# pinhead crickets



## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

I decided to raise and breed some adult crickets this summer to get some pinheads to feed out to my thumbs. So far it's going very well. I'm getting more than enough hatch outs every 3-4 days to feed out all my tanks.









This is my "incubator" set up to hatch out the eggs. It's just a large foam cooler with a light bulb on a thermostat to keep things toasty


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## melas (Oct 24, 2007)

Nice! How are you keeping the adults?


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

Nothing out of the ordinary for the adults. I bought 500 and split them into 2 large plastic tubs with some egg containers, food, water, and egg laying tub. I switch out the egg tub every 3 days or so.


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## devin mac (Oct 4, 2004)

Out of curiosity, which thumbs are you feeding pinheads to?

The reason I ask is that my Intermedius have zero interest in hydei, and if memory serves me correctly, a pinhead's about the same size... Perhaps I'm off, though.


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## melas (Oct 24, 2007)

Do you have a substrate for the adults or are you going bare bottom? Do you have to clean the tubs often?


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

Could we get more details Gary?

What is the temp. of your incubator?

Thanks


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

devin mac said:


> Out of curiosity, which thumbs are you feeding pinheads to?


I have mostly imitators along with some standard lamasi.


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## salix (Mar 28, 2008)

This is the technique I've been using and it has worked great.

About.com: http://www.anapsid.org/crickets.html

Deb


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

melas said:


> Do you have a substrate for the adults or are you going bare bottom? Do you have to clean the tubs often?


No substrate, just some newspapers lining the bottom to help with the eventual clean up.

I haven't really decided on the "clean up" process yet. I'm buying adult crickets that are just starting to breed. My guess is they'll last about 2-3 weeks before they'll be at the end of their life cycle. I'll probably just toss them out, feed out all the pinheads they've produced over the next few weeks, and then start the process over.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

frogfreak said:


> What is the temp. of your incubator?
> 
> Thanks


It's between 85-90F


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

are you using peat moss for the adults to lay eggs in. also how are the pins seperated from the laying substrate
walt


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## billschwinn (Dec 17, 2008)

Hey Walt, that was going to be my question. So if not peat what are you using and do you have any mold issues? Bill


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

AWESOME....please post an in-depth, step by step on your process!


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## Jellyman (Mar 6, 2006)

Philsuma said:


> AWESOME....please post an in-depth, step by step on your process!


" Re: pinhead crickets 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the technique I've been using and it has worked great.

About.com: Breeding and Raising the House Cricket

Deb "


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

pa.walt said:


> are you using peat moss for the adults to lay eggs in


I'm using a product I got from Josh's Frogs called FOREST BED. It's more like coco coir, but I think peat moss should work just fine.




pa.walt said:


> also how are the pins seperated from the laying substrate
> walt


Ummmmmm, they just crawl out


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Lightbulbs and styrofoam is how I caught my bedroom on fire when I was 16. Be careful


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

Philsuma said:


> AWESOME....please post an in-depth, step by step on your process!


Nothing really out of the ordinary in my set up. The adult crickets are in bins with some egg cartons, some newspapers on the bottom for easier clean up later, a petri dish full of food I got from the cricket place, a small plastic tub with a water soaked paper towel, and a small pastic tub with the FOREST BED for the crickets to lay the eggs in.

















When I ordered the crickets I did specifically ask for crickets that were just getting old enough to start breeding. I didn't want older adult crickets that had already dropped their eggs.

I change out the egg container every third day. The egg containers then get put in my "incubator" and start to hatch out in 10 days or so. I've been feeding the pinheads sweet potatos and romaine lettuce for a day or two before feeding them to the frogs.

That's pretty much it, which is what I think most other people do as well. I don't plan on raising any of the pinheads up to adult size to start the process over. I think that's where raising crickets can get to be messy, smelly, and in general a pain in the a**. I'm going to just dump out the first batch of crickets after 2-3 weeks and then just order in another batch of adults after all the pinheads from the first batch have been fed out.


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## ontiltsoon (Sep 7, 2009)

I made a site also explaining the breeding process of crickets.

Breeding Crickets


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