Raising Crickets

Ok I tried starting a cricket breeding colony. IT didnt go so good. Anyone want to give me some advice, I tried readin some help files. Anyone just have some general advice.

How did you try setting up the colony? Food, water, temps, etc.? How many crickets did you put in the first colony, and how old were they? Without knowing what you DID, nobody can tell you how to improve.

If you bought ADULT crickets to start the colony, that is your first mistake. Those are usually old. Always start with last instar or younger crickets.
KJ

Originally Posted by KJUN

If you bought ADULT crickets to start the colony, that is your first mistake. Those are usually old. Always start with last instar or younger crickets.
KJ

I never would have thought of that, but it makes perfect sense. How old are last instar crickets though? two weeks? three?

i set mine up with potting soil, moss and egg cartons for hides, bred like wild fire, feed them oatmeal and fishfood mix.

Originally Posted by monkeywrench133

I never would have thought of that, but it makes perfect sense. How old are last instar crickets though? two weeks? three?

Instar is a basically an intermediate growth stage in insects, so the "last instar" is just the last stage before they molt into adults. This is the stage where they lack wings, but you can ID the females by the presence of a small ovipositor (black thing out the "butt"). In other words, they are ALMOST winged adults.

KJ

Originally Posted by Diggy415

i set mine up with potting soil, moss and egg cartons for hides, bred like wild fire, feed them oatmeal and fishfood mix.

Since I use mine as feeders, I use fortified cricket chow. I THINK it makes a better diet for healthier crickets, but I do add some fresh vegies every so often just to do it. I don't believe it is necessary. For water, I use the hydrating gels in a petri dish. REMEMBER to sand paper the sides of food bowls, water bowls, egg laying bowls, etc. , or smaller crickets won't be able to climb in.

I suggest using NO substrate. It isn't needed - and can start to keep an odor. Keep the bottom place and dry, and you can clean the cage with a painters spatula. Just gently scrap the bottom clean. It'll be easy! You will need a small bowl filled with damp sphagnum peat moss for them to lay in, though. At ~82F, it'll take a few weeks (~3) for the eggs to hatch. If you needSMALL crickets for feeders, put a new bowl into an established cage every week. NOTE, it is better to have ~3 cages than one because your adults will usually lay for a couple weeks an die. If you get 3 cages, you can sort them 3-r weeks apart and have crickets more often. Crickets are cannibals, and adults will eat babies in crowded conditions, so don't keep mixed age colonies unless you can accept a lot of losses like that.

Hmmmmmm, what else....... I'm not sure, but the egg carton for structure is perfect. Stack them so there is a LOT of surface area, though.

KJ

OK that helps a lot. I just used soil the moss does make sense now. ANd yes I did buy adult crickets, now I know no to. I did use fortified cricket food and water gels.