# locust egg laying medium?



## elliotuk (Jan 1, 2012)

So after succesfully breeding crickets and roaches, ive been trying to breed locusts and for some reason they wont lay eggs.

Ive bought about 50 large locusts a few weeks ago that have now become adults, theyre in a large tub with heatmat surrounding it keeping the temps between 27-32c, plenty of veg, lots of egg crates and cardboard etc. 

Theyve all been full sized adults for just over a week now and for the last week ive noticed theyre often in pairs stuck on top of each other (i take it they're mating? :mf_dribble
However they dont seem to be laying any eggs, ive used a couple of tubs filled with Exo Terra Desert Sand, about 5-6 inches deep, and kept them damp, but have never seen a locusts poke it's abdomen in to the sand and i never see any entry holes on the surface of the sand.

could it be that exo terra desert sand is unsuitable? ive got a bag of garden compost would that work or is it too thick for them to push through?

or do they mate and then its a week or two more before they start laying?

here's my setup, sorry for the quality theyre off my iphone camera:


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## heatherjhenshaw (Jan 30, 2010)

I've used compost from tesco, and just got ridiculously excited cos I've found my first hatchling locusts, Gosh they are tiny lol

I've put it in plastic glasses, the type you buy for picnics etc from supermarkets


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## elliotuk (Jan 1, 2012)

heatherjhenshaw said:


> I've used compost from tesco, and just got ridiculously excited cos I've found my first hatchling locusts, Gosh they are tiny lol
> 
> I've put it in plastic glasses, the type you buy for picnics etc from supermarkets


is the compost quite fine then? mine is full of lumps so i dont see how they could push their flimsy abdomen in to it lol


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

i use a mix of sand and compost in one and just compost in the other. they seem to use both happily.


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## heatherjhenshaw (Jan 30, 2010)

No it's not really very fine, I've watched them laying though and their abdomens aren't flimsy, they seem to use them to root around until they are happy it's a suitable hole 

I guess in nature the earth is pretty compact really


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

is the tub heated??


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## LovLight (Apr 14, 2012)

Red light is apparently helpful for breeding locust. Haven't tried it myself but local herp shop recommended it.

Sent from my U8180 using Tapatalk 2


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## elliotuk (Jan 1, 2012)

ok ive made a mix of sand and compost together and now after a few days i can see some holes in the top of the mix, so looks like theyve been doing some laying at last :2thumb:

is it best to move the egg laying tubs to another container before the little ones hatch? how long is it usually before they hatch?


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## henryfreston (Jun 14, 2010)

elliotuk said:


> ok ive made a mix of sand and compost together and now after a few days i can see some holes in the top of the mix, so looks like theyve been doing some laying at last :2thumb:
> 
> is it best to move the egg laying tubs to another container before the little ones hatch? how long is it usually before they hatch?


I think you incubate them at 27*C for about 10 days


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