New cricket breeding technique for me

froggsong · #1 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 03:49 AM

So, I have decided that I don't want to keep my bin the same way for a variety of reasons.

First and foremost, I have a TERRIBLE mite infestation. To begin with, there was only a single type, little tiny white ones that ate the cricket food and the veggies I put in. I think that this last time I changed the substrate to try to get rid of the mites, I introduced a ton more because I left the bag of sphagnum outside for a few days on accident... Now they are eating my cricket eggs, and I'm not cool with that.

Second, in order to keep the substrate moist enough for the crickets to lay in, I have to drench it every couple of weeks. The humidity gets too high and some (well, quite alot) of the crickets die. For some reason, I didn't entirely connect the two events until reading the breeding/care sheet that I posted about earlier today.

Third, I want to be able to separate my sizes more easily. I actually have herps that need different sizes now, and I am tired of sorting them by hand.

So, tomorrow morning I have to dump my current bin into my old one (I want to save as many of the eggs as I can, so I am going to keep the substrate for a week or two and then pull the crickets out and either discard the substrate or CO2 it), and find some place to put it that isn't in the house, but is still warm enough that the crickets don't die. I might have to put my heating pad underneath, but that will be a total pain, since it turns off every two hours. Any suggestions? Anyway... I'm going to bleach the heck out of the current bin, the place it sits, and the walls around it. Then I'm going to rinse, rinse, rinse, and then rinse some more! (or fill it with water and add dechlorinator)

I have a big shipment of crickets coming tomorrow, so I have to get it clean quickly! Once they get here I am going to put them in with the egg carton they come in, and set a breeding tub filled with coco fiber I know has no critters in it on top of the egg carton. I want to avoid getting the tub too humid, and that's a way that's suggested in the sheet I mentioned earlier. I'm also going to put screen over the breeding substrate to see if I have more hatch that way.

The thing I am not looking forward to is the smell. They are likely going to stink again, and I haven't had to smell that nasty cricket smell in months. I've found that with soil in the bottom, they don't stink, at all. Blah, I'm not looking forward to it, I can tell ya. Getting them from the box to the bin should be fun too, lol.

I'm planning on keeping a tiny bin with pinheads, then after a week moving them to a bigger bin until they are 3 weeks, then moving them on to the breeding bin again. That should keep me with plenty of the different sizes I need now. Now I just have to find room for all of this crap before we move into the new place and I can use the shed (it has electricity run to it, yay!!! no bugs in the house!!!).

Once we do move, and we get some money saved up (rent is $475 cheaper), I'm going to have the shed set up with lots of breeding projects. BSF, waxies, mealies, supers, crickets, isopods, worms, and maybe corn ear worms (if I can source them to begin a culture). Who knows, I might come across something else I want to try (grasshoppers maybe? or hornworms?)... I'm thinking about setting the crickets up in large trash cans like they do in Petco, eventually. Heh... normal people don't get excited thinking about having their shed full of bugs! And hey, I might even sell them in the classifieds here on the site, or finally be able to offer useful prizes (for most of us) for the contests.

I really hope this new way (to me) of breeding the crickets works as well as the current setup used to work for me. I'll keep you guys posted.

HewesHort · #2 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 06:01 PM

When you do get your feeder projects going i would definately order from you especialy if you culture soldier grubs.

to seperate the crickets try using pvc tubes with appropriately sized holes drilled in it. cap the ends and put a highly atractive food item inside. i have never tried this, it was suggested by a friend who does pest control you just are replacing the poison with food.

froggsong · #3 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 06:45 PM

Hmmm, that's a great idea. I'll have to give that a try. I can't wait to start the BSF larvae. They are just so exciting because of their nutritional value. Plus, they breed like... well, flies.

froggsong · #4 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 07:10 PM

Here's a link to a YouTube video I just made: YouTube - New (to me) cricket breeding setup

Enjoy!!!

(Now I'm wondering if I always breath like that when I talk or if it is because my nose is stuffy... I hope it's because my nose is stuffy...)

Mikeyrocks12345 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 07:28 PM

It sounds hard to breed crickets, by the way cool video.

froggsong · #6 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 07:51 PM

Thank you very much. How hard it is really depends on alot of factors. I tend to make things a little more difficult than they need to be, lol. It can be alot of work though... And not all of it pleasant. It's definitely worth it though! Before I finally put in a bulk order again, I was spending 5 bucks every week or two on 5 dozen crickets of various sizes. So once I get the cycle going again, I'll be saving 10-20 dollars a month. That's around $260 a year (at least). If you make your own gutload and feed them inexpensive veggies for moisture, you reduce your costs even more. Plus, it can be very profitable once you get on a large enough scale, crickets in pet stores go for around 12 cents a piece, If you sell them for even half that much you can make a killing, and it's almost pure profit, because you are breeding them for your own animals anyway and just selling off the extras.

Lasher · #7 (**permalink**) 09-17-2009, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggsong

Hmmm, that's a great idea. I'll have to give that a try. I can't wait to start the BSF larvae. They are just so exciting because of their nutritional value. Plus, they breed like... well, flies.

I hope I'm not the only one thinking 'BSF?'?

Nighsliv · #8 (**permalink**) 09-17-2009, 10:36 AM

BSF stands for Black Soldier Fly, also known as Phoenix worms in the pet industry.

froggsong · #9 (**permalink**) 09-17-2009, 12:21 PM

lol... Like Nighsliv said, They are Black Soldier Fly larvae, aka Soldier Grubs and Phoenix Worms.

He said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by HewesHort

When you do get your feeder projects going i would definately order from you especialy if you culture soldier grubs.

to seperate the crickets try using pvc tubes with appropriately sized holes drilled in it. cap the ends and put a highly atractive food item inside. i have never tried this, it was suggested by a friend who does pest control you just are replacing the poison with food.

So I said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggsong

Hmmm, that's a great idea. I'll have to give that a try. I can't wait to start the BSF larvae. They are just so exciting because of their nutritional value. Plus, they breed like... well, flies.

Then you said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lasher

I hope I'm not the only one thinking 'BSF?'?

heh...

sorry, I just woke up... I've got an odd sense of humor in the mornings.

froggsong · #10 (**permalink**) 09-17-2009, 03:35 PM

So, I mentioned in another thread (Superworm/mealworm bedding: Which type is best?) that I was feeding Mazuri lab block for rodents to my mealworms. I decided I would toss some in for my crickets as well, and WOW. They have gone wild for it. There were about 15 or so in the dry food dish before I added the Mazuri, and now there are at easily three times that many, most of them on the Mazuri. I wonder if the supers would like it as well? I get it for around a dollar a pound, and I don't feed it exclusively, so I always have some lying around. If all the bugs will eat it, that is great, I can use it as a gutload along with my recipe. It's actually quite good that the mealies (and hopefully the supers) will eat it, because you don't generally gut load them, and this gives the chance to make them more nutritious.

I took a look at the Mazuri site, and I didn't know they made diets for so many different exotics (most of them zoo type animals). They even have a high calcium cricket gutload (says it isn't intended to be fed to breeding stock). I was really happy with the rodent diet, and now I am even more happy with it. It's nutritious, inexpensive, and now has has multiple uses. Got to love something that has those qualities, lol.