Asexual Crickets

[pepatt]

OK, what gives here?

I bought some crix to feed while my dubia colony grows. I figure I'll raise both crickets and roaches; I like more than one kind of meat, maybe Porter does too!
Well, I set up the crickets with some eco-earth in a container to lay eggs in as outlined here http://www.freewebs.com/muggsypug/cricketbreeding.htm

It's been over two weeks and nothing!

Are my crickets asexual?

I should mention that I bought 1000 crickets.

• Is that too many so have together for breeding?
• Are they just stressing one another out?

I don't really need a zillion crickets, but I would like to breed some just to keep plenty of food available for 'the man' without breaking the bank.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[patrickb]

My first question would be do you have any adult crickets in that 1000? If you hear chirping, then you know you have adult males, and surely adult females will be around as well. Not sure how you have the eco-earth setup, but if you have it in containers, hopefully they are clear containers. If they are, you can see whether eggs have been laid in the substrate or not. Also, it needs to be kept moist and never allowed to dry out. If it dries out even for a day, the eggs will dessicate and are duds at that point.

The other thing is temps, the warmer it is, the sooner the eggs will hatch. If you started with adult crickets at the time and now two weeks later you haven't seen any hatchlings, it is possible that the temps are too low. At around 90-95 degrees they will hatch in about one week after laying. Down in the 80s it takes closer to two weeks so you may still just need to wait a bit longer if your temps are on the low side. They should start hatching any day now assuming the eggs weren't dried out.

 

[pepatt]

My wife will be the first to tell you that yes, there are adults in the batch!

I think the issue is temperature.
I had read once that crickets will last longer at room temp than if you keep them warmer.
Apparently that is not good for breeding.

Thanks for the info!

 

[scalesandtales]

Are you keeping the soil moist at all times? The eggs die if they dry out. Use a lamp with a regular 75 watt bulb in it and you will have babies in no time.

 

[patrickb]

Yep, it is very true. To prolong their life where you would want them to live as long as possible to feed as many off as you can, you would keep them much cooler, even down into the 60s. This can add up to 50% more lifespan onto them. But for breeding results, they need to be nice and warm. If you get them up and running good, you can breed them at the lower temps, but you need a rotation going before you can do that. Up the temps and you will see results, just don't let the soil with the eggs in it ever dry out. It should never be soaking wet, but very very moist. A spray bottle and a good solid misting daily or every other day helps to keep the soil good and moist. Clear containers work good here since you can see the moisture of the soil all the way through and judge better when you should spray it.

 

[pepatt]

OK, I added a 65watt flood light to the bin for a little heat.

WOW!

I see what people are talking about when they say crickets are noisy. They never made too much sound before, but now that they are all warm they are really chirpin'!

I also see eggs in the eco-earth already.

Amazing.

 

[ronni1221]

Woo hoo! Bring on the babies! I admire that you're breeding crickets, seeing that they smell and are a little more difficult to breed. Good luck!

 

[pepatt]

Woo hoo! Bring on the babies! I admire that you're breeding crickets, seeing that they smell and are a little more difficult to breed. Good luck!

You know, I don't find them all that bad. Maybe I'm a pig. 8)
My wife can smell them 10 feet away, but I don't think they're super offensive. And I only have to clean the tub out about once a week (at least that's all the more often I do!)

I just enjoy learning about all this stuff. It's like being a kid again, except instead of keeping a bug I'm keeping thousands

 

[ronni1221]

I just enjoy learning about all this stuff. It's like being a kid again, except instead of keeping a bug I'm keeping thousands

hehe. I know the feeling! Insects are really neat creatures. I'm not squeamish about bugs. Having tarantulas, scorpions and now a bearded dragon has jaded me I suppose. I kept about 20 crickets in 7th grade for a science project. It was cool, but they did smell! Maybe it's a female thing to find their scent offensive. :lol: I had hissing cockroaches for awhile, and now I'm about to breed dubias! Can't wait! Bring on the bugs and (again) bring on the babies!

 

[pepatt]

...and now I'm about to breed dubias! ...

Now those are awesome. I love growing my colony. Dubias breed kind of slowly, so it's real exciting when you find the first babies! The babies are cute - at least in comparison to their mom and dad! :lol: