Maintaining Cricket Colony, How Often to Introduce Fresh DNA?

[UncleChester]

I've been using a couple dozen adults for each new generation, and about 500 have hatched each time, so not a massive colony. My 3rd generation of eggs is being laid now.

Anyone with experience on how long is this sustainable before I should add some new crickets to the breeding stock? I plan to buy a dozen adults for my next round of breeding, but would love some input.

Thanks in advance

[Greatballzofire]

I've been using a couple dozen adults for each new generation, and about 500 have hatched each time, so not a massive colony. My 3rd generation of eggs is being laid now.

Anyone with experience on how long is this sustainable before I should add some new crickets to the breeding stock? I plan to buy a dozen adults for my next round of breeding, but would love some input.

Thanks in advance

Me, too! I hope somebody answers this question. I've had the same line of crickets for about two years and they are still very productive. I only bought some new adults from Petco this spring because I forgot to hold back any breeders of my own (I trade crickets with a mom&pop pet store for rodent block). The Petco crickets did poorly. I think they may have been ill. I finally got old enough breeders from my original stock and now have gobs of crickets again from this at least two year old line. I am afraid to bring any crickets from outside because of the cricket densovirus that is going around.
To be fair to Petco, my original healthy stock came from
them, too, in 2008, a little batch of 50 adults.

[UncleChester]

That's useful to know you've had the same line for two years, thanks. How many breeders do you try to keep for each generation?

This is my first summer breeding crickets, I wasn't fully prepared for how fast they would grow in the heat (they do get a heating pad in the winter). They might move to the basement next year. Fortunately, my frogs can handle full sized adults.

[John]

This is one for Johnny and Paul.

[Greatballzofire]

That's useful to know you've had the same line for two years, thanks. How many breeders do you try to keep for each generation?

This is my first summer breeding crickets, I wasn't fully prepared for how fast they would grow in the heat (they do get a heating pad in the winter). They might move to the basement next year. Fortunately, my frogs can handle full sized adults.

I keep about 1000 adults for breeding stock. In each breeding tub I like to have about 100. The numbers could be off a bit; the only time I can count these things is when it is cold and they will hold still, more or less. As I said, not only am I feeding toads and lizards, I am trading my surplus crickets for rodent block. The result of my goof of not holding back breeders happened just about the time the cricket virus started to impact cricket availability nationwide. My pet store lady could not find any adult crickets and all I had were little ones. Fortunately the little ones grew up and are filling the lay tubs again.

They do grow slowly in the winter. I have a big batch of dynamite breeders that were themselves hatched in late January, and began finally producing young in April. They are still going strong and the April ones are now also producing young.