Cliff43J
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I quickly discovered that I did not want to pay outrageous prices for crickets to feed our geckos. The alternative was to get rid of the geckos or raise our own crickets. My grandsons would never let me forget it if I got rid of their geckos, so it was on to raising crickets. Which ones???
I went on YouTube and found a whole bunch of videos on raising crickets, from a small bin in your room to a fully automated robotic facility. I decided to keep it low cost and bought 3 Sterilite 90-quart containers. See photo with label and details. Next, I bought a package of 3 Rubbermaid Take Alongs to use as egg-laying containers. I have some coconut fiber and used that as the bedding for the eggs. We had a few egg crates and put 2 in each of the 90-quart containers. From the various videos I gathered that immediate hydration is important upon receipt of the crickets. In went a sliced-up carrot and some Romaine lettuce leaves. I shall be putting more egg crates in each of the 2, 90-quart containers. Right now there are no vents in the containers. I have some stainless steel screen material coming in soon, and some pieces will be inset into the container lids. As the containers are outside in the shade, they should do alright for a few days. If not, oops! Now, I ordered 2 batches of 50 medium-sized crickets from 2 different suppliers, one is the brown house cricket and the other is the banded cricket. The banded crickets should arrive in 3-4 days. Then we shall see which suits our breeding purposes best.
It is possible to spend a lot of money on setting up a cricket breeding "farm". and there are lots of videos out there that show you how to do just that. I opted for a bare-bones set-up. If and when we get into setting up additional bins, I shall start to experiment with various feeds and supplements which can dramatically improve production. Time will tell. Stay tuned.
Suggestions? I am all ears.
I shall update this thread as we make improvements and the crickets respond.
UPDATE 9-21-25: As expected, we have some cricket mortality. Of the 50 initial crickets we have lost about 10 or 12. The remaining crickets appear to be frisky. If I can get about an 60% survival rate, I shall be pleased. The weather is in the 90s at mid-day, so shipping is iffy.
UPDATE 9-24-25: The surviving crickets appear to be eating well. Witness the photo of the Romaine lettuce leaves which were fresh as of yesterday and whole without blemishes or holes. The carrots had smooth surfaces. Now the cut surfaces are pitted from eating. I have bought some Chicken Starter Crumbles which I will introduce in a day or two. Unfortunately, the local supplier did not have exactly what I wanted, but close enough. The preferred protein content is 20-25%, and this one has only 18%. This is how feed manufacturers cut costs to keep prices reasonably low. Damn the buyer and his stock. I shall try to get a head count tomorrow of the surviving crickets. They all headed for the safety of the egg crates, and I didn't have time to count them. Storm approaching, and I wanted to get inside the house.
Our second batch of crickets arrived this afternoon, much to our surprise. This batch was from a seller in Puerto Rico. The first batch was from Louisianna. How do they compare? Both were ordered on the same day. The Louisianna batch arrived on the 20th and the Puerto Rico batch arrived on the 24th. The Louisianna batch had about 20% dead upon arrival. I expected much worse from the Puerto Rico batch that arrived 4 days later, BUT only one appeared to be dead upon arrival. The others appeared to be more active. I put them in a separate bin and took a photo. They were all very "shy", or stressed, from their long trip and hid. Tomorrow I shall see if they are up to posing. Here is the link if you are interested in buying from them: https://www.ebay.com/str/mealwormspr?_trksid=p4429486.m168239.l149267 I have no financial interest in them.
UPDATE 9-28-25: The first batch of crickets have all expired, much to my horror. The second batch has lost only 4 and the rest are thriving. Tough one to figure out as they are in similar bins and habitats side by side. Much to my surprise, the batch bought from Puerto Rico are doing great.
I went on YouTube and found a whole bunch of videos on raising crickets, from a small bin in your room to a fully automated robotic facility. I decided to keep it low cost and bought 3 Sterilite 90-quart containers. See photo with label and details. Next, I bought a package of 3 Rubbermaid Take Alongs to use as egg-laying containers. I have some coconut fiber and used that as the bedding for the eggs. We had a few egg crates and put 2 in each of the 90-quart containers. From the various videos I gathered that immediate hydration is important upon receipt of the crickets. In went a sliced-up carrot and some Romaine lettuce leaves. I shall be putting more egg crates in each of the 2, 90-quart containers. Right now there are no vents in the containers. I have some stainless steel screen material coming in soon, and some pieces will be inset into the container lids. As the containers are outside in the shade, they should do alright for a few days. If not, oops! Now, I ordered 2 batches of 50 medium-sized crickets from 2 different suppliers, one is the brown house cricket and the other is the banded cricket. The banded crickets should arrive in 3-4 days. Then we shall see which suits our breeding purposes best.
It is possible to spend a lot of money on setting up a cricket breeding "farm". and there are lots of videos out there that show you how to do just that. I opted for a bare-bones set-up. If and when we get into setting up additional bins, I shall start to experiment with various feeds and supplements which can dramatically improve production. Time will tell. Stay tuned.
Suggestions? I am all ears.
I shall update this thread as we make improvements and the crickets respond.
UPDATE 9-21-25: As expected, we have some cricket mortality. Of the 50 initial crickets we have lost about 10 or 12. The remaining crickets appear to be frisky. If I can get about an 60% survival rate, I shall be pleased. The weather is in the 90s at mid-day, so shipping is iffy.
UPDATE 9-24-25: The surviving crickets appear to be eating well. Witness the photo of the Romaine lettuce leaves which were fresh as of yesterday and whole without blemishes or holes. The carrots had smooth surfaces. Now the cut surfaces are pitted from eating. I have bought some Chicken Starter Crumbles which I will introduce in a day or two. Unfortunately, the local supplier did not have exactly what I wanted, but close enough. The preferred protein content is 20-25%, and this one has only 18%. This is how feed manufacturers cut costs to keep prices reasonably low. Damn the buyer and his stock. I shall try to get a head count tomorrow of the surviving crickets. They all headed for the safety of the egg crates, and I didn't have time to count them. Storm approaching, and I wanted to get inside the house.
Our second batch of crickets arrived this afternoon, much to our surprise. This batch was from a seller in Puerto Rico. The first batch was from Louisianna. How do they compare? Both were ordered on the same day. The Louisianna batch arrived on the 20th and the Puerto Rico batch arrived on the 24th. The Louisianna batch had about 20% dead upon arrival. I expected much worse from the Puerto Rico batch that arrived 4 days later, BUT only one appeared to be dead upon arrival. The others appeared to be more active. I put them in a separate bin and took a photo. They were all very "shy", or stressed, from their long trip and hid. Tomorrow I shall see if they are up to posing. Here is the link if you are interested in buying from them: https://www.ebay.com/str/mealwormspr?_trksid=p4429486.m168239.l149267 I have no financial interest in them.
UPDATE 9-28-25: The first batch of crickets have all expired, much to my horror. The second batch has lost only 4 and the rest are thriving. Tough one to figure out as they are in similar bins and habitats side by side. Much to my surprise, the batch bought from Puerto Rico are doing great.
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