Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ive always bought crickets as i needed them. thats just too expensive now, and i was wondering if i could get some tips on making the 2000 crickets i just got in the mail multiply. thanks for the advice...
senor ian

Breeding crickets is not as easy as it would seem. Baby crickets have a very high mortality rate and most don't reach adult size. So depending on what size you need, it may not even be worth trying to do. If you need a supply of pinheads to a week old crickets, breeding may be something worth attempting. But the older you need the crickets, the less it becomes worth your time. Like I mentioned earlier, there is a high mortality rate from just hatched to adult size.

I tried years ago several times and came to the conclusion that for my situation, it was not worth breeding crickets. I used to go through 2,000 3 week old crickets every 2 weeks. I had what looked like thousands of pinheads when I started breeding, but in a week there was less than half left, then less, and less, and less each day. When they were near the size I needed them, there was not enough to maintain my colony of reptiles... So I still had to buy crickets.

Why not try breeding other insects to supplement your reptiles? Mealworms are easy, superworms need some help to pupate, and raoches need time to establish themselves, but breed easy.

It never hurts to try breeding once to see if it suits you or not.
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- Juli
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