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January 22 Hatching outWell, the baby cricketts after having fallen are hatching anyway. Not sure of the number of them yet, they keep hoppin all over and are the size of a pin head.you can see the size difference between those that recently hatched and those that hatched a few days ago.I have notice a color change in them as well. When first born they are dark in color. after a day oir two they are larger and almost white. Probly due to them shedding there skin.the ones born a few days ago are twice the size at least of those born today.the babies we had bought from the store a few weeks ago have already grown to large adult size and are ready to begin the next grop of egg laying.
The batch that is hatching now was from about 24 crickets breeding. The group that is about to start laying is closer to 100. We estimate with only a period of three days of laying eggs we have well over a few hundred babies. Minus the ones lost in carpet during spill. I can only imagine how many eggs will be layed by 100 over a period of 7 days. That is how long I will leave the egg laying containers in with them. As I get more hatcheries built I will continue to cycle egg laying containers in and out of the 100 adults cage. So I could have 10's of thousands of crickets in a relatively short period of time.
The crickets sell in stores for 9 to 10 cents a piece depending on where you go. I sell em to stores for 5 to 7 cents each but hey i in for fun not profit. As long as the crickets pay for themselves does it really matter.
I have built a new hatchery that can house 6 egg containers comfortably, and plan on building another one soon. IF you wish to try to start a small hatchery it is kind of fun.get at least 2 rubbermaid type containers, High walled is a must at least 2 feet high.the hatchery can be closed but needs air holes drilled into it. Temperature needs to be between 80-85 degrees and the soil needs to retain moisture. I spray mine with a spray bottle if they start to look dry. I put a wet paper towel in with them in case they cant get water from the soil. I also Grind up cricket food into a fine powder. It's easier for them to eat as a powder when they are so young. I use pringle canister lids for food and water dishes.
The adults can stay in about 75 degree range and need a water and food dish. Make sure you put at least one egg carton in for them to hide in. Depending on the number of crickets you have you may need more. Remember they will kill each other and eat each other if they are not housed or fed properly.
Share your thoughts on this subject if you want me to keep this topic going or not. See ya all later.
January 18 Baby Crickets
January 08 Cricket RaisingCricket Raising
Well, I started a cricket ranch/farm or whatever you may want to call it. It is actually pretty easy to do.you will need several plastic containers, such as 5 gal buckets, stoirage containers with high sides, at least 2 feet tall, remember they jump. You will also need calmp on lamps to put on each bucket, the crickets prefer about 75 degrees or so. Do not use any bedding other than egg crates. You will also need a smaller plastic container with potting soil or finely ground up wood in it. It will need to be moist. I use square throw away tupperware type containers. I have mine in a 55 gal storage container as well with a clamp on light. I have a second one for the smaller crickets, the bigger ones will eat the smaller ones. Need to keep em seprate.
You will also need a hatchery or two or three or four. Hatchery is basically a styrofoam container with the smaller tupperware with the potting soil or ground up wood. I got the wood filler from pet store. Don't use shavings from natural sources. You may introduce other insects or diseases into your colony. The hatchery will need to be kept at between 80-85 degrees, and needs to have ventilation holes in top to let out excess moisture and heat. Place the tupper ware egg container into another small plastic container that will keep the babies from crawling up the sides.
I used purchased food from pet store for crickets. They also need to have water. you can use a wet paper towel or a dish. if you use a dish put a sponge and or paper towel in it otherwise the babies will drown.
It was interesting to see the female crickets take to the egg laying container so quickly. after one day they were laying eggs one after another. Each female will lay aproximately 100 eggs. When the babies are big enough remember to put some into the breeding colony to replace the ones that die off. Adult crickets live aprox. 6 weeks. Crickets dont have wings until they become adults.so, if you think your gonna hear a bunch of noise, you wont. Except from the breeding colony every now and then.
I then take the semi mature crickets to pet stores to sell or to bait shops. Retail on em is 9 to 10 cents a cricket. and with 6 or 7 females laying 100 eggs each, it adds up. And they do this all day long.
I will post some pics of the different containers and such as i get some takin. Here are a few links if you want to check it out.
These are the sites I went to to learn what i needed to do. It really isn't that hard. And its interesting to watch em lay the eggs.
Just thought I would Share somethin with ya all.
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