TC, I found my domestic crickets died off/cannibalized each other in fairly significant numbers. On the other hand, there wasn't really any noticeable die off/cannibalization with my banded crickets. Care was identical.
So, yes, I suspect species can make a profound difference.
could I leave the eggs in the same cage as the adults? Some people say you need a separate container for the eggs. Is that true?
Young are usually separated for a few reasons. Domestic crickets are relatively shortlived start dying en mass once they reach a certain age. You really want to try to keep their tubs clean to keep odor down, and it's tedious to try and separate crickets based on age/size. Some also cannibalize readily, so the eggs and young (especially post molt) make for an easy snack. You'll give the young a better chance by staggering hatch times in a few tubes. How much these points matter will vary depending on the species you breed. Some crickets live surprisingly long.
That said, if you only need a few crickets a week for ants, you could probably manage fine with some sort of cricket Thunderdome. You'll be surprised how effortless it is to get thousands of crickets a week if you want to.
Edited by Antsinmycloset, September 16 2017 - 5:19 PM.
