Breeding crickets and another questions.

[vilaash]

I have about 50-100 crickets left. I was thinking about breeding them. But how? Any thing special i have to have? I have a small Lee's Kricket Keeper. Should I get a larger one?

Also, do crickets shed their "skin"? Cause i keep finding empty bodies, there is a new one every day. Or do the other crickets eat the dead ones but the "skin"? Its really strange.

What do you feed your crickets? I bought Flukers Cricket Feed, Cricket Quencher, and the Cricket Complete. But they dont really eat the cricket complete. They love the feed!!.

 

[t_summ]

I used to breed crickets often. Basically all you need are a bunch of large crickets, a large plastic tub, and a container of soil. Keep them in a fairly warm area (they thrive in warm conditions). I used two shallow dishes to put flukers cricket food and hydrating gel and set those on one side of the tub. Then take the soil container and keep the soil moist at all times. You can also throw a bunch of eggcrates in there to give them more room to live. The crickets will lay white eggs that look like small grains of rice. Keep the soil moist and they should hatch in a few days.

This method explains a bit better. http://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Your-Own-Crickets

 

[vilaash]

How old do the crickets have to be?

 

[sammy4tbts]

Hi Misty,

I have kept crickets in an aquarium tank. I bought them from Fluker's, usually get 250 of the 4 week old ones. I use the coco fiber with a bit of green moss and bark (all from Fluker's) and I cut apart cardboard egg cartons into individual little "huts" for them to hang out in. I have two small dishes, one for the Calcium enriched gelled water and one for the cricket feed. I also give them pieces of potato, apple, or other veg/fruit. They also like oatmeal. I have a metal mesh top on the tank. They can't get out anyway, but sometimes my cat will nap on top of the tank.

Using the individual egg carton huts makes it easy to feed my salamander. I just pick up one hut, shake out crickets in their own tank until only a few are left, then cup the hut in my hand as I move over to the salamander's tank and simply shake the crickets out. Or, after I started dusting the crickets, I'd shake them into a baggie with the calcium powder to coat them and then scoop them out with a plastic spoon into the sal's tank.

When they get old enough to start chirping (really rapid movement of their wings, not rubbing their legs together as I'd been told as a child) , they outgrow their exoskeleton (the hard outer covering). That is what you see as dead bodies. I didn't know that either, until I saw some with half of it hanging off of them. They are usually white or very light brown after it comes off.

At about that age (maybe 6-7 weeks) they will mate. The males do the chirping. Most batches of Fluker's crickets I've purchased have reproduced with no help from me (!). At first the young ones look like tiny white moving dots; I thought they were mites or some such thing at first. As they get bigger, they are identifiable as crickets. By the time the older crickets are almost gone, the tiny ones have grown big enough to feed my salamander. That lets me wait a few weeks before re-ordering.

Fluker's will tell you that the life span of crickets is only 7-8 weeks, but that hasn't been my experience. I still have about 30 left from the order I got in early March.

I have really enjoyed observing these creatures. They are fascinating.

The ones that are still alive will get to live out the remainder of their lives in peace because my salamander died recently.

Good luck with your crickets. What are you feeding them to?

 

[sammy4tbts]

Oops, I meant to say the crickets like OATS, not prepared oatmeal.

Its fun to see each one pick up & carry off the little pieces. Even better when two crickets want the same piece!!

 

[vilaash]

I feed them the flukers stuff.

 

[Heather at HMSG]

Following various Care Sheet's advice, & 'on the hoof' experience, I am successfully breeding & growing crickets using 'James Wellbeloved' cat bix, rolled oats, dried milk, calcium supplement powder & sprouted mung beans, presently!

I started with 'spares' from my tub from the pet shop, and now the school science block sings a welcome from the first floor! There must at times be almost thousands in a 30 inch tank, with dried leaves & branches to display them, & many pupils are fascinated. There is very little smell - nothing noticeable now they have been excluded from a classroom (for singing too loud!) & live in the corridor!

I harvest a few most days to bring home for my Fire Skinks.

Heather