Do baby crickets need humidity??

[LurkerAccount]

I've been trying to breed and keep crickets for a while, and the only way I can get them to survive is to keep them VERY dry, and at about 90F. Is this ok for pinheads? Or will they die in that kind of enviroment? thanks

[Wuntu Menny]

From what I've experienced, the pinners do need some humidity to avoid dehydration and death. Lowering the temp a few degrees seems to benefit them as well. The problem I have is that the mold and fungus do better than the pinheads in that situation. It seems to be a tough balance to achieve.

WM

[LurkerAccount]

If I were to grow a some grass in a container at the cool end of the tank, and allwase keep it moist, would that be good enough?
I could also put a few more water dishs(with sponges) around the tank?>

[reptilesalonica]

This will work fine, but you must expect that they will lay their eggs inside the pot or the extra dishes with sponges when they will grow bigger.
~Greg~

[LurkerAccount]

Yeah, I plan to keep the grass in the breeding bin(I dont have the room for special rearing bins etc), and they will lay there eggs in the dirt under the grass(the grass isn't very think, there is plenty of room), then when the eggs hatch, that will be the pinheads habitat.

[Jeff_Favelle]

They don't NEED humidity. They need water, but that doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of humidity. Its just the easiest way.

[Will]

Dehydration is a great way to wipe out a batch of pinheads. I used to breed my own and I just put some lettuce(usually one or two romaine leaves) & carrots in every other day or as needed, and that was enough for them. I fed them ground-up dog food with some grains and vitamins mixed in too. You can use any fruit/veggie with moisture, but carrots seem to last longer.

Don't have any water at all anywhere near the container, these things are quite possibly THE stupidest creatures on the face of the earth - I had a tiny spill once(seriously, maybe 1/2 of a pop bottle capful) and came back to see literally dozens of bodies surrounding the water with heads in the water, drowned. Honestly, I'm surprised evolution let them get this far...

Here's the site I used to help me set up my breeders(I didn't do it on such a large scale though) - http://chamownersweb.tripod.com/Other_Pages/breeding_and_raising_the_house_c.htm