13 replies to this topic

[Saltynuts]

I bought some meal worms and crickets, and they LOVE the crickets, but don't seem to care at all about the meal worms.  And they don't seem to touch any other kind of food.  But I had bought some crickets, but I didn't take good enough care of them so they died after a few weeks.  So I ordered some more and they arrived yesterday.

 

So I really want to breed them so I don't have to keep paying for them.  Most particularly, what do you feed them?  Also, if I keep them in a big plastic tub outside in the shade, will they stay cool enough to avoid heat death (I'm in Houston)?  Wife will most certainly not allow me to bring them in the house. Other than putting food and water in from time to time, anything else I need to do (besides cleaning out poop I suppose)?  Thanks!

[Loops117]

I've always had success feeding my crickets the same diet as my cockroaches. There diet consist of Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, greens, and water. Sometimes i'll add other hard veggies like rhubarb but nothing soft. The thing is you want the food to dry out instead of rot. Potatoes and carrots hold their liquids for a long period of time without molding or rotting. Fruits normally break down and lose there consistency after 24-48 hours, leaving a mess you won't enjoy cleaning. You're also going to want to supplement there setup with some type of hydration they can access, but not get in to. I normally use test tubes with a wad of cotton sticking out the end. I put 4 or 5 in my bin and refill them as i see them. I also have a large bag of insect feed i give to my roaches, crickets, community insect tank, and ants that helps keep there guts full between veggies. Everything i feed them is organic as well.

 

Lastly, you can use different kinds of substrate to breed them in, but that also depends on how you maintain your cultures. I use substrate or bedding with everything i culture. Some recommend using just carboard, eggcrate, tubes,..etc in an empty bin, but that was horrible. Nothing is worse then scrubbing cricket poop from a bin. The smell builds up quicker and if there's nothing to help absorb the smell, it escapes and now you have a really foul scent lingering.

 

Have you tried fruit flies? I have success feeding D.hydei to almost every species i have.

Edited by Loops117, July 13 2017 - 7:50 AM.

[Saltynuts]

Thanks a ton Loops!  Any particular generic insect feed you might recommend?  Some not very pricey hopefully, and if the ants eat it, that is a huge bonus!

 

I bought some fruit flies from amazon, but it just seems they were so small, and all seemed to be dead on arrival, stuck to the wall and ceiling of the container.  There seemed to be just a few larvae crawling around, but they never really seemed to develop.  I just ended up throwing the thing away. 

[Nathant2131]

Thanks a ton Loops!  Any particular generic insect feed you might recommend?  Some not very pricey hopefully, and if the ants eat it, that is a huge bonus!

 

I bought some fruit flies from amazon, but it just seems they were so small, and all seemed to be dead on arrival, stuck to the wall and ceiling of the container.  There seemed to be just a few larvae crawling around, but they never really seemed to develop.  I just ended up throwing the thing away. 

If you live in the right area, you can get a fruit fly culture at a Petsmart. They don't last too long though.

Edited by Nathant2131, July 13 2017 - 11:51 AM.

[Ants Galore]

Salty Nuts I'm in Houston too!

[Saltynuts]

Neet Ants Galore!  What part are you in?  I'm an any newbie, but I'd love to get together and buy you a beer sometime and pick your brains about everything you know about ants.  

[Ants Galore]

No thanks so the beer but I'm in Katy! And I'm not of age to drink beer🤤
Those grammar skillz tho😂

[Ameisen]

 

Thanks a ton Loops!  Any particular generic insect feed you might recommend?  Some not very pricey hopefully, and if the ants eat it, that is a huge bonus!

 

I bought some fruit flies from amazon, but it just seems they were so small, and all seemed to be dead on arrival, stuck to the wall and ceiling of the container.  There seemed to be just a few larvae crawling around, but they never really seemed to develop.  I just ended up throwing the thing away. 

If you live in the right area, you can get a fruit fly culture at a Petsmart. They don't last too long though.

 

How long do they last? I thought they'd just keep breeding, and so long as you put food in occasionally, you'd get more. By us, Petco has them.

[Reacker]

Feed your crickets other ants. Complete the circle. 

[drtrmiller]

Feed your crickets other ants. Complete the circle.

[Kevin]

Feed your crickets other ants. Complete the circle. 

 

I was about to write something about that.

[cpman]

Thanks a ton Loops! Any particular generic insect feed you might recommend? Some not very pricey hopefully, and if the ants eat it, that is a huge bonus!

I bought some fruit flies from amazon, but it just seems they were so small, and all seemed to be dead on arrival, stuck to the wall and ceiling of the container. There seemed to be just a few larvae crawling around, but they never really seemed to develop. I just ended up throwing the thing away.

If you live in the right area, you can get a fruit fly culture at a Petsmart. They don't last too long though.

How long do they last? I thought they'd just keep breeding, and so long as you put food in occasionally, you'd get more. By us, Petco has them.

They'll last about a month or so if you get a fresh one. It's pretty easy to make a new culture though. Just transfer some flies from the old one to the new one, and they'll keep reproducing.

[Barristan]

Crickets are omnivores you should also feed them some animal protein for fast growth. I feed mine fish flakes, dry food for cats and sometimes even dead insects (but very rarely). I tried a dead mouse one time and they ate almost everything (even some bones).

Some breeders say that if you don't feed them enough animal protein cannibalism will increase (I don't know if that's true). Even with enough protein food mine ate each other from time to time (mostly weak crickets were eaten by others):

 

 

In the video you also see one eating styrofoam :-)

Edited by Barristan, July 18 2017 - 12:19 PM.

[Reacker]

 

Feed your crickets other ants. Complete the circle.

 

I had thought about posting that very video and now I regret not having done so.