Cricket breeding

[12many]

New here sorry if i posted on the wrong section.

Anyways, i've done as much research as i can when it comes to breeding crickets and i have a couple questions that i couldn't find online.

My setup.
1. Housing adult crickets in a 10 gal tank with a bunch of toilet paper rolls and egg cartons.
2. Heating pad on the bottom of the cage the covers the whole bottom side.
3. food dish
4. water dish (Folded toilet paper semi soaked in water).
5. tupperware filled with soil (from the back yard) that is misted daily. (was thinking of getting something else, still undecided though).
6. FYI, all future crickets will be housed in a 10 gal tank (bought at walmart).

My question is.

Will the heat mat be enough to warm the crickets? i know that they'll die if it gets too cold. I know the temperature should be like 70-80, but is that floor temperature or air temperature?

I know they'll stink up my room even if i clean it weekly so i was planning on putting the cage in the garage but i think it'll be too cold. So, i was going to put a heat lamp but i don't know how much watt i need.

will 75W lamp do?

when i clean the cage, i put the crickets in plastic bin while i hose the tank with water.

do you think it'll be cheaper in the long run to breed crickets compared to buying them in bulk?

I bought 1k crickets from reptilefood and i was pissed cuz when they arrived, they were all dead. Spent $30, i contacted them but no one answered. So i'm never ordering there again.

 

[ReptileWorld]

Ok you have a lot going on here.. First i will comment on breeding crickets..

If you have a temp controlled room breeding crickets is easy. the heat pad will do just fine warming the enclosure for sure. instead of using moist paper try using water crystals. for food i use to feed mine all types of different foods from the cricket food orange cubes, greens and carrots, apples and oranges.

I also used a tub filled with cocofiber. Depending on how many crickets you have breeding you can swap it out every 3 days to 7 days to even 10 days. Swap the tub out into a fresh tank or bin and lightly mist it. make sure you have that spare bin or tank set up like your breeder to keep the cricket hatchlings alive and well. and their enclosure should be a tad warmer. mid to high 80's. If you dont rotate a lay box out the adults will feed on the eggs and babies.

now I find it MUCH easier to purchase crickets by the thousand at the local reptiles shows.

Now how come you are breeding crickets and not dubia? they have a much higher meat to shell ratio, higher in protine, and easier to keep and breed, and they dont smell nearly as bad! I my self just made the change over a few months ago and once i have more dubia then i can handle i am going to do away with the crickets and meal worms completely. The dubia from birth all the way to adult hood can feed almost any herp of any size. i feed even the new born nymphs to my larger dart frogs!

if thats something you may be interested in shoot me a pm i can point you in the direction of some people i got my dubia orders from and go with who you are comfortable with. :main_thumbsup:

 

[ZooKeeperKarin]

I swore by crickets until I realized what a PAIN they are. If you forget about them for a day or two you can lose an entire generation.
That said, I found it easiest to use the square cotton pads (sold with cotton balls) for the water. They don't dry out nearly as quickly and they are easy to change for fresh ones. Paper will probably fall apart.
I'd suggest using bagged topsoil instead of from your backyard. You'll be less likely to introduce other bugs. Make sure it is fertilizer free.
A 75 watt bulb AND a UTH will be too warm and you'll fry them (unless your garage is freezing cold). A 40 watt should work fine and even then you'll have to check the water supply often. The light dries it out quickly. Don't allow the egg-laying substrate to dry out. You will lose all the eggs laid.
Put the topsoil in a tupperware container, let the crickets lay eggs for a day or two and then remove the tupperware to house in another container. This will make keeping different sizes separate much easier.
I'm happy to be getting rid of my crickets! lol They are more work than the geckos!

 

[12many]

@reptile

haha roaches. uhhhh bad experience with them when i was a kid. I'm sorta scared of them now lmao.

I can only breed something that will be comfortable living in a 10 gal tank.

@zoo

so what kind of food do you breed for your gecko?

 

[12many]

uhhh what happened to my post that i just made couple secs ago???

anyways...

@reptile

uhh roaches lol. Bad experience with them when i was a kid. I'm kind of scared of them lmao. I saw a picture online to see what a colony would look like and dayuuuum, it was nasty. lol. i wouldn't mind trying though.... its just gonna be hard trying to get some to feed to my gecko.

So, since i can't pm you yet. Can you pm me your setup of your roaches?

Can they be housed in a 10gal tank?
Do i have to separate the babies from the adults like the crickets?
I know temperature matters but should the temperature be the air or the floor?

When i first started breeding crickets, i put them in a plastic tub with a heat mat under it. Next day, the bottom of the tub expanded lol. I read the instructions on the heat mat and it says no plastic. I didn't put it directly on the tub, i just put it under with like less than an inch gap in between.

How do i heat plastic tubs since heat expands it? I was thinking of installing a light fixture on the lid, but i figured it'd damage the tub.