Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, well last time i tried breeding crickets, it took too long and they died because my lizards were smaller and not hungry,

now ive decided that its cheaper for me to breed them, but i gave away my old 10 gallon aquarium.

so would it be okay if i put them in a kritter keeper, from petco, you know, the little plastic box with a screen, would they chew out of that?
has it ever happened to you? because my mom will kill me and my lizards if i have excapees, and i think the walls are to high for them to jump, but i dont want to find out

For the price of one of those critter keepers (or maybe a little more) you can get a large rubbermaid type tub from a KMart or WalMart type place I often see 30 gallon ones or so for under $10 ... cut a big hole in the lid and cover it with fine mesh screen ... wire screen will keep them from chewing, although if you have a high sided tub, they'll rarely get up there anyway. You can secure the screen with liquid nails, or use the handyman's secret weapon, duct tape.

I don't breed my crickets, but I buy in bulk, and have to keep them alive for a longer time ... I use paper towel tubes/cardboard egg crates for hides, and a waterer with aquarium floss filling the bowl so they don't drown. A tremendous variety of feeding possibilities are available, and using a variety of feeds is probably not a bad choice. I use everything from the high quality commercial foods (expensive) to scrap fruit and vegetables.

If I were going to breed my own, I'd use the method described on Melissa Kaplan's site ... http://www.anapsid.org/crickets.html

Sorry, but the occasional escape is almost unavoidable.
raising crickets

thats basically what i use to keep my crickets in..they dont chew threw it... but if you keep it outside like i did before..the ants might get to em..lol