Keeping Crickets

[Sapphyr]

So, I'm considering keeping crickets so I'll no longer have to buy them. The price really does add up, over time. :c

So, any tips, how tos? I know I'll definitely be using mld's gutfeed mixture. Sounds pretty good.~ I know it's gutfeed for beardies, though, so what about geckos?

[molson101]

I have no idea but I herd that gold fish flakes work good. Just a little heads up my freind had crickets for his gecko and the crickets always killed each other for no reason.

[Sapphyr]

I have no idea but I herd that gold fish flakes work good. Just a little heads up my freind had crickets for his gecko and the crickets always killed each other for no reason.

Crickets are cannibalistic. If they're missing nutrients they need, they'll rely on their fellow cage mates to make up for it.

Mld mentioned the fish flake thing. Said a fine blend of dry cat food, fish flakes, and beardie food/pellets as a good gutloader for crickets to feed to a beardie. Not sure if it's the same for geckos(probably not).

[Jay]

are you going to breed it just says you wanna keep them ?

[Sapphyr]

are you going to breed it just says you wanna keep them ?

Well the most logical thing to do would be breeding them, I guess, since I'd rather not keep having to pay for all these crickets. Way cheaper to just start my own, colony, is it?

[Shmoges]

Don't do it!!! they stink they get out and they die more than they stay alive and they are cheap as hell!!

[Sapphyr]

Don't do it!!! they stink they get out and they die more than they stay alive and they are cheap as hell!!

Trust me.. It's not cheap when you're buying 12 dozen per week.

Also, I'm fully aware of their stinch, and some are already loose in the house anyways. Our cats and dogs like to chase them down so.. -shrugs- Good exercise for 'em.

[Aaron_S]

Instead of buying just 12 dozen. Buy lot of 500. Cost like 20 bucks probably. Or start a dubia roach colony.

Breeding crickets isn't the easiest thing to do. Also, do you want fish food going into YOUR beardie? I would stick with garden varieties.

[Jay]

i feed my crickets organic lol because i dont thing id want our beardies eating that orange jelly lol and or fish flakes

[infernalis]

Instead of buying just 12 dozen. Buy lot of 500. Cost like 20 bucks probably. Or start a dubia roach colony.

Breeding crickets isn't the easiest thing to do. Also, do you want fish food going into YOUR beardie? I would stick with garden varieties.


I feed my gecko Roaches.

I had crickets, I didn't mind them. The chirping was cool, our cat loved chasing escapees...

The problem was, they are so tough to breed (crickets are) the tiny babies are hard to get started, etc.

The roaches are nearly goof proof, they breed fast, they get big enough that one Dubia is as much food as a whole group of crickets.

Not sure what kind of gecko you have, but a grown Leo can take down a full size roach. It's gross to watch, but our Leo loves his roaches.

[Lankyrob]

We looked into the options for home breeding feeder insects recently and following the knowledge and advice on here got a roach colony, they are breeding enough that within the next month i am hoping to be able to start feeding them off to our lizards.

[mld]

Crickets do smell, need to be cleaned constantly, like already mentioned it can take a while before you see any results. I breed crickets just for the pinheads and smaller cricket for my small geckos.

I don't think I would breed them for feeding a bearded dragon, I would buy them 1000 at the time for feeding my bearded dragon, when buying in bulk I would buy half inch ones, this will help them last longer. It really depends on how much you will go through in a couple of weeks. Adult bearded dragons wouldn't eat as much as a hatchling/juvenile beardie.

If roaches are allowed where you live, I would consider starting a dubia roach colony, they live for a couple of years. Easy to breed, and don't smell, I feed them the same as I would with crickets. The only thing I do different is i keep a ice-cream container with water in it and a mesh screen lid on top, this helps them shed easier and I just stack the egg flats vertically, just loosely stacked. I also use a heating pad without auto shut off and keep it on low.
I attached a photo of the container I use for the feeder beetles (Dubia's)

[Sapphyr]

Hmm.. Not sure my mother would be fond of us intentionally keeping roaches in the house, and roaches give me the creeps, personally... but if crickets are really that hard to maintain, then I may just think about it.

I did hear you had to seperate the different sizes of crickets, like seperate the pinheads, the bigger crickets, etc... It seemed really hard, if that's true.

Mind posting the inner workings of that container you got, mld?

Also, I was kinda skeptical about fish food.. I mean fish food is fish food. Also was skeptical of the cat food.. but I know different animals can easily chomp on another animal's food, so I wasn't 100% doubtful. You have a better kind of blend, Aaron? You said garden varieties so I'm guessing a mixture of things like mustard greens, dandelion greens, etc.?

And Wayne, I got a Leopard Gecko and a Golden Malaysian Gecko.

[Aaron_S]

Crickets will eat pretty much anything. I'd go with vegetables and stuff like potatoes as well. Just be sure to get non pesticide treated items. Like organics.

[Lankyrob]

Also Dubia roaches are silent, dont climb at all well (except on cardboard), dont fly, and need the heat to survive. Should you get an escapee they wont last long unless your house provides the perfect environment for them.

[mld]

here is a link to breeding Dubia's!
Dubia roach: Care, Breeding and Feeding (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bandung/roaches/dubiacare.html)

Depending on what your feeding would depend on what you want to feed your beetles.
I feed a bearded dragon and a tarantula therefore I use a high protein feed.
I also use veggies.

[Sapphyr]

Also Dubia roaches are silent, dont climb at all well (except on cardboard), dont fly, and need the heat to survive. Should you get an escapee they wont last long unless your house provides the perfect environment for them.

Then my room would do just fine, LOL. I keep my room around 63 - 70F. My mother's room would be a nightmare, though. She keeps it between 80 - 90F+

Anyways, I'll be sure to consider roaches then. It's good that they don't climb well. Was afraid if I -did- breed them, they'd skitter out of the container when I opened it to get some for feeding or just to feed them.

[mld]

Here is a picture of the inside of my feeder beetle container.

On the left is where they hang out and on the right top corner is were there food is kept. On the bottom in the ice-cream container is the water with mesh over it, it just there to give some humidity to help with shedding, they can't get in that.

The food that is in their today is the ground up mix that I make and rabbit alfalfa blocks, looks like the carrots are gone already. I am using the water gel in there, I just buy the dry and rehydrate it myself, much cheaper.

[infernalis]

My roaches have never escaped, and I have had them for 3 years.

People will give you mushy fruit for free, I feed my roaches produce that is starting to turn bad. A bruised apple will get eaten fast. Brown bananas are a favourite as is mango.

The nice thing about juicy fruits, all the water you need is in the flesh of the fruit.

Cut up a tomato or squash that is starting to turn soft, Cucumbers also.

Peelings when you are cooking are always free, just put them in the roach box instead of the trash.

In a couple days, pick out what is left, or you will have mold and fruit flies.

[Sapphyr]

Ha, I already got a bad fruit fly/gnat issue... Trying my best to get rid of them without spraying. -_-; I think it's my blasted carpet attracting them. It reeks of doggie waste, even treating it with a carpet cleaning doesn't work. Thankfully, I'm having my carpet replaced with linoleum next week. Gonna do a real good cleaning, get rid of anything that would attract them. Hopefully whatever ones are left will leave my room on account of a lack of food/water. Only issue is.. they especially love my ferrets... Maybe I should temporarily move them into the other room..

At any rate.. I'm guessing me and roaches have one thing in common.. Mangos <3

And you give a very good point, Wayne. I think this would get my mother to approve of them.~ Just have a large container full of roaches as a waste/recycling bin.~