Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Rickeezee]

Can anyone please tell me how they house their breeding colonies of crix / locusts please.


I think I have gone about it in a non-economical manner.

I bought lots of large plastic tanks, well ventilated, that house them. Heat mats and clamp on halogen spots for light. It strikes me that each set up has worked out quite expensive.

They take up a lot of room, takes quite a while doing the daily veg feed and the weekly clean out!

It has now dawnd on me that larger set ups would have been best, live n learn eh. Less lighting units larger heat mats, less time tending to each set up!

What I would like to ask is; what does everyone use for a large set up, how do you make whatever you use escape proof. Thanks.


PS if anyone wants to buy a bulk load of various size plastic herp tanks, exo terra faunariums large size, and large size lees herp tanks let me know
Cheers

Rick
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[jak2108]

I keep locusts brown crix and black crix all together in an 18x15x15 glass aguarium. I have a 60watt houehold bulb in there which is on all the time and gives 80-90*. I have a coffee jar lid with water along with cotton wool balls to stop them drowning. A jam jar lid full of ground up dog biscuits and a ferrero rochet lid full of romain lettuce. I sprinkle calcium powder over everthing and they all grow like hell!!!
I buy them in small sizes and within a week or two they have doubled or tripled in size so it works out cheaper. At the moment i have about 600 about 1/4" big!!!!
I am sure that cos the bugs are well fed my beardy has grown at an alarming rate.
My beardy has grown to 11"t/l and is 4 months old with quite a belly!!!

Dont know if this helps you but the only thing i had to buy for my set up was the tank.
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Chance favours the prepared mind!

[Rickeezee]

Thanks for that, I have just mad eup a large set up now with a huge cardboard box, 20 wat spots and a heat mat, just cut large holes in it and covered with fine mesh.



Thanks Rick
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[JStroud]

Adult crickets were kept in large steep sided plastic boxes with tape round the inside about 3/4 of the way up to stop them climbing out. Fill the box with egg crate and place an egg box filled with peat at the top. Make sure the room is heated, crickets are the worlds thermometers, the quicker they chirp the warmer it is. Then slices of potatoes were used for water and trout pellet used to 'beef' them up.

The eggs boxes were removed and then hatchlings brought up in smaller boxes with scrunched newspaper. You can vary the diet of the crickets, as you know the better you feed them the better the animal that eats them will benefit from them.
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Regards James Stroud

[schoedaniel]

where can i get empty egg cartons from, apart from my fridge lol.
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1 Day and counting until beardie time!

[JStroud]

No idea, I don't even know where we got all ours from
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Regards James Stroud

[Scott W]

[schoedaniel]

144! wowzer that's alot i just need enough to keep a weeks worth of crix for a beardie alive for as long as poss to save me going shop everyday. I've just actually found some on ebay 10 1 dozen cartons for 2 quid that sounds okay, how often would the cartons need changing because 144 may end up better.
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1 Day and counting until beardie time!

[schoedaniel]

i've heard of people using a bran substrate for the bottom? is this correct and where can i get it from? is it the same as kellogs all-bran lol!
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1 Day and counting until beardie time!

[Scott W]

You don't need a substrate but they do require some bran in their diet. Go to a equestrian supplier, you want bran that is fed to horses about £6 for 20 kgs!
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk