Raising crickets 2
22 June 05
http://www.pumilio.com/food.htm
The info on this site really helped me get started with cricket breeding.
I'll include a few more tips that I've found has worked for me.
First, I use a large plastic tub, like the ones sold at target, to house the
breeders in. No substrate is needed at the bottom. I place the egg crate
vertically on the bottom, and on top of that the water tower, food bowl and
the breeding containers. I've used slick tape all the way around the top of
the tub (not the lid), so that the crikets can't climb up the sides. I cut
large holes in the top and sides of the breeding tub, and hot glue window
screen to cover the holes, which provides good ventilation. Be sure to use
metal screen, because the crickets will chew through fiberglass, and then
you have a houseful of loose crickets. You can even hot glue sunshade
fiberglass screen on the outside of the holes to keep other bugs out.
While your hot glue and screen is out, cut the middles out of the tops of
your breeding containers, and glue metal screen over the hole. These
containers can be simple like the plastic glad squares, also found at
target, or anywhere else. The screen helps keep cricket poo from
contaminating the substrate in the breeding containers, and keeps the
females from kicking dirt out. Females can easily lay their eggs through
the metal screen and into the substrate.
Like Thomas says, take out the breeding containers put an uncut lid on, and
wait for the babies to hatch...and replace with a new container using that
modified lid. When they do hatch, transfer them into a larger plastic box,
and start gut loading. My eggs take a long time to hatch, maybe a couple
weeks, as I never kept them warm enough. I'm thinking of making a homemade
incubator for them though, when I start raising again, because the warmer
they are, the faster they'll hatch. The same can be said for their growth
rate. I've tried to keep the breeding group as warm as possible, and the
professional breeder that I've talked to says that their facility temp is 90
degrees, but the real secret is keeping the temp constant. A constant
temperature, will get the best results. The temps in my garage were
constantly changing though, so it's not imperative. This thinking actually
works good in reverse for raising the pinheads. Meaning a cooler temp will
keep them smaller, longer. That way they don't get too big, too fast.
You can purchase the water towers the professionals use from many of the
cricket breeders websites. And there are sites were bulk egg crate can be
purchased too. I can't think of anything else that Thomas doesn't already
include on the link I gave you. If there's anything else he'd like to
append or add, I hope he will. Oh yeah, I clean the breeding tubs after
every breeding cycle. Then order more mature crickets to start the process
over again.
I hope this helps.
Peate
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