iHerp Answers: Baby crickets

iHerp Answers!

Problem?

Search Create an Account, It's Free!

Home > iHerp Answers > Baby crickets

Baby crickets

Posted By:

kfethe

So granted this is a herp site, but herps gotta eat and crickets arent free. In the past ive tried to get crickets to breed and had no luck, but i threw a few into a container of peat and now i have flea size little crickets running around in there. So heres my question, what do i feed crickets that small? I threw in some powdered gutload food and some fresh fruits and vegetables in the hopes that they can eat that.


Points:	50
Topics:	Feeding , Knowledge Base
Tags:	Breeding, Crickets, Feeders
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Member Comment

1/7/2010 1:52:09 AM

iashia

dont quote me on this, but i think if you go to a local pet stre, they have cricket food there. my local one has food and water in the form of gel

Accepted Answer

1/7/2010 7:22:20 AM

abi21491

Not sure what kind of herps you're feeding, but dubia roaches are a better alternative to crickets. They don't jump, make noise, bite, kill each other, climb, fly... They breed easy and are super low maintenance. Just an idea :) The babies are small so they can feed everything but the tiniest herps. They have a higher meat to shell ratio too from what I've read.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 8:12:50 AM

Thundergeck

Since you already have the little flea sized crickets you can continue feeding them what you are already feeding them. Providing them with a source of moisture is the most important thing. Lettuce works great for moisture, I even coat the lettuce leaves with the insect gutload. You can also cut a potatoe into small chunks and that will give them moisture as well. You can also use a shallow cap like a soda cap, crumple up a paper towel stuff it inside the cap and drench it with water. This will provide them with water without giving them a chance to drown in the cap. If you use the paper towel method you really should change the paper towel at least every 2 days. There is debate the bacteria grows on the paper towel after several days of being moist. As for food you can really give them what ever you want, some people use left over scraps from dinner, fruits, vegatables, dog food. Just remember anything your crickets eat your reptiles will be eating as well... so give your crickets a good diet. If you have the gutload, I'd recommend sticking with that.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 9:22:53 AM

JohnJohn

Hey,

My first attempts at breeding crickets didn't go very well, until I really learned how to do it right. The absolutely best description of how to raise crickets is in the link below. If you set it up exactly as described there, you will end up with more crickets than you will even know what to do with. This system really works well if you do it exactly as described. And, if you do it right, they don't smell bad either.

http://www.anapsid.org/crickets.html

Member Comment

1/7/2010 9:31:37 AM

Sonja K. Reptiles

I agree with the dubia roaches! They breed like crazy, too! I have a colony.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 9:40:34 AM

JohnJohn

I also have a huge and growing colony of roaches. Why is it huge and growing???? Because none of my lizards will eat them! The problem seems to be that the sneaky little roaches run too fast and hide under things. I haven't figured out how to get around that yet. And I don't like the idea of cutting their little legs off! I'm still trying with the sneaky little roach bastards though!

Member Comment

1/7/2010 9:49:52 AM

abi21491

John - I cut the legs off of some of my roaches to feed to my tarantulas, otherwise they burrow under the substrate and the spiders can't get to them. I apologize to every roach, but I can bet having your legs cut off and being eaten ASAP instead of starving to death in the dirt is a better fate, lol.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 9:57:14 AM

shellboa

The most important part of keeping crickets is heat and moisture. Chunks of carrot work well and apple cores any thing that is dense and moist.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 9:58:02 AM

Thundergeck

John, you could try feeding your lizards is a separate bare container. Its a pain in the butt, but if you take a small plastic container and place a bunch of roaches in it and put one or two lizards in it at a time the lizards usually can catch the roaches easily and will eat until they are full. This way the roaches have no place to hide. It takes more time than just tossing roaches inside the lizards enclosures but at least you'll be able to monitor how much each lizard is eating.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 11:11:21 AM

Sonja K. Reptiles

Since the Dubia can't climb glass or plastic, I just put a dish of them into the enclosure and my lizards come and eat the roaches out of that dish.

Author Comment

1/7/2010 2:04:44 PM

kfethe

ok, roaches sound good but my bait shop doesnt have those so is there somewhere to order them from? and before anybody freaks, no i dont feed them out straight from the bait shop, they get to gutload for at least a day before my animals get them. and will the roaches eat the same stuff as the crickets?

Author Comment

1/7/2010 2:06:34 PM

kfethe

as for what im feeding, 3 leos, 3 afts, and a veiled chameleon. my red foot also occasionally gets the crickets.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 2:09:44 PM

abi21491

I got my roaches from a nice guy named Robert Sabol, but there are many places online you can order from. A few links:

http://www.aaronpauling.com/
http://www.nyworms.com/dubia_roaches.html

and if you want to get them from the guy I got them from, here is a link to one of his ads on Pangea:

http://pangeareptile.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32436

As for what they eat compared to crickets... Well, I don't know what crickets eat so I can't say but I feed my roaches a diet of powderized cat food mixed with protein powder, CGD, mini wheats, and occasionally I'll throw some butter or shortbread cookies into the mix cos I know they like them. lol. They also get fresh veggies or fruit every once in a while. Very easy to feed.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 2:23:23 PM

Joel K

taking care of 1mm crickets can be a pain. make sure you feed and water them well
i like to use water gel, veggies and ground up rat block

roaches are great

turkistan roaches drop egg cases so you get alot more little ones
they dont burrow and are very fast and active
they are cleaner and much more hardy then crickets

Member Comment

1/7/2010 2:24:55 PM

abi21491

The only bad thing about Turkistan roaches and Lobsters is that they are smaller and FAST. They can escape easier than the dubia so watch out! I personally think they look a lot creepier too, hehe. They make great feeders too though.

Member Comment

1/7/2010 10:00:24 PM

pikey

you want good Dubias with great shipping & price

http://theroachranch.com/online_store.html

Member Comment

1/7/2010 11:47:58 PM

Sonja K. Reptiles

I feed my dubias chick feed (like for baby chickens - not the medicated one) - get mine at Fleet Farm (comes in about a 40 pound bag and lasts for a year+ and only costs ~$13), and then fresh veggies here and there, too. Instead of using water crystals, I have one of those small self waterers - like for a cat - with a sponge it it so they don't drown. Keep them in a sterlite tub with a lid and use egg crates for them to hide in.

Quite often, I see people selling or giving them away on Craigslist because they do multiply quite rapidly - so, might want to check there.

BTW...
(I do have pics of my set up if you are interested - just let me know.)

Author Comment

1/8/2010 12:08:39 AM

kfethe

could roaches eat cricket gutload? and what heading should i look under in craigslist? btw thank you all for your input. its nice to have such easy access to good advice.

Member Comment

1/8/2010 12:10:42 AM

Sonja K. Reptiles

I usually see them listed in the pet section. Try searching roaches or feeders, most likely.

Member Comment

1/8/2010 8:51:20 AM

pikey

and yeah they are roaches they'll eat just abount ANYTHING

Member Comment

1/19/2011 3:48:31 AM

abi21491

This question has had no activity for 14 days and will be closed by an administrator unless the original poster takes action.

Recommended Action: Points awarded

An administrator will select responses and assign points at their discretion.

Original poster, please close this question out and assign points. If you have any further information in the resolution of your problem, please post it here so that others may learn from it.

You are not logged in. If you would like to participate (it's free!), you must log in, or Become a Member!