Nice info, nice explenation, i had been looking for something like that on youtube and nobody has such good videos about cricket farming 👍🏼👍🏼 thanks Shelby!! Go ahead with the hard work!
Thank yooouuuu! I'm a young owner of many animals who have main diets of crickets and I've been super struggling to find a video like this! I'm subscribing
I've been researching this process for days and days.... I wish I had found your video series sooner because you are the one I'll be tryin to mimic. Great videos and THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge and experience.
My small town has no local cricket breeders. We only have one store that sells crickets, and we're constantly out of crickets. I've decided im gonna try and help with the demand. Covid is kicking every industrys butt. So ill be checking out as many of your videos as I can. But I hope to buy my breeders Friday so I dont have alot of time to prepare lol.
Wish I could post video. I first started watching your videos. Then meet Mr Russell he is a local cricket farm here in Thompson GA. His grandparents started raising crickets in the 60's here. Between watching your RUclips videos and talking to him. I now have my second batch hatching out starting today.
Thanks for sharing all these videos, they’re so fun to learn and watch! Dare I ask how you separated the pin heads from the substrate? That’s a lot of pin heads!
Thank you for watching!! You can blow on them lightly and that can separate them, but the best way I've found is to allow them to naturally exit themselves. You'll never get them all, but most of them will shimmy their way out.
Interesting Shelby! I got some of your roasted salt and pepper crickets a few weeks ago. Looking for unique protein sources. I think I'll go with the powder or another flavor next time. I eat a lot at a time and I don't want to overdue it with the sodium. Keep up the fantastic work!
Hi! Thanks for watching. They come out of the peat moss on their own for the most part. You can use a low pressure air compressor to blow them out if you'd like. We use the same waterers as our adults, but with more rocks to they don't drown. We also use potatoes for them to drink from.
Hello! I appreciate this video. My issue with the pinheads is keeping the humidity at 100% for the ones hatching and not having them drown in the condensation. How are you achieving this?
Great question! It's a super delicate balance. I aim for 60-80% humidity as to bring down the condensation from lethal levels. They won't dry out (and will still hatch) at those levels. I've lost TONS of them to condensation and it changes with each season. You have to keep messing with it until you get it right.
Awesome Videos! Had a couple of questions for you as ive been just trying to raise crickets for my chameleons lol 1) what temperature do you keep it inside of your room? what about humidity? (im in Florida) 2) have you found a specific type of dirt that works best for the crickets to lay their eggs in? how wet do you keep the dirt 3) what kind of food is that that you are giving to the babies in this video? What type of potatoes do you give them also? 4) So you put 10k pin head crickets in each bin? Does this number stay that way as they get bigger or do you separate them into smaller lots as they grow? Do you know how many grams 10k pin heads weigh? 5) at what age do you actually start putting dirt trays in for them to lay their eggs in? How many trays of dirt do you put in each bin? How long do you let each tray of dirt stay in there before you swap it out with a new one? 6) on the cricket eggs start hatching how many days do you leave them in their bin before moving all of them together, then into separate bins? Thanks so much in advance for answering! Ive had some successful batches but have not been able to keep it going.
Great Questions! 1. Between 83-87 is pretty optimal. Humidity varies based on the age. pinhead to 2 weeks, you'll want it above 60%. After that, 35% works well for me. 2. I like peat moss. I cover that in a few other videos, including optimal moisture levels. Check those out if you can. 3. Fancy chicken feed is the best way I can describe it. It's a specific insect blend, but you don't need to be that fancy--your chameleons won't care! If you have a farm store near you, non-medicated chick starter works well! 4. I leave them in the same bin their entire lives. Those are 50 gallon bins. For a smaller set up, I recommend 18 gallon bins and 1-3k pinheads per bin with those. 5. Don't put breeding trays in until they're mature. i.e. the males are chirping AND the females have fully developed ovipositors. I only recommend leaving a breeding tray in for a max of 48 hours. 6. Once pinheads are hatched, they get put into grow out bins in the same day. Hope this helps! Thanks for the great questions.
@@BuildingInASmallTown I read this months ago but just now replying! Lol I’ve had like 5 successful hatching batches since then and I am learning! I do have to more questions for you. 1) when the eggs hatch, do you give them a certain about of time to finish hatching before you remove the dirt tray from the bin? I just always feel like I’m killing way to many crickets lol. 2) I’ve also noticed I go from thousands of them being hatched to only a couple hundred hitting majority. I do think it may have something to do with that poison gas problem you mentioned in one of the videos or I also struggle with flys laying larva in the bins. Somehow the water in the chicken waters gets out in the ground and then that’s where the flys start laying at . Anyways any more pointers would help and please point me in the right direction if you do have a video about that.
@The Cricket lady is there a way to stop gnats/soil flies from using the wet substrate to lay eggs/drink the water meant for crickets? like sand on the top of the substrate possibly? if i dry the substrate, no pinhead crickets :(. I use dry dog food that i dont think the gnats or soil flies can use for nutrition. Got like 100 gants/soil flies in my apartment torturing me, I towerl dry everything so they cant drink the water, like in the sink and shower, and make 10 home made fly traps, but their numbers are large, coming right out of my cricket bins. Keep my trash bins outside, so they cant eat off of that.
YIKES! This is a bummer. Can you see the eggs that they're laying? If so, dispose of them as quickly as possible. You are really limited in what you can do outside of mechanical solutions (ie smashing them, crushing eggs, vacuuming etc.)
@@BuildingInASmallTown my traps have thinned their numbers and putting sand on top of the wet substrate seems to make the gnats not lay eggs in them. Life is bearable in the apartment again. Going to try peat moss for substrate soon, hopefully it will stay wetter longer, even used "to go" boxes to try and keep the substrate wetter, longer, with a custom made ramp for the crickets to walk up.
Hey girl what r ur thoughts about feeding them oranges? I was told they boost production but I been iffy about it bc I have a beardie nd they can’t have citrus so im afraid to feed him crickets tht ate oranges
Hi there. Impressive set up. I was wondering if you have ever tried, or thought about bioactive bins? Possibly for you, as a reseller, not pertinent, but for the do-it-your-selfer, one or two bins, I am thinking it could be handy with a bioactive clean up crew. Your thoughts?
It happens to me all the time! I don't fight it, I just let them go. I end up with way more pinheads than I need, so it's not a huge problem for me. They can crawl out of literally anything. It's super frustrating.
Great video Shelby! Curious about how you got the number of 50k pinheads? Are they weighed, or measured? I'm wondering what calculation you are using? Thanks so much!
Thank you! Good question. I personally do it by weight. I caution you on that though, because the number can vary widely based off of humidity. I estimate there are 1,000-1,200 pinheads per gram. You can freeze a gram and count them (that's what I had to do). Alternatively, you can measure them volumetrically with a graduated cylinder. I don't have values per mL for that as I don't use that method. Hope this helps!
I have a few questions cause I’ve just gotten crickets recently! First, they’re laying eggs in their water, which is a sponge in a container so they don’t drown. I’ve added moist soil to encourage them to lay in the soil but I’m not sure it will work. And also what’s good food for them you recommend? They seem to like cucumber slices but that’s all I’m aware of so far
If you can remove the sponge and use something else for the watering apparatus, that should help. (Keep the sponge moist and those eggs will hatch!) Check out my video on what we feed our crickets. That should help!
Hi, thanks for the video...sorry, at what age do you put the yellow water bottles on their trays?? You said that at their first days as pinheads you use potatoes right?
I'm over wintering a nymph cricket (my 1st) and I'm having trouble figuring out what to feed him. Can you please tell me if there's a pre-made food or what should I feed him? I'm concerned about feeding him veggies and fruits, because of the potential for pesticides...
Awesome question! I will cover this in my Live Q&A tonight. If you have access to a non-GMO or organic chicken feed that's about 20% protein, that's a good place to start. You can supplement with some fruit and veg if you like. Make sure there is water available as well.
@@BuildingInASmallTown awesome, thank you!! Yesterday I bought Nib (my cricket nymph friend) some fish food flakes and dry cat food and I've been offering him dry dog food, dry rat food, cooked broccoli, Gerber powdered baby rice cereal and uncooked oatmeal, hoping he'd find something he liked, but so far it doesn't look like he's touched anything. The only thing it appears that he's eaten is a bit of banana that I gave him yesterday. Also, I've been leaving soaked cotton balls in his enclosure (a 10 gallon tank with Carefresh for substrate and some rocks and leaves and grass from outside) for fluids. I got him some lettuce today, so I'll give him some of that and more banana, but I'm so worried about pesticides on the lettuce and I don't know how to clean it well enough to ensure he doesn't ingest any of it (would soaking it before washing it help?). I know most people raise crickets as feeders, so they don't worry about losing an individual cricket, but I want to try to help this little guy live his best cricket life...
so i ended up following ur guide but the only thing i did differently is that i dont use substrate in the cricket enclosure i only have coco fiber for them to lay eggs in, i left the container in for two days and its been about 16 days and none hatched am i doing the incubation step wrong, maybe there isnt enough circulation in my incubator any advice ??
I have been raising crickets for over a year and you have some great information on this channel.My question is how do you know that was 50000 pinheads did you weigh them or a measurement like when your selling them or what. i would like a more exact way to tell other than the way i do it which is just quess thanks
Great question! It’s super tedious, but I weight out 1 gram of pinheads, froze them, and painstakingly counted them. The count likely varies a bit, but it gives me a good ball park. If you are going to sell into the live market, I would recommend you do that at each stage (example: freeze 100 grams, count them, and extrapolate out to larger amounts) Hope this helps!
Hi Rachel! Put food and water outside of the breeding substrate. That’s what will lure them out. Blow on them lightly as well (make sure your hair is tied back the first time...you’ll end up with pinheads in your hair if you don’t 😆😬)
@@BuildingInASmallTown oh! Also do you transfer the breeding boxes out and elevate them at all or do you dump the substrate into a new container when hatching? Thanks!!
Take the trays out and incubate them separate from your growing bins. I don’t dump the substrate. I’ve tried it and don’t like the results. Best to leave it in the original container and allow them to hatch out.
50 gallon. I also use 18 gallons, though, they aren't posted here. Whatever works for your population will be just fine (they don't need to be that big)
That’s awesome!! Congrats on getting them to that stage. are you selling them as feeders? If so, try local pet stores and bait shops first. Facebook groups for reptile owners is another good place to start.
White mold?! If so, don’t worry about it at all. You can scrape it away to check on the overall moisture of the substrate (you don’t want it drying out). Mold is inevitable and doesn’t hurt a thing!
They’re really not noisy until the last week of life! It’s only the males that chirp, and only once they’re ready to breed which is the last 7-10 days of the lifecycle. For most of the growth cycle, the barn is relatively silent.
How long should you wait, before calling it on the non-hatched eggs? Or if I keep the eggs moist it will hatch after 2 weeks? I see pinheads, coming out. But I also see a lot of unhatched eggs.
Hi Terrance! A lot depends on the temperature you’re incubating at. The lower the temp, the longer they will take to hatch. Additionally, if you’ve re-used your breeding substrate, those eggs might not hatch. I don’t recommend reusing breeding substrate.
@@BuildingInASmallTown 🤣😂 I have pin heads in my breeding bin! 😅 A good deal of the females laid eggs in the vermiculite that I used as substrate on the bottom of the bin. Now I have a lot of the pin heads walking around. I surprised that they have been all eaten yet.
Thanks for all the helpful content! How many eggs will a female cricket lay in her lifetime? And over what period of time? I’ve seen answers to this question range from 100-3,000 and I’m trying to get a closer approximate.
Excellent videos, thanks for the great info 👏 I just have one question if you have time. If I'm removing the lay trays every 48 hours do I need to set up seperate bins for each batch? I'm trying to set up a few 20gal tubs to feed about 6 reptiles and about 60 spiders. If I can produce more than I need that would be great too. Oh and is there a reason for the ventilation on the front of the tub when the lid is off? Thanks and hi from Ireland 🇮🇪👋
What part of ireland?! I lived in Dublin for nearly 5 years. Only moved back to the states in 2017. Do you mean new incubators for each batch? I wouldn’t recommend putting too many more than 2000-4000 crickets per 20 gal tub. The extra vent holes are to create draft. without an air inlet low in the bin, there’s no way to get air moving that low short of having a fan over top of each bin. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have other questions.
@@BuildingInASmallTown wow small world. I'm just in Kildare so really close to where you were although back then I was in Dublin most days too studying in UCD I'm trying to figure out how many tubs I'll need for the full life cycle. I want to have it all set up in advance so I don't screw it up. Right now I've one 20gl with 1000 large crickets I bought. They're coming close to laying age now so if I swap out the lay trays every 48 hours do I just put them all in the same incubator tub? Once they hatch do I put each batch in to its own tub to keep the size the same? If the adults lay for about 2 weeks and I have trays every 48 hours the amount of tubs is going to be clocking up fast. Apologies if this sounds dumb I just tend to over think these things. Thanks for the help, it's very much appreciated
I played (basketball) for a team out in Leixlip, so I ended up quite close to you in Kildare! Super small world indeed. What temperature are you keeping them at? And how many crickets do you think you need? You definitely don’t need to breed your crickets for 2 weeks. Not a horrible idea your first time around as you aren’t great at spotting when it’s time to breed just yet, but when you get that sorted, you can probably breed them for 2 48 hour periods and have more than enough to satisfy your animals. As far as incubation, you can incubate them all together If you like. They’ll hatch gradually and you can make a new bin every day or two days if you like (2-3 days won’t make a huge difference).
So like I have a cricket pen and these crickets laid eggs in the sponge soaked water bowl like I mean there’s eggs embedd in the sponge but now I worry cause you say they can drown these eggs appeared 3 days ago 😭
That’s common! Can you move the sponge to a different container and use a different sponge for the waterer? If the substrate stays moist during incubation, you’ll have babies hatch.
@@BuildingInASmallTown should I just put the egg filled sponge in soil/ or on top of the soil? Or should I just leave sponge egg in a separate container by itself?
Great question! nothing. They have food, water, and shelter. They don't need to go anywhere. The only time that we have escapees is when the females don't have a place to lay their eggs.
Hi, is it normal for the Gryllus bimaculatus species' eggs to turn black since these crickets are black and so their hatchlings? Just want to know if anyone had bad experience with cricket eggs that do turn black and not hatching. Thanks!
Hi! I don't have any experience with that species specifically, but I can't imagine that the eggs look or behave much differently. I would guess the turning black and not hatching means that they rotted in some way. What were the incubation conditions? What temperature were you incubating at? My guess is the substrate got too moist or too cold, but I couldn't know for sure without more information. Thanks so much for watching! :-)
@@BuildingInASmallTown Hi, I am hatching them in a bin according to our tempratures with no heatlamp. Perhaps the substrate was too moist or the bin got too hot since we had a few very hot days. My first cricket hatched this morning (whitin 12 days) and was indeed not black, but white/ seasand colour. This verifies that the eggs should indeed not turn black. I appreciate your reply. Thanks! Have a lovely day!
I have a question for you!!! How did you understand that you drumped 10,000 crickets into a box ( minute 3.45)? I mean you sad that you had 50 000 creckets which must be divided in a certain amount into several heaps/portions. How many crickets should be in one box? Are there any optimal proportions for one box?
Hi! Great question. I have a rough estimation of how many pinheads there are per gram (1200-1300). You can also measure them by volume. The best way to determine how many are in either a mL or gram is to measure out one unit, freeze them, and count them. It's super tedious, but very helpful. How many you put in a container depends on its size. In the 50 gal tubs, we shoot for 7,500-10,000 crickets. 18 gal, we shoot for 3,000-5,000. Hope that helps!
My english is not realy good, how many crickets do one person need to grow to self-sufficiency? I am a 16 yrs old boy so I eat a lot. Please tell me if you can, AND... how much place I need for them.
Hi Aron! It depends on your protein needs. A good rule of thumb for possible population densities starting out is 0.6 lbs of crickets per sq foot of growing space. Hope this helps!
So my eggs went into the egg bin 15 days ago still no babies? It’s weird though since I’m using clear containers it looks like the “eggs” all migrated to the edge of the containers and are close to the top? Can they still be alive and about to hatch 15 days latter?
Don't throw them out!! If you're able to notice changes, that's a great sign. Keep them warm and wait a few more days. I think you'll have pinheads before you know it. When my temps are a bit lower, I've had pinheads hatch at 18-21 days.
@@BuildingInASmallTown ok that makes sense I’m trying to make my container area warmer have electric pad heaters and I insulated the sides. As for seeing changes yeah I see the “eggs” have moved to the sides and or top or they just got white and visible? Can the eggs move like a larva?
I tried to start breeding crickets, and I think that the eggs that my crickets laid have hatched, but I don’t know. There are these tiny tiny little white things running through the substrate of the box I put them on and I have no idea if they’re actually cricket babies
Shelby Smith at first they were just these teeny tiny white things, but now they’ve grown into these mini crickets without wings ^^ they’re so so tiny I can barely believe it
@@princess_zae1255 sounds like it could be something else! They should look like little (teeny tiny) translucent grains of rice. A few days later, they will be a bit bigger and white/opaque.
The name Gym-n-eat crickets is about as
Ingenious as the concept of cricket farming all together.
Thank you so much! Not everyone catches on to the name right away. I'm glad you can appreciate it! :-)
Nice info, nice explenation, i had been looking for something like that on youtube and nobody has such good videos about cricket farming 👍🏼👍🏼 thanks Shelby!! Go ahead with the hard work!
Jose Luis Archila thank you so much for watching!
Thank yooouuuu! I'm a young owner of many animals who have main diets of crickets and I've been super struggling to find a video like this! I'm subscribing
Thanks so much for watching! Hope it helps. Happy to answer any questions that come up!
I've been researching this process for days and days.... I wish I had found your video series sooner because you are the one I'll be tryin to mimic. Great videos and THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge and experience.
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!
I have been looking for this for the last two years , awesome
Nice video! How do you separate the little pinheads from the soil when they hatch?
That's what I want to know too! My crickets are staying in the substrate and not moving out.
My small town has no local cricket breeders. We only have one store that sells crickets, and we're constantly out of crickets. I've decided im gonna try and help with the demand. Covid is kicking every industrys butt. So ill be checking out as many of your videos as I can. But I hope to buy my breeders Friday so I dont have alot of time to prepare lol.
Awesome!! Let me know what questions you have as they come up. COVID has definitely been a challenge for everyone.
I can't agree more. Nice job and thank you!
Crickets are adorable to me.
The babies are pretty cute.
Very nice concise and to the point with ?s answered.
Thank you!
Informative
I would like to thank you for sharing your knowledge with me here. I have my first lagre batch hatching out.
Amazing!! Congratulations.
Wish I could post video. I first started watching your videos. Then meet Mr Russell he is a local cricket farm here in Thompson GA. His grandparents started raising crickets in the 60's here. Between watching your RUclips videos and talking to him. I now have my second batch hatching out starting today.
Thanks for sharing all these videos, they’re so fun to learn and watch! Dare I ask how you separated the pin heads from the substrate? That’s a lot of pin heads!
Thank you for watching!! You can blow on them lightly and that can separate them, but the best way I've found is to allow them to naturally exit themselves. You'll never get them all, but most of them will shimmy their way out.
ohhh yes found it ! i have a question , on average how much dry weight you harvested from all the bin (if all the bins are used) per week or month ?
Super interesante tus videos .
Quiero aprender todo lo relacionado a la crianza de grillos
Interesting Shelby! I got some of your roasted salt and pepper crickets a few weeks ago. Looking for unique protein sources. I think I'll go with the powder or another flavor next time. I eat a lot at a time and I don't want to overdue it with the sodium. Keep up the fantastic work!
Hi Ben!! Thanks so much for watching!! Glad to hear you're enjoying them. There are tons of cricket powder recipes on the website. I appreciate you!
Hi from Kazakhstan"s small cricket farm. How do you separate newborn crickets from the soil? And how is the drinking bowl arranged, if not a secret?
Hi! Thanks for watching. They come out of the peat moss on their own for the most part. You can use a low pressure air compressor to blow them out if you'd like. We use the same waterers as our adults, but with more rocks to they don't drown. We also use potatoes for them to drink from.
Hello! I appreciate this video. My issue with the pinheads is keeping the humidity at 100% for the ones hatching and not having them drown in the condensation. How are you achieving this?
Great question! It's a super delicate balance. I aim for 60-80% humidity as to bring down the condensation from lethal levels. They won't dry out (and will still hatch) at those levels.
I've lost TONS of them to condensation and it changes with each season. You have to keep messing with it until you get it right.
Awesome Videos! Had a couple of questions for you as ive been just trying to raise crickets for my chameleons lol
1) what temperature do you keep it inside of your room? what about humidity? (im in Florida)
2) have you found a specific type of dirt that works best for the crickets to lay their eggs in? how wet do you keep the dirt
3) what kind of food is that that you are giving to the babies in this video? What type of potatoes do you give them also?
4) So you put 10k pin head crickets in each bin? Does this number stay that way as they get bigger or do you separate them into smaller lots as they grow? Do you know how many grams 10k pin heads weigh?
5) at what age do you actually start putting dirt trays in for them to lay their eggs in? How many trays of dirt do you put in each bin? How long do you let each tray of dirt stay in there before you swap it out with a new one?
6) on the cricket eggs start hatching how many days do you leave them in their bin before moving all of them together, then into separate bins?
Thanks so much in advance for answering! Ive had some successful batches but have not been able to keep it going.
Great Questions!
1. Between 83-87 is pretty optimal. Humidity varies based on the age. pinhead to 2 weeks, you'll want it above 60%. After that, 35% works well for me.
2. I like peat moss. I cover that in a few other videos, including optimal moisture levels. Check those out if you can.
3. Fancy chicken feed is the best way I can describe it. It's a specific insect blend, but you don't need to be that fancy--your chameleons won't care! If you have a farm store near you, non-medicated chick starter works well!
4. I leave them in the same bin their entire lives. Those are 50 gallon bins. For a smaller set up, I recommend 18 gallon bins and 1-3k pinheads per bin with those.
5. Don't put breeding trays in until they're mature. i.e. the males are chirping AND the females have fully developed ovipositors. I only recommend leaving a breeding tray in for a max of 48 hours.
6. Once pinheads are hatched, they get put into grow out bins in the same day.
Hope this helps! Thanks for the great questions.
@@BuildingInASmallTown I read this months ago but just now replying! Lol I’ve had like 5 successful hatching batches since then and I am learning! I do have to more questions for you.
1) when the eggs hatch, do you give them a certain about of time to finish hatching before you remove the dirt tray from the bin? I just always feel like I’m killing way to many crickets lol.
2) I’ve also noticed I go from thousands of them being hatched to only a couple hundred hitting majority. I do think it may have something to do with that poison gas problem you mentioned in one of the videos or I also struggle with flys laying larva in the bins. Somehow the water in the chicken waters gets out in the ground and then that’s where the flys start laying at .
Anyways any more pointers would help and please point me in the right direction if you do have a video about that.
@The Cricket lady is there a way to stop gnats/soil flies from using the wet substrate to lay eggs/drink the water meant for crickets? like sand on the top of the substrate possibly? if i dry the substrate, no pinhead crickets :(. I use dry dog food that i dont think the gnats or soil flies can use for nutrition. Got like 100 gants/soil flies in my apartment torturing me, I towerl dry everything so they cant drink the water, like in the sink and shower, and make 10 home made fly traps, but their numbers are large, coming right out of my cricket bins. Keep my trash bins outside, so they cant eat off of that.
YIKES! This is a bummer. Can you see the eggs that they're laying? If so, dispose of them as quickly as possible. You are really limited in what you can do outside of mechanical solutions (ie smashing them, crushing eggs, vacuuming etc.)
@@BuildingInASmallTown my traps have thinned their numbers and putting sand on top of the wet substrate seems to make the gnats not lay eggs in them. Life is bearable in the apartment again. Going to try peat moss for substrate soon, hopefully it will stay wetter longer, even used "to go" boxes to try and keep the substrate wetter, longer, with a custom made ramp for the crickets to walk up.
Hey girl what r ur thoughts about feeding them oranges? I was told they boost production but I been iffy about it bc I have a beardie nd they can’t have citrus so im afraid to feed him crickets tht ate oranges
I would do something other than citrus if you're feeding them. Some other fruit could work well!
Hi there. Impressive set up. I was wondering if you have ever tried, or thought about bioactive bins? Possibly for you, as a reseller, not pertinent, but for the do-it-your-selfer, one or two bins, I am thinking it could be handy with a bioactive clean up crew. Your thoughts?
I assume by bioactive cleanup crew you mean something like dermestid beetles?
Do you have to put them in a incubator
Thanks for the tips and sharing :)
so how do you deal with the pin heads climbing your tub and out of the flyscreen because thats the first thing they did….
It happens to me all the time! I don't fight it, I just let them go. I end up with way more pinheads than I need, so it's not a huge problem for me. They can crawl out of literally anything. It's super frustrating.
How do you separate them from the soil?
Great video Shelby! Curious about how you got the number of 50k pinheads? Are they weighed, or measured? I'm wondering what calculation you are using? Thanks so much!
Thank you! Good question. I personally do it by weight. I caution you on that though, because the number can vary widely based off of humidity. I estimate there are 1,000-1,200 pinheads per gram. You can freeze a gram and count them (that's what I had to do).
Alternatively, you can measure them volumetrically with a graduated cylinder. I don't have values per mL for that as I don't use that method. Hope this helps!
I have a few questions cause I’ve just gotten crickets recently! First, they’re laying eggs in their water, which is a sponge in a container so they don’t drown. I’ve added moist soil to encourage them to lay in the soil but I’m not sure it will work. And also what’s good food for them you recommend? They seem to like cucumber slices but that’s all I’m aware of so far
If you can remove the sponge and use something else for the watering apparatus, that should help. (Keep the sponge moist and those eggs will hatch!)
Check out my video on what we feed our crickets. That should help!
@@BuildingInASmallTown thanks!
Great Vidio 👌 Thank you for sharing your experience 🙏
Thanks so much for watching!!
What substrate do you use for laying eggs in?
Peat Moss! It's my preferred substrate. There are lots of other materials you can use, but I like it best.
U leave the tops off the adult cricket bins right?
Yes! I pull the tops off after 5-7 days.
Thanks for informative video. Subbed and liked.
Thanks so much for watching!!
Where do you get the watering towers from?
They’re chicken waterers. The bases came from my local farm store. The jars are standard quart mason jars.
Thank you for the tips!
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching. Let me know if any other questions come up happy to help.
Hi, thanks for the video...sorry, at what age do you put the yellow water bottles on their trays?? You said that at their first days as pinheads you use potatoes right?
Hi! I put those waterers in from day 1. The key is to have more rocks in the beginning so there is less chance of drowning.
I'm over wintering a nymph cricket (my 1st) and I'm having trouble figuring out what to feed him. Can you please tell me if there's a pre-made food or what should I feed him? I'm concerned about feeding him veggies and fruits, because of the potential for pesticides...
Awesome question! I will cover this in my Live Q&A tonight. If you have access to a non-GMO or organic chicken feed that's about 20% protein, that's a good place to start. You can supplement with some fruit and veg if you like. Make sure there is water available as well.
@@BuildingInASmallTown awesome, thank you!! Yesterday I bought Nib (my cricket nymph friend) some fish food flakes and dry cat food and I've been offering him dry dog food, dry rat food, cooked broccoli, Gerber powdered baby rice cereal and uncooked oatmeal, hoping he'd find something he liked, but so far it doesn't look like he's touched anything. The only thing it appears that he's eaten is a bit of banana that I gave him yesterday. Also, I've been leaving soaked cotton balls in his enclosure (a 10 gallon tank with Carefresh for substrate and some rocks and leaves and grass from outside) for fluids. I got him some lettuce today, so I'll give him some of that and more banana, but I'm so worried about pesticides on the lettuce and I don't know how to clean it well enough to ensure he doesn't ingest any of it (would soaking it before washing it help?). I know most people raise crickets as feeders, so they don't worry about losing an individual cricket, but I want to try to help this little guy live his best cricket life...
you might've changed my life..
REALLY?! Why do you say that?
so i ended up following ur guide but the only thing i did differently is that i dont use substrate in the cricket enclosure i only have coco fiber for them to lay eggs in, i left the container in for two days and its been about 16 days and none hatched am i doing the incubation step wrong, maybe there isnt enough circulation in my incubator any advice ??
what temperature are you incubating at?
@@BuildingInASmallTown around 80 there was plenty of chirping as well but tbh i don’t see eggs under the soil
at 80 degrees, it might take up to 24 days for them to hatch. If you don't see eggs though, that would probably be the issue!
@@grief878 the chirping doesn't indicate that the females are fully developed. You need to pay attention to the ovipositor.
After the pinheads hatch can you reuse the soil
I don't. There's too many things that can go wrong. If you heat-treat it to sanitize it before you reuse them, you should be ok.
How many crickets do you think you have in each bin
Between 5,000 & 10,000 depending on the time of year.
I have been raising crickets for over a year and you have some great information on this channel.My question is how do you know that was 50000 pinheads did you weigh them or a measurement like when your selling them or what. i would like a more exact way to tell other than the way i do it which is just quess
thanks
Great question! It’s super tedious, but I weight out 1 gram of pinheads, froze them, and painstakingly counted them. The count likely varies a bit, but it gives me a good ball park. If you are going to sell into the live market, I would recommend you do that at each stage (example: freeze 100 grams, count them, and extrapolate out to larger amounts)
Hope this helps!
@@BuildingInASmallTown thanks
Hi, I'm from Vietnam. Where are you, I love your model of raising crickets
Kids VTV we are in Iowa, USA
Shelby Smith ,thanks, I am also raising crickets, maybe I have to learn a lot from you, how much is a kilogram in your countr
I’ve been trying to figure out how to separate the pinheads from the dirt with no luck. Can you tell me how you do this? Thanks!!
Hi Rachel! Put food and water outside of the breeding substrate. That’s what will lure them out. Blow on them lightly as well (make sure your hair is tied back the first time...you’ll end up with pinheads in your hair if you don’t 😆😬)
@@BuildingInASmallTown haha omg noooo re pinheads in hair 💀 thank you so much!
@@BuildingInASmallTown oh! Also do you transfer the breeding boxes out and elevate them at all or do you dump the substrate into a new container when hatching? Thanks!!
Take the trays out and incubate them separate from your growing bins. I don’t dump the substrate. I’ve tried it and don’t like the results. Best to leave it in the original container and allow them to hatch out.
How big are the bins that you put them in to grow fully?
50 gallon. I also use 18 gallons, though, they aren't posted here. Whatever works for your population will be just fine (they don't need to be that big)
Can you train crickets to eat termites?
Not that I know of! I'm not sure you can train them to do much of anything, honestly.
Do you use aluminum window screen for airflow?
yes! I like to use landscaping blanket on the outside of it so that the pinheads can't get through
Nice video.
I just started an there chirping away.
I just don't know were I'm going to sell them all 😮
Any tips on selling?
That’s awesome!! Congrats on getting them to that stage. are you selling them as feeders? If so, try local pet stores and bait shops first. Facebook groups for reptile owners is another good place to start.
@@BuildingInASmallTown I will give them a go thank you, FB says no live stuff to be sold, I could message people tho.
Thank you for the tips.
@@DeanNutz Ya, you have to be sneaky with how you do it, but it can be done. I would copy what other people have done if you can find it. Good luck!
@@BuildingInASmallTown thanks for your advise ill see how they get on hopefully start laying soon.
What's in the feed trays?
Non-GMO insect diet with meat from BioForge Labs
Raising crickets is definitely way harder than mealworms ☝️
1000000000% 🤣
If 45 days to harvest, how many days on average from pinhead to breeding ability? Thanks
They are usually ready to breed around day 39-41
I have a question Shelby. How many crickets do you harvest from each box at adult stage? How much "cricket mass" per cage?
It depends on how big your containers are! Lots of other factors as well such as ventilation, surface area, etc.
So how do you sort the baby pinheads out of the substrate they hatched out of?
They come out on their own. I have an egg flat at the bottom of my incubators.
Hey hey hey saludos desde cabo.... mexico
We tried this better, Pete moss started molding before the babies were born. What did I do wrong? Does this mean the eggs won’t hatch?
White mold?! If so, don’t worry about it at all. You can scrape it away to check on the overall moisture of the substrate (you don’t want it drying out). Mold is inevitable and doesn’t hurt a thing!
Thank you :)
Hello.What type of cricket are you raising?
Acheta domesticus (common house cricket)
How do you handle the noise?
They’re really not noisy until the last week of life! It’s only the males that chirp, and only once they’re ready to breed which is the last 7-10 days of the lifecycle. For most of the growth cycle, the barn is relatively silent.
How long should you wait, before calling it on the non-hatched eggs? Or if I keep the eggs moist it will hatch after 2 weeks? I see pinheads, coming out. But I also see a lot of unhatched eggs.
Hi Terrance! A lot depends on the temperature you’re incubating at. The lower the temp, the longer they will take to hatch.
Additionally, if you’ve re-used your breeding substrate, those eggs might not hatch. I don’t recommend reusing breeding substrate.
@@BuildingInASmallTown 🤣😂 I have pin heads in my breeding bin! 😅 A good deal of the females laid eggs in the vermiculite that I used as substrate on the bottom of the bin. Now I have a lot of the pin heads walking around. I surprised that they have been all eaten yet.
Great video thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for all the helpful content! How many eggs will a female cricket lay in her lifetime? And over what period of time? I’ve seen answers to this question range from 100-3,000 and I’m trying to get a closer approximate.
up to 1000! but, I've never counted them. I've never had any issues with not enough crickets hatching, so I've never officially counted.
Thank you so much!
You are the bryan barczyk of crickets that's fucking awesome 💪🏽
LOL I had to google who that was. I will take that as a compliment, I think!
Excellent videos, thanks for the great info 👏 I just have one question if you have time. If I'm removing the lay trays every 48 hours do I need to set up seperate bins for each batch? I'm trying to set up a few 20gal tubs to feed about 6 reptiles and about 60 spiders. If I can produce more than I need that would be great too.
Oh and is there a reason for the ventilation on the front of the tub when the lid is off? Thanks and hi from Ireland 🇮🇪👋
What part of ireland?! I lived in Dublin for nearly 5 years. Only moved back to the states in 2017.
Do you mean new incubators for each batch? I wouldn’t recommend putting too many more than 2000-4000 crickets per 20 gal tub.
The extra vent holes are to create draft. without an air inlet low in the bin, there’s no way to get air moving that low short of having a fan over top of each bin.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have other questions.
@@BuildingInASmallTown wow small world. I'm just in Kildare so really close to where you were although back then I was in Dublin most days too studying in UCD
I'm trying to figure out how many tubs I'll need for the full life cycle. I want to have it all set up in advance so I don't screw it up. Right now I've one 20gl with 1000 large crickets I bought. They're coming close to laying age now so if I swap out the lay trays every 48 hours do I just put them all in the same incubator tub? Once they hatch do I put each batch in to its own tub to keep the size the same? If the adults lay for about 2 weeks and I have trays every 48 hours the amount of tubs is going to be clocking up fast. Apologies if this sounds dumb I just tend to over think these things. Thanks for the help, it's very much appreciated
I played (basketball) for a team out in Leixlip, so I ended up quite close to you in Kildare! Super small world indeed.
What temperature are you keeping them at? And how many crickets do you think you need? You definitely don’t need to breed your crickets for 2 weeks. Not a horrible idea your first time around as you aren’t great at spotting when it’s time to breed just yet, but when you get that sorted, you can probably breed them for 2 48 hour periods and have more than enough to satisfy your animals.
As far as incubation, you can incubate them all together If you like. They’ll hatch gradually and you can make a new bin every day or two days if you like (2-3 days won’t make a huge difference).
what is the food you feed them please
it's insect diet with meet from BioForge labs
Awesome farm..
Thank you! Thanks for watching.
Whats the room temp? Also are you buying cricket food or making it?
87 F is the target temp for me. We’re currently buying the cricket food, but are looking into mixing our own.
If you don’t have access to “cricket feed” non-medicated chicken feed will work well.
So like I have a cricket pen and these crickets laid eggs in the sponge soaked water bowl like I mean there’s eggs embedd in the sponge but now I worry cause you say they can drown these eggs appeared 3 days ago 😭
That’s common! Can you move the sponge to a different container and use a different sponge for the waterer? If the substrate stays moist during incubation, you’ll have babies hatch.
@@BuildingInASmallTown should I just put the egg filled sponge in soil/ or on top of the soil? Or should I just leave sponge egg in a separate container by itself?
what do you do so that they don't just come out of the bins?
Great question! nothing. They have food, water, and shelter. They don't need to go anywhere. The only time that we have escapees is when the females don't have a place to lay their eggs.
Hi, is it normal for the Gryllus bimaculatus species' eggs to turn black since these crickets are black and so their hatchlings? Just want to know if anyone had bad experience with cricket eggs that do turn black and not hatching. Thanks!
Hi! I don't have any experience with that species specifically, but I can't imagine that the eggs look or behave much differently. I would guess the turning black and not hatching means that they rotted in some way. What were the incubation conditions? What temperature were you incubating at? My guess is the substrate got too moist or too cold, but I couldn't know for sure without more information.
Thanks so much for watching! :-)
@@BuildingInASmallTown Hi, I am hatching them in a bin according to our tempratures with no heatlamp. Perhaps the substrate was too moist or the bin got too hot since we had a few very hot days. My first cricket hatched this morning (whitin 12 days) and was indeed not black, but white/ seasand colour. This verifies that the eggs should indeed not turn black.
I appreciate your reply. Thanks! Have a lovely day!
Awesome!
I have a question for you!!! How did you understand that you drumped 10,000 crickets into a box
( minute 3.45)? I mean you sad that you had 50 000 creckets
which must be divided in a certain amount into several heaps/portions. How many crickets should be in one box? Are there any optimal proportions for one box?
Hi! Great question. I have a rough estimation of how many pinheads there are per gram (1200-1300). You can also measure them by volume. The best way to determine how many are in either a mL or gram is to measure out one unit, freeze them, and count them. It's super tedious, but very helpful.
How many you put in a container depends on its size. In the 50 gal tubs, we shoot for 7,500-10,000 crickets. 18 gal, we shoot for 3,000-5,000. Hope that helps!
@@BuildingInASmallTown thank you soo much for answer! Dontt you know how the phases of the moon can affect the growth of crickets?
@@BuildingInASmallTown this guy mentions about it here: ruclips.net/video/Nht90XlV-Fc/видео.html&ab_channel=INSNACK
@@victorias.2443Now that, I have NO IDEA about. It would be interesting to track though.
My english is not realy good, how many crickets do one person need to grow to self-sufficiency? I am a 16 yrs old boy so I eat a lot. Please tell me if you can, AND... how much place I need for them.
Hi Aron! It depends on your protein needs. A good rule of thumb for possible population densities starting out is 0.6 lbs of crickets per sq foot of growing space. Hope this helps!
Thank you Shelby, it helped a lot!
I'm living in Santa Monica California anyone knows where I can buy cricket for humans food consumption......
Hi Mickey! Apologies I missed this comment...You can always order to be shipped to your door in Santa Monica at www.gymneatcrickets.com/shop-1
What happens if one bin falls and the crickets escape (please respond )
It doesn’t happen often, but I can happen! You can set a bin out as a trap to try and recover them, but generally, they’re gone if that happens.
Very nice
Thank you!
That is incredible.
Brothers Campfire aren’t they fascinating?! Thanks for watching!
@@BuildingInASmallTown they are! As a small urban farmer, these videos are helpful.
Awesome vid :)
thanks so much for watching!
So my eggs went into the egg bin 15 days ago still no babies? It’s weird though since I’m using clear containers it looks like the “eggs” all migrated to the edge of the containers and are close to the top? Can they still be alive and about to hatch 15 days latter?
Don't throw them out!! If you're able to notice changes, that's a great sign. Keep them warm and wait a few more days. I think you'll have pinheads before you know it.
When my temps are a bit lower, I've had pinheads hatch at 18-21 days.
@@BuildingInASmallTown ok that makes sense I’m trying to make my container area warmer have electric pad heaters and I insulated the sides. As for seeing changes yeah I see the “eggs” have moved to the sides and or top or they just got white and visible? Can the eggs move like a larva?
Yes! They actually slough off their shell multiple times as they develop over the incubation. That could be the “movement” you see happening.
@@BuildingInASmallTown they started hatching today yippee hopefully they will all be alive when I check them again tomorrow
That’s great news congrats!!!
I tried to start breeding crickets, and I think that the eggs that my crickets laid have hatched, but I don’t know. There are these tiny tiny little white things running through the substrate of the box I put them on and I have no idea if they’re actually cricket babies
Do they look like mini crickets?? There is no "worm" stage for crickets. They'll look like tiny crickets
Shelby Smith at first they were just these teeny tiny white things, but now they’ve grown into these mini crickets without wings ^^ they’re so so tiny I can barely believe it
Sounds like you’re doing something right then! Congrats on the babies 🙂
Shelby Smith thank youu ^^
why does no one talk about ventilation
I do. Keep watching the other videos.
How much eggs do girl crickets have a day?
It’s somewhat hard to predict/count, but I would say 10-50 eggs per day.
WOW
💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
I think my cricket laid eggs but I don't know if they are eggs or not
Do they look like small, translucent grains of rice? They will turn white a few days later as the pinheads develop.
@@BuildingInASmallTown some are different shapes some are little balls some are bigger then others
@@princess_zae1255 sounds like it could be something else! They should look like little (teeny tiny) translucent grains of rice. A few days later, they will be a bit bigger and white/opaque.
@@BuildingInASmallTown ok the eggs I have are greyish
@@BuildingInASmallTown also my adult crickets passed away😟
There so many !!
So many! It gets out of hand pretty quickly
Why did my female cricket eat one of my males ? I grabbed a few from a local field for my Mediterranean gecko 🦎
She thought he looked like a snack😉😏 sorry, I couldn’t resist. What were you keeping them in? Any housing/food/water?
Funny fact. In Russia we call them cricket dust :-)
if i was born with 50,000 siblings............... "we run this shit"
LOL Seriously though
How to Make A Fortunes off the using your head! #©€® thanks for the tips
Thanks for watching!
OMG!!!!!
My first babies hatched tonight!!! I came home and checked on the egg boxes and there are babiesssss
Woooooo!! That’s amazing. Congratulations. 💕💕💕
Thanks for the info , you have a pretty teeth ! Lol
Lol thank you! My dad paid good money for them 😆🤷🏼♀️
@@BuildingInASmallTown good man !!!!
crickets are the future
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 0:21
She’s surprisingly cute for a girl who eats crickets 🤔
😂 thanks, I think? 🤷🏼♀️
you are beautiful and superfast
😂 😂 😂
Well, thank you!
@@BuildingInASmallTown how many times do you feed your crickets in a day mam ?
I can't hear you. 😂😂
This was before I got a microphone and eventually, a new phone. Sorry about that!!
@@BuildingInASmallTown I was making fun of you because all the crickets making noise. You did great job. Thanks again.
you're super pretty, it shows even when you wear the most casual clothes.
why do you even want to eat crickets when you could literally eat a thing called fruit and veg
Crickets are a fantastic source of protein and an excellent inclusion in a diverse, accessible food system. It’s ok if you choose to eat differently!
Didnt explain nothing
What specific questions do you have? Happy to help.
What are in the feed trays?
Specifically blended insect diet feed. A non-medicated chick starter would work well too.