Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am buying about 100 crickets a week from the pet store to feed 1 Beardy. I buy them 2 times at 50 each time. They just keep dying. So I have decided to try and breed them or at least think about it. How hard is it and what items do I need? Any help would be appreciated. I have read some guides to breeding them and stuff but would like opinions from people who actually are breeding them.

>>I am buying about 100 crickets a week from the pet store to feed 1 Beardy. I buy them 2 times at 50 each time. They just keep dying. So I have decided to try and breed them or at least think about it. How hard is it and what items do I need? Any help would be appreciated. I have read some guides to breeding them and stuff but would like opinions from people who actually are breeding them.

In my opinion breeding crix is a pita and if you have them die before you are feeding them off you are gonna have to do some major changes in their upkeep to get them to breed.

Breeding involves dirt trays, high humidity, careful feeding, watching for mold and more room than I cared to donate.

If you are feeding an adult BD and need large crix you are talking getting thousands to hatch, keeping as many alive as possible for nearly two months....just to have medium larges to feed off. Did I mention how much of a PITA it is? The ONLY time I found it worthwhile was when I needed tons of pinheads. I could feed them off before they died.

Buy a thousand mediums at a time and save some money....once you learn to keep them nice room temps with humidity and food.

BTW if you are buying LARGES they may be dying of old age before you can feed them all. Maybe try buying mediums and see if they last.

Also, when we were into breeding Beardys and needed feeders by the fistful we got a colony of Lobster roaches. Breed well, no stink, darn near impossible to kill....just a thought
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Sonya

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Thanks for the info. This last batch has lasted a little longer. The problem is all the pet stores around her don't really have specific sizes they sell whatever they have. I have about a 4 month old beardy so I can just feed him more of the smaller crickets if they breed. We live in Florida so usually pretty humid here. I am trying to breed them in my garage so hopefully will not be in the way. I have a thermometer in the container monitoring the temp. I figure what can it hurt right already had some empty totes and small containers just needed to get the soil and see what happens. If all else fails I go to Repticon in July and will just buy a whole bunch to keep and feed him.

Breeding crickets is alot of work...and to be honest, not worth it, especially for a single dragon.

There are tons of good quality online stores you can order from, which will be cheaper than the local petstore and often better health. Buy what you can use in 2-3 weeks time, just one size smaller and a little extra as there will always be die offs...no matter how perfect your setup is.

From my experience too much humidity can be bad for crickets..keep humidity around 60% but not much more. You can provide moisture with fresh greens, etc. Same sort you would feed your dragon. Chicken mash works good too, or fishfood flakes, crushed dogfood, commercial gut loads, bearded dragon pellets and even the powered diets for various species of geckos.

Use good sized totes, cut out holes in the lid (large holes) and cover with window screen. This ensures good ventilation and keep crickets inside. Egg crate is a great standard medium for crickets to hide in. They do better if they can get away from each other so having quite a bit of these crates helps. You can order them in bulk, or if you work or go to school, and have a restaurant or cafeteria, sometimes they will be willing to keep their egg cartons for you..but most won't hold them for more than a day, so pick them up regularly. If you live in an area that has chicken/farm supply stores, you may be able to buy them in bulk there.

Remove any uneaten greens or dried up ones..so they don't mold. Don't use sponges for water, as these just get filthy and mold easy, unless you are washing and sterilizing them pretty often. Have at least two totes, this way each new shipment, you can pu7t in the clean tote, and wash the old one. (either dumping uneaten crickets, or waiting till they are all used up, then cleaning the tote.} Keeping it as clean as possible helps keep down the smell and spread of disease/parasites.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

My gf dad feeds 24 crickets every sunday to his adult bearded dragon for the last 6 years..... 100 is a lot. My friend at he pet store feeds theirs a dozen a week and throws a few rat pinkies in once in awhile for fat and protein..... I raise dubia cock roaches which take no effort and are awesome feeder food..... idk if florida allows roaches. Something about the heat allows them to bread outside of captivity. I would decrease crickets and supplement with pinkies.