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I was wondering what you would need to start getting things set up for the cheapest way to start up cricket breeding . Including :

Housing?
Feeding?
Watering?
Hints on making it work and work well?

>>I was wondering what you would need to start getting things set up for the cheapest way to start up cricket breeding . Including :
>>
>>Housing?
>>Feeding?
>>Watering?
>>Hints on making it work and work well?

I house mine in the 16X 24 X 12 (guessing, don't have one to measure to check this sec) or more inch deep tubs that you get with the flap shut lids on hinges. I like them 'cause then I can shut one flap to keep the humidity up a bit and to stack the tubs a bit. (I believe in using vertical space)
To breed 'em I use half an inch of soilless potting soil. It is the vermiculite/perlite/peat moss mix. Or you can use Eco Earth or Bedda Beast (shredded cocoanuts) I line the bottom of the tub, then I put in a couple of 8-10" plant saucers, each with half an inch of soilless mix and stacked off center at one end of the tub. This way the adult crix can get into each one and burrow and lay. Then I mist all this down damp, not soaked and it will dry out by next day. This is fine. I mist once a day when I feed and water. I put in about 50-100 adult crix. I put in a food dish with baby cereal mix, I put in a water dish which consists of a gallon jar lid with a scrunge (not soaped one) pad cut to fit inside it and misted full of water. And I toss in all the greens they will eat in a day....which is usually half or so of a big romaine leaf.
I keep them in the medium temp part of my herp room...so about 80 give or take five degrees.
In about three or four weeks (for a new set up it seems to take forever) you will see pinheads. I just leave them in that tub and set up another to stagger them. Did I mention this takes space? The babies sort of take forever to grow. For anyone that says crix don't live long wasn't waiting on them to get to a size. Luckily I want small ones for my son's salamanders so that is what I raise them for.
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Sonya

that sounds like a very easy set up ..

One Question
i have read articles where they put a peice of screen in the top of the tub .. have you done this ?.. or is it just a normal tub ?

Do you have any tips to keep crickets from getting lose ?

When I bred crickets, all I did was...

Make a egg laying container:
Use a deli-cup or plastic tupperware container and fill it with moist bed-a-beast. Not soaking wet, just moist. Make sure substrate is high enough so that when placed into the adult crickets cage that they can get in and out easily.

Collecting eggs:
Place the egg laying container into the adult crickets cage and leave for 12-24 hours. Make sure that the substrate does not dry out. Dry substrate eggs = useless eggs. Make sure you make it easy for the adults to get in and out of the container by making a path or bridge for them to enter and leave. Some will burrow in the substrate to lay their elongated white eggs while others just lay on top of the substrate. If the sides of the egg laying container is clear, you can see tons of eggs in the container.

Incubating the eggs:
After you are done collecting, remove all dead and alive crickets from the egg laying container and place a lid on it. Make sure not too much air flows in the container while waiting for the eggs to hatch. You can lay the lid lightly on the container, put pin holes in the lid, or close the lid completely airing it a few times a day. If you have pin holes or leave the lid losely on the container, be sure to place the egg laying container with lid into the cage you want to have pinhead crickets in so when they hatch you don't have them all over your house. I don't recall how long the eggs incubate for, but might be 5-7 days mattering on temperature. Do expect some mold on the top surface of the egg laying container. This will not kill all the eggs...usually just some on the top layer, but there will also be alot of eggs in the lower areas.

Pinhead care:
I have had alot of difficulty getting pinheads bigger without a high mortality rate. I found that they need alot of hiding, moist conditions, and fine particale foods. I suggest leaving a small pile of bed-a-beast in one corner of their container and spraying it once in a while to give them moisture. Don't give them large chunks of dog food or whatever else. Chop them fine for them to eat but not like dust.

Personal Opinion:
I think raising crickets at a small at home scale to me a waste of time. Better to spend time with mealworms and maybe also roaches.

I bought a large sterilite bin, and cut out part of the lid and replaced it with screen. Around an inch or 2 from the top of the bin I put a line of vaseline to keep them from climbing out. In the bottom I put a thick layer of potting soil mixed with sand, moistened well. I put in a few poplar branches and some egg cartons and paper towel cores, a dish for dry food, and a dish for moist food/moisture source. I fully expect the crickets will breed naturally in here, and that I can carefully take the top centemeter of soil off every now and then for cleaning, losing minimal eggs. This bin is sitting in my outside shed, and the crickets appear to be thriving in spite of the odd weather we've had recently, and a few cold snaps. They're just coming into their adult molt.

Costs:

$3.49 for the bin (no kidding, they were at Big Lots and on sale elsewhere).
Same screen I used for the roaches, 10 bucks for the roll, about a buck's worth used on the bin.
50 cents for dishes. Same vaseline I used for the roaches, only cost a buck for a big container. Sand is about 2.50 per 50 pounds, potting soil maybe 4 bucks for same. I used duct tape to hold the screen on the lid of the bin.

Total cost: $13.00 bucks maximum.

Crickets: $15.00 shipped for 500 of them, if I remember correctly, though you could pick up a couple dozen for 2.50 at a pet store.

Complete setup cost if you have plenty of time to wait: $15.00 max.
Complete setup cost with bulk crickets: $28.00

Oooh i love knowing about how much it cost others to make their "breeding system" helps me know about how much monies i need together to start out *G*

and thats a Cheap system there * applods *