First attempt at cricket farming

[elliotulysses]

This is my first attempt at cricket farming. I have done a fair amount of research and it seems that they are no more difficult to keep than the mealworms I had in grade school.
Right now there are about 150 small crickets that I am keeping in a 5 gallon tank with a screen lid. They have plenty of paper egg cartons to hide/climb in and I feed them fruits and veggies every day.
So far is this a good way to raise them until they become sexually mature?

[elliotulysses]

I am considering changing from their tank to a cricket keeper, especially since it's a little difficult to transport them over to my FBT tank.

[mapdoggis]

I'd be interested in hearing from cricket breeders too!

As for the transporting part, I use toilet paper rolls instead of egg cartons. When I get ready to feed I just grab a roll of crickets and dump them into my 32 oz dusting cup. If there are too many, I pour some of them back in their tank. Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my frog's stomachs and I end up dumping some dusted crickets back in their home - they don't seem to mind or be fatally affected by the dusting. I even chill mine to slow them down for the frogs - so they are crawling but not jumping. That doesn't seem to kill them either. They are pretty hardy little creatures.

[Ash]

This is a great way of keeping Crickets make sure they have fruits and veggies in no longer than 2 days and removed before spoiling. Also good to have a supply of water gel crystals so they do not drown in water.

Are you hoping they will breed? I raise crickets so I wonder if you are planning to breed them. If so you will need to provide some additional things.
It is a good idea to keep empty paper towel rolls to transport crickets as well as a few small eggflat squares cut down to several inches as that number of crickets will dwindle quickly depending on the number of fbt that you have.

[Hibiscusmile]

I use a grain meal with mine and give veggies for their moisture along with the water crystals. Some people also use a little tray of wet sand when the crickets are mature and need to lay.

[elliotulysses]

This is a great way of keeping Crickets make sure they have fruits and veggies in no longer than 2 days and removed before spoiling. Also good to have a supply of water gel crystals so they do not drown in water.

Are you hoping they will breed? I raise crickets so I wonder if you are planning to breed them. If so you will need to provide some additional things.
It is a good idea to keep empty paper towel rolls to transport crickets as well as a few small eggflat squares cut down to several inches as that number of crickets will dwindle quickly depending on the number of fbt that you have.

I am interested in breeding. From what I understand I need a container with soil and more heat than normal to get things going?

[Ash]

Good, Yes a tray or container of soil or sand with ramps leading up or Buy Eggflats to build up to level of tray or container for easy access. The soil should be kept moist and I have found that a screen over the soil will allow the females to deposit eggs while preventing cannibalism of the eggs (It happens) Keep a practice of feeding more males than females to your fbt and or other pets. The females will do fine with just a few males to breed with. Now Crickets need at the least 70 degrees F, However they prefer 80 degrees and even up to 85 for breeding. The higher the temps (Up to about 85) the faster they cycle ie: breed, feed, live and die, I have found I can extend the lifespan of my crickets by weeks by simply lowering temps from high range although this will slow down there breeding and activity.

Make sure you keep the soil moist. After a week or so remove the soil. You should see eggs like tiny grains of rice. Cover the tray well and incubate at 80-85 degrees. Keep the soil moist so the eggs do not dessicate. Dry eggs will not hatch. Soon you will have pinheads emerging wait a few days for them all to hatch and then provide them with a moist veggie or fruit and transfer them to a totally separate container for raising (No adults) With a few hundred crickets you can have thousands of crickets so you can learn to control their growth and breeding by manipulating variables. Need less crickets? allow the eggtray to remain with adults for shorter time so less eggs are laid etc. When crickets start from pinheads their lifespan is much longer than when you get them at later stages.

there are a lot of good articles and guides online however there are always some nuances that cannot be covered in that case If you have questions I will always make myself available so feel free to contact me.






























available

Hope this helps

[elliotulysses]

Good, Yes a tray or container of soil or sand with ramps leading up or Buy Eggflats to build up to level of tray or container for easy access. The soil should be kept moist and I have found that a screen over the soil will allow the females to deposit eggs while preventing cannibalism of the eggs (It happens) Keep a practice of feeding more males than females to your fbt and or other pets. The females will do fine with just a few males to breed with. Now Crickets need at the least 70 degrees F, However they prefer 80 degrees and even up to 85 for breeding. The higher the temps (Up to about 85) the faster they cycle ie: breed, feed, live and die, I have found I can extend the lifespan of my crickets by weeks by simply lowering temps from high range although this will slow down there breeding and activity.

Make sure you keep the soil moist. After a week or so remove the soil. You should see eggs like tiny grains of rice. Cover the tray well and incubate at 80-85 degrees. Keep the soil moist so the eggs do not dessicate. Dry eggs will not hatch. Soon you will have pinheads emerging wait a few days for them all to hatch and then provide them with a moist veggie or fruit and transfer them to a totally separate container for raising (No adults) With a few hundred crickets you can have thousands of crickets so you can learn to control their growth and breeding by manipulating variables. Need less crickets? allow the eggtray to remain with adults for shorter time so less eggs are laid etc. When crickets start from pinheads their lifespan is much longer than when you get them at later stages.

there are a lot of good articles and guides online however there are always some nuances that cannot be covered in that case If you have questions I will always make myself available so feel free to contact me.



available

Hope this helps

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That is extremrly useful. I will keep this in mind while I raise my guys. Also, how often do you dust yours with calcium/vitamin D?

[Ash]

My crickets and All insects that I raise are fed an All natural Diet including leafy greens and fruits making sure to avoid calcium blocking oxalic acid (found in spinach appreciable amounts in raw spinach and chard). I also make calcium enriched Water Gel Crystals to water them.

As far as dusting crickets for my frogs all my tanks have aquatic features and my fbts' pretty much snag crickets from their water perches so I tend to calcium dust at every feeding as very little calcium sticks I watch the crickets remove what they can and inevitably some washes off.