breeding crickets

[rullom]

Anyone know how to breed crickets

[Bartman]

Yea but its usually not worth it. Crickets here are 99 cents a dozen, usually. Thats canadian too.
So most of the time it costs more to take care of them, more of a hassle, and it STINKS, so im told.

[peterm15]

i dont even breed them but when i buy 1000 it REAKS.. unless you have ALOT of lizards its really not worth it

and this should really be in the food for thought section... which by the way tells you how to breed them

[Jeff_Favelle]

99 cents for 12? I go through about 200 per day for the monitors, so at a buck a dozen, that would cost me $16.50 EVERY DAY! That's $495 per month! Yeah, its worth it. I ain't spending $500 on crickets every 30 days........... :)

[peterm15]

its worth it to some... but what do you own rullom

[csolis]

If you really want to breed them,just get a couple dozen crickets or so (depending on how many you want to breed) and put a deli cup or other small container filled with moist soil or I use coco fiber at work and the crickets will lay the eggs in the soil/cocofibre.Remove the deli cup(s) after a few days(I usually leave them in for a week at work) and keep them in a warm area and make sure they stay moist and humid.they should start hatching in about 1-2 weeks. We use them at work so we a have constant supply of pinheads for our dart frogs.Works great! Just throw in a deli cup and your set!

[Bartman]

And make sure they have some potato's or carrots and a piece of moist spunge to eat and drink.

Well Jeff, you're the exception..not everyone has a bagillion animals :D

[concept3]

rullom, you could probably find a supplier nearby that sells them for 15 - 20 bucks a thousand. LOL If i paid a buck a dozen I would be spending about 300 a month.

[Jeff_Favelle]

LOL Adam! Just you wait. You're not exactly going to stop acquiring new animals either man, ha ha!! ;)

[Bartman]

I know!

Im worried about moving out. My place will become a zoo

[peterm15]

whats rong with that....
a zoo would be nice...

concept3... are u in the states... a box of a thousant around here is now 28 bucks..... they raised it from 25...

does anyone know where i can get them for less

[Asian Jon]

Hey Bartman, when your place becomes a zoo just start charging for admission.

I just find it a lot easier to buy the crickets. It's not really worth it for me to breed since I only have 3 herps that eat them.

[pythonmdk]

one trick i heard but never tired is to use a cut lemon to help get ride of the smell, I was talking to someone who bred them, I said I never would cuz they smell like crazy but thats what he does and says it works, but to be fair, I've never been to his house either so I don't know how well it works though. I breed silkworms instead for a while, now I'm getting more into snakes so I'm not into the 1000 crix a week but silks are a little harder to care for but are better for your lizards and they don't smell make noise or escape!!! Just a thought though.
~John

[Jeff_Favelle]

I stopped buying crickets because half of them came dead and you NEVER know what they feed them or what they are exposed to. I have total control over what goes into my monitors.

[Ptindy]

I would love to breed my own crickets, but I live in a apartment and when something defecates, you know. Just curious for when I do, while I will need to I'm sure one day, do the adult female crickets only lay one batch of eggs before they die?

Mike

[Will]

They keep laying more than one clutch, but only live about 2-3 weeks at breeding age...

EDIT:
Click HERE (http://chamownersweb.tripod.com/Other_Pages/breeding_and_raising_the_house_c.htm) for a site with details for breeding them. I used to use a scaled down version of this setup with decent success, except I used NO water - only veggies for moisture.

[Jeff_Favelle]

do the adult female crickets only lay one batch of eggs before they die?

Not here they don't. Mine lay bunches of eggs over a 2-3 week period and continue to live for like another week. By that time they are HUGE and then they get fed off. The monitors go BONKERS over the old breeder crickets. Its awesome!

[peterm15]

but the older crix the less nutritional value.. i read that somewhere on he in the chameleon forum

[Justcage]

all i can say is peeee uuuuu, I have bred them and they do stink.. What about roaches? They dont stink and produce well...

[peterm15]

ahh... mekes me cringe..... i cant stand roaches

[pythonmdk]

I'd have to agree on the roach aproach, they are great feeders, cuz some species breed great and are easily digested, I like lobsters for the breeding potential but discoids, death heads, giants, orange heads and six spots are are great too cuz they can't climb glass, but they don't breed as fast. But again the best is a vairied diet so get a buch of both if you can, and can handle that, they don't smell and don't make noice and to be honest don't escape very easily if you take the right precautions!! I'd stay away from hissers though, they make an ok supplement but don't breed fast and are harder to digest then many other roaches. I have had lobsters, hissers, discoids and six spots, I'd recomend to stay away from hissers, they are more pets then feeders.
~John

[Jeff_Favelle]

but the older crix the less nutritional value.. i read that somewhere on he in the chameleon forum

Perfect for monitors!

[peterm15]

Jeff_Favelle, why is that perfect.... i know monitors are large so they would eat alot... but why would less nutritional valve be perfect...

[Jeff_Favelle]

http://www.varanus.net/cgi-bin/eboard30/index2.cgi?frames=no&board=Main&mode=Current&message=11080

[peterm15]

neat... very good site... thanks

[Jeff_Favelle]

No worries bro. :)

[JDouglas]

I ordered 500 crickets and bred them and after about a month and a half now I have about 20 thousand from pinhead to 1/4 inch size. I have them seperated by weeks so I have several tubs of different age sizes. I own one beardie and 3 geckos! LOL! I have given thousands of 1/4 inch crickets away and people think I'm nuts when I offer them up for free but when you have this kind of excess it is required. I even trade crickets for my dog food at the pet store. They appreciate it because shipping live can be difficult in the winter. I have found that crickets don't stink much until the crickets get bigger begin to die. I guess I just need more lizards huh?

Whats even worse is that I did the same with Super Worms and Meal Worms too. My Supers and mealies are all beetles now and I expect a bumper crop with these too! Its amazin what you can learn on the internet. I wanted to see how easy it was and I have to tell you it has been simple so far. The only problem is they they are prolific breeders and I have WAY too many. Now I am using a MUCH smaller breeding group of crickets.

Here are some links I found useful...

http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/jan2003/crickets/crickets.html

http://www.skylab.org/~chugga/cricket/

[paulsreef]

You need at least 25 pairs to get started. Females have a long needle like tail and males just have a V tail. Place them in a rubbermaid tub with smooth sides ( can't climb out of). Place a 2''deep saucer with 2" of moist topsoil inside (keep moist). Feed the crickets chick mash which is available at feed shops; cheap compared to cricket food. Also feed pieces of squash, carrots, sweet potatoe. They prefer a warm (80 degrees) and humid enviroment. I wait about a month until I start seeing pinheads. I sometimes have approx. 100 bearded dragons to feed, if they each ate a dozen a day, that's 1200 per day, 36000 per month. $25/1000, it doesn't matter if they are pinheads or adults, it's still $25/1000. $25. x 36= $900/mth.. Breeding your own is better then paying $900/mth. Sounds like a good business.

Paul.

[Reptiteen]

I unintentionally breed crickets all of the time. They wind up mating in their container, and the minute I throw them in with my scorpions or tarantulas, they start laying in the soil.

I also purchased 2000 crickets a few months ago to attempt to breed intentionally. One of the biggest mistake I've ever made. Worse smell in the world, and with that many, the sound was bouncing off the walls 24/7.

[paulsreef]

The sound of only a few that have escaped drive me crazy. They get somewhere that's not accesible; I fantasize about getting them with bug spray, but with reptiles and feeder insects; spraying a poison isn't an option. All you need is 25 pairs; with 2000 you are going to have a lot of die off, that's what smells so bad.
Paul.

[Reptiteen]

Actually, not very many of them died off. Only about 300 out of the 5 containers I had them in. I think the smell was literally them, if not the large abundance of cricket feces. After only a couple of weeks, I couldn't take it anymore and started giving them away to local pet and pet supply stores.

I now just stick to buying by the dozens.

[oliver]

HEY i wuld just buy alot of crixets and feed them and hope they bread lol just my thoughts

Oliver

[meow_mix450]

my opinion is if you have baby bearded dragons, chameleons and leopard gecko its best to breed crickets instead of buying. If you only have 2-3 adult geckos or bearded dragons its pointless to breed your own crickets. Most crickets die at a very young age. I have touble getting them to grow up to a medium without losing half population of crickets. It takes a lot of time and effort

Meow