If you got several reptiles and/or tarantulas it is cheaper to grow them yourself. An average box of crickets costs between € 1.80 and € 2.60. These crickets are often of poor quality and die within a few days. The crickets you grow yourself live longer, you're sure you have enough crickets and they are of good quality. The house cricket (Acheta domestica) is the most common cricket. The cultivation of these and the field cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) is done in the same way. The only disadvantage of the field crickets is that they make a lot more noise than the house crickets.
Housing:
The most important of housing is to ensure that the container where you put them, escape-proof. Small dust crickets can get between almost everywhere. It is best to take a container that is at least 40 centimeters high, the crickets can less easily jump out this way. For ventilation just put some holes in the lid.
The best temperature is about 30 degrees, this can be achieved by using a lamp, heat cable or a heating pad. Crickets that you are going to use as prey, live longer at room temperature.
When crickets do not get the right food, they can be cannibalistic, so it is important to create a sufficient area. You can do this easily by using some egg cartons and for the dust crickets you can use some crumpled paper. You also need a water dish and an oviposition bowl. The water dish can best used in combination with a natural sponge or small stones so they can't drown.
Sexing:
Only the males make noise, they do this to attract females and to expel other males out of their territory. The females of all species have an ovipositor on their abdomen, this is also seen by sub-adult crickets. Always make sure that there are more females than males are present in your breeding.
Oviposition:
Females begin to lay eggs after about a month at about 30 degrees. A well fed female can lay up to 200 eggs per day.
Make sure the substrate you use in your oviposition got an airy structure and does not dry out too quickly. It must remain moist at all times; if it is too dry, dry the eggs out and when it is too wet, they go moldy.
To ensure that the eggs are not eaten by the crickets, you can protect them by putting some metal wire gauze on the tray, the females can lay eggs bu using their drill but they can not reach it.
Feeding:
The kind of food you give your crickets, is very important for a good breeding, for example, when you give them too little protein (bran) , they will be cannibalistic. You can best feed them a mixture of cat food, dog biscuits, fish flakes and even calcium. Also occasionally give them a piece of fruit and/or vegetables.
Breeding Your Preys
Crickets
Grasshoppers
If you got several reptiles and/or tarantulas, it is much cheaper to grow them yourself. The grasshoppers you buy in the reptile or pet store are often of poor quality and die fairly quickly. When you grow grasshoppers yourself, you are sure they are of good quality and that you always have enough.
Housing:
Keep the grasshoppers in a plastic box or aquarium (both with a mesh lid), you can also keep them in a terrarium . You can optionally place a heat lamp to higher the temperature. As bedding you can use peat.
Oviposition:
Provide a pot or bowl with sand and/or vermiculite, so they can lay eggs. The sand/vermiculite should be watered regularly. When eggs are in the pot or cup, it is best to cover it with another pot or bowl so that the sand can not dry out and the eggs can hatch. Note that the small grasshoppers could come through.
Feeding:
Grasshoppers eat almost anything, like a fresh mixture of different plants, lettuce, cabbage and grasses. They also need dry food (cereal or oatmeal) which you can place in a bowl. You do not have to add water, since it's better to keep it dry than wet.
Mealworms
It is cheaper to grow them yourself than buying new mealworms every time. The mealworms you buy in the reptile or pet store are often of poor quality and die fairly quickly. When you grow mealworms yourself, you are sure they are of good quality and that you always have enough.
I'm starting a new project because the project written down here is not working out very well for me (mold). The new project is written below the old one.
Housing (mealworms):
Keep the mealworms in a container which needs an edge minimum of 4 inches, so they can not climb out. Ventilation is very important, so never put a lid on the container. Use a substrate of bran, wheat flour and/or oatmeal. For moisture, you can feed fresh fruit or vegetables each day, but make sure that the surface stays dry.
Housing (cocoon):
When you see a cocoon appear in the container of your mealworms you must take them out and keep them in a different container. You don't have to do a lot with this container, just make sure you have good ventilation and you put some substrate in this container too. After about 2 to 3 weeks the cocoons come out and you will notice white to beige beetles. They will turn darker as they age. You have to take out the beetles and place the beetles in a third container. You can best place a mosquito net over the container so the hatched beetles can not escape. Optionally you place a little bit of food to ensure that the new beetles do not damage the cocoons.
Housing (beetles):
The container of beetles should be about 40 x 20 x 20 centimeters in size and you can best place a mosquito net over it, because although they rarely do, they can fly.
You use the same surface as the mealworms, but you can also use sand. The disadvantage with sand is that you need to feed a mix of bran and wheat flour. Moisture can be achieved through vegetables or fruit.
Oviposition:
After about two weeks, the females lay eggs, which they keep doing for about 3 full months and then they die. Each female lays a few hundred eggs. It is best to keep about 10 cm ² open sand, so that the females can lay their eggs here. Every day you need to get the eggs out and place them in a separate bowl (so now you got 4 different boxes).
After about two weeks, the eggs hatch. The meal worms that are out there about 3 to 4 mm and pure white in color. It does not take long before they get the color of the adult mealworms. The first few weeks they will molt many times and you will also encounter many molts in the box. It takes long before the small mealworms reach adult size.
* New project:
After a few weeks of trying around with lots of different containers, I decided to switch to a 3-drawers plastic dresser, but you can choose one with more drawers, too.
Housing (mealworms):
Keep the newest mealworms in the third drawer, on a substrate of oatmeal. Make sure they got lettuce, carrot or potato to eat to regain their hydration.
Housing (cocoons):
Take all cocoons out of the third drawer and place them in a seperate container, on a substrate of oatmeal. Optional you can place lettuce, carrot or potato for the new beetles so they won't eat the cocoons.
Housing (beetles):
Before putting the beetles in, you must make sure you change the bottom of the first drawer to a very fine gauze. You do this so the baby mealworms, which recently hatched from the eggs, dig around and will fall down, so the beetles won't be able to eat them.
Use oatmeal as substrate and make sure they got lettuce, carrot or potato to eat to regain their hydration.
Cockroaches (Dubia)
The advantages of cockroaches in relation to crickets:
1. Cockroaches make no sound
2. Cockroaches can not jump
3. Breeding is easier
4. Cockroaches are less susceptible to mold
5. Tropical cockroaches do not survive long in the house (after they escaped)
6. You do not have much to worry about the breeding, it's more or less automatically
7. Cockroaches can live longer without moisture
The disadvantages of cockroaches compared crickets:
1. Cockroaches are harder to get than crickets
2. Setting up a good breeding takes long
3. Cockroaches will slowly die if the temperature is below 20 degrees
4. Cockroaches can not refrigerate
Housing:
It is best to use a curverbox to keep them in. Cut a piece from the lid and provide this with piece of mosquito net for ventilation. Use egg cartons until about half of the curverbox and put some toilet rolls down (the toilet rolls help you to easily shake out a few cockroaches). It is best to use a heat mat so you can reach the right temperature. Keep one part of the box free so you can place food.
Feeding:
Basically, you can give them almost anything, such as dry food (fish flakes, dog food), but they also like to eat vegetables and fruits (banana, lettuce, carrot). Give them fresh food about 3 to 4 times a week, remove the old food.
Oviposition:
You can best keep the cockroaches at a temperature between 27 and 33 degrees. When the females have created an egg sac they will resign this as a thread sort of eggs. Next, the male fertilize the eggs. When that happened, the female pulls the eggs back inside. The eggs develop in the body of the female and eventually she will give birth to live young. At first the cockroaches are under a centimeter wide and it takes about two months before they reach adulthood.
