tips on how to begin starting a feeder cricket colony?

[rikkitiger]

Read my other posting with my first problem with crickets to understand this posting please: http://www.frogforum.net/food-feeder...tml#post189987 So anyways, yeah. Does anybody have any tips for me on how to start a successful cricket colony? And is it indeed easier than just keeping buying them? Thanks for all replies, I appriciate the help. I am just happy to have healthy tree frogs and don't want to feed them bad crickets.

[Mentat]

Frog Forum - Culturing Crickets - Care and Breeding of the Common House Cricket

[dmallia]

When I started my own crickets colony, I started with 2 32Ltr and 1 15Ltr plastic boxes similar to this ( http://www.infobarrel.com/media/image/3774.jpg ), and done some holes on the top for air. Than I have 2 small containers, with soil.

After that the "tools" where ready, I got 50 Adult crickets and placed them in one of the 32Ltr box, with egg carton and toilet paper rolls. Than I sprayed one of the soil containers with water, so it will have humidity, and placed it in the large adult container. After 1 week I remove it and replace it with the second one. I placed the first soil container in the small 15Ltr Box and leaved it for another 4 days in a warm place. From the 4th day, I check the container to see if I see something in the soil moving. If no I close the box and recheck the next day, and if I see something moving I place some lettuce and oats(lettuce as a water supply and oats as food since I don't like to put watered paper towel in babies crickets since they die very easily). After about a week in the container I move the crickets into the medium container while leaving the soil(since it could be that there are still some eggs) and place the second soil container in the small one.

I generally make 2 weeks with soil containers for adults to lay eggs and 2 weeks with no containers so I let the babies grow and place them in one container. Than the cycle starts again.

The mostly important thing is to supply them with fresh fruit and water daily(I add calcium on the lettuce, so that my frogs eat healthy crickets with calcium) and clean the whole container every week or 2(depends on how dirty is the container).