CRIX?

[xXColtzFanXx]

Id like to start breeding my own crickets at home for my dragon but im not quite sure how manny would be a good starter number or if theres any tips people can offer about rearing them.

 

[RioReptiles]

I'd start with 1000 to 2000 adults. I use 6" deli cups with vermiculite as a substrate and change them out every 1 to 2 days. Then I put the deli cups full of eggs in small plastic bins on top of my baby racks so they stay warm, about 90º to 95º. The warmer, the faster the eggs will hatch. Then I rear them in those plastic bins until 1/4" before I transfer them to a bigger bin. It's cool to raise your own, it just seems like it takes forever for them to get to 1/4", after that they grow really fast!

 

[Valerie]

I used to raise them. I used the tubs form Wal-mart and I used the sandwich size platic containers filled with soil. I would spray them down and put a bunch of female crix in it and let them lay their eggs. Then i would move them to shoe box size containers so I could keep the different sizes seperate. The main problem I had is the soil would get hard so you need to spary them down with water BUT you need to get a mister not a spray bottle as I would drown a bunch of babies after they hatched. { Unless vermiculite satsy moist} I would like to know that.

 

[RioReptiles]

When I first tried to breed them, I used soil and ran into the same problems as you. Keeping them warm made the soil dry out within a day or two and then they would never hatch out. After my baby dragons hatched, I would put the used vermiculite in coffee cans to store it for potting plants later. It stays moist long enough to hatch baby dragons in 60 days, so I decided to try it with the crickets. It did start to dry out a little half way through the incubation, but if I dampened it a litttle bit before it got completely dry, they would always hatch out successfully within 10 to 14 days. I noticed the hotter it was, the faster they hatched, so I put the containers of eggs in my garage where its humid here in Florida, and stays about 95 to 100 degrees through the day. Some of them hatched in as little as 1 week, never more than 10 days. And trust me, I tried unsuccessfully for a year before I tried the vermiculite.

 

[Valerie]

That sounds great! Now a dumb question, where do you buy vermiculite at? Also how do you or do you spray the newly hatched crix? I was always told to spray them down for thier water supply, now I wonder if one needs to.

 

[RioReptiles]

I've seen small bags of vermiculite at Lowes, you just have to make sure it doesn't have any fertilizer or chemicals in it. A local garden center may be a better place to get it but they may only have large bags. Once you have so many containers of it, once the eggs hatch, you can blow off the dried up casings and rewet it to use again. Once the tiny babies hatch, I use gallong jug lids as food and water dishes, then use a powder chow of ground Start n Grow by purina and water crystals for a water source. I only add water to keep the vermiculite moist until they hatch.

 

[Valerie]

Thanks a bunch! I may try crix again in the future but right now I am going to try my luck at the dubias. If I get more room or during the summer when it is warmer I will take your advice
and give it a try.