles nice and fat. You can buy non-climers that are easy to keep and breed. Good Luck.
james