Captain Soup Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 So i have decided that its too expensive to keep buying live insects so im attempting to breed my first lot of crickets.. The plan is to leave a dish of moist soil in the breeders area (area B in the photo) for a few days then transfer it to the incubating area (area A) My questions are: What is the optimum temperature for them to breed in and for the eggs to hatch in? How much soil do they need to lay their eggs in? Ive put in about 3cm at the moment Does the set up in the photo look about right? If any anyone has any tips to help me out it would be greatly appreciated.... again Oo and do they sleep? because their chirping is rather noisy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 ditch the soil...too many bugs,get some vermiculite or propagating sand that you can sterilise beforehand.you should have a better hatching system than that as when they hatch they are going to be hard to contain?checkout google or old postings on here.As for the chirping...get used to it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason22 Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 you need more than 1 area for young as they take about 3 months to reach adult size, if you keep them all in the same one the larger one will eat the smaller ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 and there i was thinking i was being fancy using dads potting mix...hard to contian as in put a roof on it? :-? you mean the adults will eat the young or the bigger uglier young will eat them, drat so the tanks not a good idea? go for a couple 10L plastic cotainers instead? and yea google is where iv got the info from that lead to this,as for this site im having a lil difficulty navigating my way around.. but im getting there.. get used to it?...drat i thought thatd b the answer. lol. CHEERS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason22 Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 yer the bigger young will eat the small young. plastic bins sound good. Crickets are quite hard to breed, im still trying to get it right so am definitely no expert lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 ewwwwww crickets, im warning ya........they'l make you go mad...just like me :lol: stare at the face below long enough you may just have nightmares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTM Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 ewwwwww crickets, im warning ya........they'l make you go mad...just like me :lol: stare at the face below long enough you may just have nightmares image removed for space Just throw them in the terrarium, then you get to have the last laugh.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 hhahahaaha not exactly...they get away some times hide under rocks then i gota take everything out ect ect...P*** me right off... Haahahahaha i wonder if Larry wants to be a vegetarian. :lol: hahaaha i just have to try to sleep wif that chirping in my ear and i have bad enough nightmares !! ohhhh man... what have i got myself into.. :lol: the day i brought a lizard i said " this is going to be an INTERESTING adventure". oh well im not one to give in.. just brought propagating sand 2 containers and a heat mat ( thermostat included ) from easy grow. relatively cheap too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruru Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Stretch some old stockings over the ovipostition substate to prevent adults digging up freshly laid eggs. Soil/potting mix is fine to use, just bake it in the oven at 150C until its dry- kills most fungi and bacteria. Also throw in a few cat biscuits for protein if you don't already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 hehehe awesome thanks ruru i was just wondering if stockings would suffice!! and yup got the cat bickys in there!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 should the heat mat be on all the time? also. if anyone can help settle a debate i am having with my partner, she claims crix want moist enviroments, i think they want dry...atm the only moisture their getting is the moist sand but even thats enough to put condensation on the contianer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason22 Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 just normal air humity works best for me. the hatching get stuck and drown in the smallest drop of water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 :bounce: THANK YOU!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 So when i put the eggs in incubation i dont spray the propagating sand with water anymore to keep it moist? I read somewhere that the eggs can dry out and then they die... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 cover the egg medium with gladwrap to keep moist,watchout fro moisture droplets/condensaton forming as the young will drown on hatching as mentioned.i used to prick tiny holes with a sharp toothpick etc to combat this.When they start to hatch I would lift the gladwrap ever so slightly to let them out and still keep it humid underneath.They hatch over quite a few days if you let them.The adults and babies need moisture .any lapses....huge losses,especially the babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 hmmm, everything was going swell until i thought id give the crix a bit of apple, now its an ant enclosure. :evil: ivtaken the food out and put ant poison around the outside of the container but they seem to be unfazed, i know i cant put it in the container incase the crix eat it. anyvbody have any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Do reptiles not eat ants? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 not that i know off. and thats limited to my experience with my beardy. but ants are too small and just pester him really.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 the thorny devil from outback aussie feeds exclusivly on ants but the ants we have here are full of formic acid and not good for or eaten by our lizards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 yes i saw a steven austin feature on the thorny devil and even they only eat one type of ant a red ant i think it was... didnt know that they were full of acid though, thats interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptile_maniac Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 yes i saw a steven austin feature on the thorny devil and even they only eat one type of ant a red ant i think it was... didnt know that they were full of acid though, thats interesting. its Austin Stevens :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Soup Posted October 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 HA! my bad.. dam dyslexia? dislexia? dyslecsic? or is it dice-lex-lic?... god they couldn't have picked a harder word for that could they... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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