cricket breeding

[kjpetriel]

Stupid question...
A female cricket has approx 100 eggs to lay. At what point do they start to lay eggs?
About a April 1, I bought 1000 1/4" crickets at a retile show. About a week and a half ago, I took they last 40 and put them into an enclosure all set up with water gel, food and a tray of damp peat moss. The enclosure is about 80 degrees and they seem healthy.

I setup an incubator and got the temp stable at 85 degrees.

After a week, I took the tray of moss out of the enclosure and put it into the incubator. 4 days later there are no pin heads.

They still don't seem full grown, so I'm thinking they just aren't sexually mature yet.

 

[lwilson3]

I asked questions about this too, but everyone told me to just use dubias and not to do it I'm still going to do it, but I'm scouring google a ton.

I don't have any experience, but from what I read it takes 7-10 days for them to hatch and sometimes you can't see them at first because they are so tiny. This is what I read about their sexual maturity on Flukers:

"The adult males and females become sexually mature and capable of mating at 3-4 days old. An adult insect never molts again. The female will not lay eggs unless mated. She begins laying eggs (ovipositing) at 8-10 days old, and will lay batches of 50-100 eggs every 2-3 days over a period of two months. The female must re-mate every 2-3 weeks, because her supply of stored sperm runs out after 2-3 weeks."
http://www.flukerfarms.com/PDFs/Cricket.pdf

I'm doing this for the first time too with about the same number of crickets. We set up the main area as an incubator and we are moving the adults out and into a 20 gallon tank in about a week because I read that the adults will eat the pinheads (right now it's a tote). It's all temporary and I'm trying to see if I can even do it before making egg trays and things... I hope you have more luck with answers than I did.

 

[Irwinshealth]

I too attempted this but gave up. Please let me know if you figure anything out. Dubias are not an option for me. Hubby said NO WAY!!! He has been an absolute troop when it comes to my beardies. Built me two great enclosures so I guess I can respect that. :?

 

[kjpetriel]

So maybe they're too old?
I was told that the female would only lay about 100 eggs over her life..
So hard to get good accurate info.
:study:
Thanks

 

[EnookiMacek]

I also tried breeding them once and failed...But recently i read somewhere that you should leave the moss in the enclosure for about 14 days..And put a "net" over the tray..so high that the crickets can still lay eggs in it but they cant eat the eggs then..Three people i know have had success in breeding crickets this way..

(and also: the moss has to be damp at all times..)

I decided to give it another go and I'm gonna try it using their method..We'll see...

 

[suzuki4life]

moss?

I used sand...place it in a container with a raised lid that seals. (Bright white sand allows you to see pinheads easier and it won't mold) :wink:

dampened the sand to the point it will clump like making a snowball. Place the sand egg box in a cage with chirping crickets. Leave it there for 4-7 days.

Remove egg box and secure lid on comntainer. Make sure the sand remains damp before placing the lid on. Place the container in heated area. (i've used computer towers, TV's etc) But heat lamps and pads work just as well if you want to use the energy.

The sealed lid keeps the moisture in the container so it won't dry out.

 

[lwilson3]

Thank you! I will get some sand if the soil thing doesn't work out. We have a bassinet sheet stretched across the top to allow ventilation, and it clips to the hook of the tote with a command hook to keep it in place.

 

[Paradon]

Feed it lots of greens. They love them and it's a great food source.

 

[NeosMom]

I breed crickets with no problems at all. If they will chirp, they will make babies. I bought a bag of cheap potting soil. The best container I've found for eggs is a 1 lb deli container. Clear is better because you can see the eggs. I put my soil in and pat it down a bit and make sure it's nice and damp. Leave it in with the chirpers for about 4 days (mist lightly every morning to be sure it stays moist). Place the lid on and put with your heat source. Mine usually take about 10 days to hatch. If you are using a clear container, you can see the layer of eggs about 1/2 inch to an inch down. When the babies first start hatching, they look like sugar ants. It takes a week until they look at all like crickets.

Good luck and don't give up. I can't do Dubia here either, so I am working quite diligently on crickets, superworms and hornworms.