# Cricket ideas?



## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I'm thinking about trying crickets again, and beleive me when I say I HATE THEM!

I'm looking for recommendations on breeding them on a small scale. Things I am looking for:

- Best cricket feed without going broke
- way to make my own gelatin watering cubes
- Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated

My thoughts on my troubles in the past.
- Keeping too many crickets in too larger of a container
- lack of a good water source that did not leak

Thanks for any ideas,


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

Well as for the food, I use rabbit pellets, and for the water, have you already tried the cotton ball soaked in water method?


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## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

Kyle - regarding the watering cubes, crystals, gels...the crystals are very inexpensive. If you want some, let me know. I ordered a ton for under $25 bucks....you can't imagine how much these things expand - we got a gallon bag of the crystals .... 

Melis


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Another food idea is vegetables. They are a good source for vitamins and such and also a good source of water. 

Back when I used to breed lots of crickets I used fish food.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Can you shoot me the info on the crystals and where you got them from.

I had thought about veggies but they go back. I have heard great luck with dog food as well.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Also what does everyone recommend for a place for them to lay eggs?


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## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

Use an 8 oz deli cup with peat moss or coconut fiber. Worked well when I tried to raise them.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

For a water source I simply use a paper towel soaked in water that I fold up so that it fits in a culture plate. I feed crushed up dry kitten food, romaine lettuce, and if I'm feeling really generous an orange slice. I use well soaked small cocoa chips in a shallow plastic dish for a spawning site. I've found that to be the least messy.


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## SeaDuck (Nov 8, 2006)

Kyle, I build a wick waterer. Take an 8 oz deli container with a lid. Poke three or four holes in the lid. Double a couple of pieces of acrylic yarn and knot them on one end. Pull the tail through the hole with the knot on top. (repeat for each hole). If you keep water in the tub and the lid snapped on the wick top stays wet. No mess at all and very little attention as they will have water for at least 10 to 14 days. You will have to replace the wicks when they get dirty but that is it. No drown crickets and clean water at all times. If you use this for pin heads you will need to give them a card board ramp. They cannot climb the plastic container.

A 10 gallon tank with screen top works great. Place a ceramic heat emitter or light bulb over one end and cardboard pieces to hide amongst. If you keep adults dry they will not smell. I keep the adults on a bed of 14% or so non medicated chicken layer pellets. We also feed squash, carrots, sweet potatoes etc just cut them in one inch cubes and freeze them. Freezing will cook them so they do not dry as readily forming a hard skin. They are also fed fish flakes a couple times a week. Feed on a petri dish and clean up is easy.

I prefer the 2 or 3 oz black deli containers (portion cups) packed full of moist coco earth for egg laying. If you leave it in for a day or so then move it to a closed container to incubate and hatch. They will lay eggs in it and not make as big a mess. This is also less prone to get fouled by the adults and mold. Keep the babies in the sealed container, add a piece of card board, a flukers orange cube and crumbled fish flake. At about a week or so if they are not all being feed as pinheads you will need change to a vented lid and by two weeks they can go in the adult tank if you are keep some as breeders. 

We feed out a couple thousand pin heads a week and have not bought a cricket in a couple of years. 

Hope this helps. Robert


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## kristy55303 (Apr 27, 2008)

ghanns sells the cricket crystals that expand to a gallon i believe? here is a good source of info i got from a great breeder kyle. still have to work it out myself but want to do it as well so all others' suggestions will also help me out. here is what info i got...and this is quoted from a wonderful breeder...can't give out name publicly without his permission as i respect him to huhest degree....if he choses to reply to this thread you will know kyle or you personally i can give out his board name....great guy...wonderful breeder...hope he doesnt mind i give this out as i asked the same questions to him. he is very careful, fecals all his darts and quarantines like you wouldn't imagine. Cleanest darts i have ever received. And very extensive knowledge. he posts sometimes, i bet when he feels the need to post. And has some of the most beautiful darts(rarer) i have ever seen and some i want and hope to get this spring 

here is his cricket breeding help to me:


Adult tank:
A screen top keeps them in and eliminates the fungus that smells.
A ceramic emitter to use as a heat source. (wattage depends on environment)
We use egg carton that we get from an organic bakery from organic eggs, tp and other cardboard tubes. I have heard the theory that eggs cartons could spread coccidia and that is bull. The eggs are cleaned before packaging with a bath and UV. And above all chicks that go to farms are all part of the PIP program and coccidia would not pass inspection and with the AI scare the places are seriously bio-secure.

Keep them on a bedding of about 1/2 inch of 14% to 16% non-medicated poultry pellet. (Keeps them dry, adds food and calcium)
i also saw new egg cartons on superiorenterprise and ordered some myself

Build a waterer out of a plastic deli container with a lid. Just poke 4 or so holes in the top. Tie a knot in about a 4 inch doubled length of acrylic yarn and pull the tails through the holds so the not is on the top. When the container is filled with water the yarn will wick water and allow them to drink. It will never drown them and they will always have H20. Adults climb the tub fine however add a card board ramp for babies and smalls.

Use a Petri dish to hold fresh foods in will keep the tank clean. Use things like winter squash, carrots, sweet potatoes etc. (Freeze hard veggies in 1 inch cubes and they will be easier for them to eat and they will not dry out with a tuff skin. Also allows you to lay in a stash when they are cheap.)

We also feed them a decent flake fish food. I like the brine shrimp direct one with Naturose for both adults and babies. It is very reasonable in the 2 lb pail and tads like it too.

To get eggs:

Use the small black (3oz or so) deli container packed full of moist coco earth. (eco-earth or what ever) Place it in the adult tank. If temperatures are correct and they are adults they will immediately find it and begin egg laying. Depending on the number of adults laying leave it in their tank for a few hours or over night. 

Hatching.

Move the egg filled black deli container to a larger clear deli container with lid (no holes) and make sure that the coco is damp (NOT wet). Keep this container closed and incubate at about 85 degrees. 2-3 week and they will hatch. Keep the hatchlings in the closed contanier in the incubator for about a week. When a fair number have hatched and turned from white to brown add a piece of card board tube, some crushed fish food and one of the flukers orange cricket cubes. (The new product does not have any problems and works well for babies.) After they have had at least one meal then they can be fed off. Just remember to keep a few back for breeders. When they get much past a week you will want to add a vented lid and most likely remove the container from your incubator. These future breeders can be added to the adult tank at about 10-14 days old. They hid in the crumbles and as long as you are feeding the bigger ones are not cannibalistic.

Couple of notes on egg containers. If they get too dry by accident mist them a bit and wait before calling it a failure. Also if they get a fuzzy grey mold don't panic they will most likly still hatch. It just means the adults tracted stuff into the container and this happens easier when you have to leave the egg container in the adult tank for longer periods. (mostly due to lack of mature adults.

Not that it needs saying but clean and sterilize all deli containers and tanks after use.

If you keep the food changed, water cleaned (toss the wicks when they get dirty), and the bodies of the elderly crickets removed there is little other cleaning needed. On about a monthly basis (more often will larger numbers of crickets) you will see the poultry pellets disappear into more of a course powder and then it is time to transfer all to a clean new tank with fresh pellets, egg container and tubes.

Hope this helps.

Kristy, if I were you I would either start with crickets from either an organic farm or one located in a more northern area. (Not flukers they are in Louisiana). The one that LLL Reptile ships from is located in your neck of the woods. I would not worry too much about feeding the babies from them to your frogs but I would keep my future breeders separate from them. Then beyond that I would not worry about mixing babies and adults unless you need to add more crickets from an outside source. It will take you a few months to get a cycle of maturing crickets to replace breeders and then no worries. 



hope this helps kyle. the darts i got from him were my female highland bronze mature, that quarantined and fecaled several times very clean. they are amazing....a lot of information i have received and passed on to newbies i have got from him along with my own research. i am hoping to get some great rarer darts from him this spring. pm me with any questions. kristy


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## SeaDuck (Nov 8, 2006)

Kristy, I wonder who wrote that ;-) Robert


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## kristy55303 (Apr 27, 2008)

lol robert. i didnt want to give out your name w/o your permission. the best info i have ever received and also u posted as i was copying and pasting. lol kristy you beat me to it ha ha hope you didnt mind. trying to help the boards best guy afterall get a good cheap method that is safe. thanks for helping me out by the way robert. you have very extensive knowledge i can only hope to have near to what you have someday. i dont know everything, you have made a huge difference in my dart hobby life with such excellent information. kristy


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

Man, it feels weird answering questions from Kyle. It just never occured that he has... a question??... from...Kyle?, naw thats not right : )


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## kristy55303 (Apr 27, 2008)

i think we all have questions we all need advice from time to time. i didnt think it was weird. i heard crix stink as well until robert helped me...and believe me, he wouldnt do it, unless it was safe and useful.....now just to find the items i need i'm sure he'll help me with that. the eggcrate i know where to get. the pellets i don't so i just emailed him so i'm sure he'll reply to help. robert is not the kind of person who would ignore a help question like this. he is very nice and has a great passion for darts. Wonderful collection. Too bad he lives so far away. I'd be honored to see his dart room. fantastic/superb/ collection he has. he beat me to the post. we both were posting at same time. lol. i was pasting and copying of course while he had to explain again after just helping me recently with the same questions basically.


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

I didn't mean like it wasn't right for him to ask questions... it is just not very often he is on the receiving end of answers....


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## kristy55303 (Apr 27, 2008)

Mac said:


> I didn't mean like it wasn't right for him to ask questions... it is just not very often he is on the receiving end of answers....


no i didnt take it that way...no worries mac. really. i like you on this board. i didnt take it that way at all, and apologize if my typing came across that way. sometimes when we type things it is perceived differently than if we were say speaking face to face if you know what i mean kristy


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## siples (Aug 14, 2004)

Kyle,
I get all mine from a commercial breeder that I have known for many years. He uses chicken feed for their staple food and for water he uses mason jars with a fine sponge ringturned upsode down into an appropriately size dish.
Kieth


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Mac said:


> Man, it feels weird answering questions from Kyle. It just never occured that he has... a question??... from...Kyle?, naw thats not right : )


Ya like I have it all figured out... Im still a newbie. 

I really dislike crickets and this will be my third try over the years. Im not sure if its just a mental block or what or maybe the fact that FFs are so darn easy.

I was reading all the great advise and trying to think where I went wrong in the past. Some of the key things I think are water as I was using petri dishes that I almost always spilled. Second was the containers which were rather large rubbermaid containers. This time im going to try 2 mid size clear containers, and 2 smaller ones for the eggs. Im planning to use some gel crystals for water and Im still working on what to feed them. Ill pick up some comercial stuff to start until I can find a feed store and then I plan to try some organic chicken feed. Im going to attempt to not heat them but I have a feeling I will have to with winter coming. Ive been trying to reduce my over all power usage so Im not a fan of habving to use a heating pad or heat lamp, but I will if I have to.

Anyone have any links to some of the gel crystals? Im assuming they are the same as the ones used for plants which seem rather inexpecsive.


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## SeaDuck (Nov 8, 2006)

Kyle, I tried the no heat idea. Adults will be fine athough they do not lay fertile eggs. Then tried one of the lower watt heat mats and it was not warm enough either. In winter we keep the house 68 degrees and they really need the mid to high 80s. Robert


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

My room stays around 70-75 and what method would you recommend to heat them.


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## SeaDuck (Nov 8, 2006)

I would use the lowest wattage ceramic heat emitter. The last forever and are about as efficient as you get for heating. Place it over the opposite end of the container from the food and water. You may also be able to lower the wattage use with a rheostat and save some electricity. This type setup will allow them to bask to the proper temperature. It i also possible to make double use of the emitter by locating the egg containers nearer the warm end or heat source as well. Just take care not to cook them. Robert


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Ok I have 3 small setups going and I need to get some more materials. Also need to find some ceramic heaters still as at least the pet store that is close to home did not have any. Im keeping this on a small scale and already it is easier. I bought clear containers which allows me to see how they are doing without pulling them off a shelf and taking the top off.

I also need to order the crystals still but am looking for a online seller.


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

Kyle, what animal are the crickets for?

If these are for larger frogs, I'd use Blatta lateralis roaches as they'll save you a LOT of time and money.

It always sounds like I swear by roaches, but they've been the best feeder insect I've used next to fruit flies.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Theses are for my darts so not big frogs. Just looking for another food source. Im hoping to feed the pinheads or maybe a week or so old to many of my frogs.


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## somecanadianguy (Jan 9, 2007)

kyle1745 said:


> Ok I have 3 small setups going and I need to get some more materials. Also need to find some ceramic heaters still as at least the pet store that is close to home did not have any. Im keeping this on a small scale and already it is easier. I bought clear containers which allows me to see how they are doing without pulling them off a shelf and taking the top off.
> 
> I also need to order the crystals still but am looking for a online seller.


before you order your crystls read this kyle http://canadart.org/dartfrog/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1531&hilit=crystals
cheers craig 
ps crix suck go been beatles or weevils super easy


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

My understanding is that the been beetles are tough to get here in the US due to our regulations on them.

Thanks for the heads up on the crystals, sounds like someone may have not been very careful with them or let them dry up. I have used the gel in the past for crickets without any issues.


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## somecanadianguy (Jan 9, 2007)

yea i used it for years too but stoped when i read this just in case.
well i wont name names but i know a few guys that sell them in the us on this board hopefully one of them will take this HINT HINT and pm you about it.
im new to them my self but it seems the more you neglect them the better they do , now thats my kind of bug.
craig


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