# Breeding live foods. which is easiest?



## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

hey, i wanna start breeding some more live foods as im feeling the pinch, costing me a fortune and also i sort of in a wierd way enjoy it lol.

anyway i already breed dubia roaches, which are easy peasy! im trying to breed waxies, today i looked closely and seen loads of tini ones wriggling in the bottom!!!

anyway i wanna breed a staple, so prob crickets or locusts, just wondering what people think is best, i assume crickets would be easier, so does anyone have any advice.

i want it to be easy, well, just nothing that needs uv/heat lamps etc. 

also can anyone help with cricket types. i usually buy black crickets, which when adult have long slender jet black wings, and they make a whistle sound, its loud but not too often, but the other day i got some which were labeled black crickets, but they are different, they look more like the silent ones, they have a brown sort of crinkled up wing, they are the biggest crickets iv seen and they never ever shut the f:censor: up!! they are doing my head in. the man in the shop said thy are definatley blacks, but they are so different to the blacks i usually get form the same shop and from online too. anyone have any input on that?

anyway sorry to babble on, any advice will be helpfull, thanks


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## joe0709 (Sep 22, 2007)

pm,ed ya. as for the crix i buy the brown ones in the largest size as they seem easier to breed and are easier to see against the substrate: victory:


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## RobB (May 22, 2008)

*Breeding Dubias*

Hi, 

How big is your dubia colony? I've just got back into keeping tarantulas after a 10 year gap and was wondering how easy it was to breed them / how productive they can be. My spiders range from small spiderlings to fully grown adults. Would I be better off with crickets?

Also - what kind of environment do they need? I don't like the idea of having them in the house but could keep them in the garage quite happily.

Cheers

Rob


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## rebeccadale (Jul 23, 2008)

*How to breed live foods*

I've recently decided to start breeding my own live foods for my Savannah Monitor, and i discovered this website which is proving to be quite knowledgeable.

It explains how to breed cockroaches, mealworms, mice, maggots, crickets ect. So i thought some of you might find it of some use 

Breeding Live Foods - EPA/QPWS


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

When I had lizards and frogs I bred most of the food for my collection, except the crickets.
I bred fruit flies for the baby frogs, dead simply but smelly.
Mealworms, easy to medium 
Waxworms, so simple but my lass did not like the smell the wax moths gave off.
Locust, a lot of work and cost for heating but simple enough.
Mice and rats, easy if you follow the rules and have lots of space
I could never get away with crickets for some reason.
Good luck with what ever you decide.
Stephen.


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

ive tried

wax worms
mealies
roaches
crickets


and failed at wax, and crickets !! lol

the others work fine though althoguhmy adult roches seem to be dieing off, babies growig fast though.


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## Issa (Oct 13, 2006)

I breed feeder ratties in the spare bedroom with no problems (good excuse for why the parents or inlaws can't stay to boot!!). My roach colony is easy to take care of (less than 5mins a day maintainance), and I'm starting to see LOTS of baby roaches lately!


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## inkyjoe (Mar 31, 2008)

My nose is far too big and sensitive to breed crickets, Ive tried breeding locusts before, but failed every time. I have noticed wee hatchlings in my frog tank before though:lol2:.


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## ladybird (Sep 9, 2006)

I've bred black and silent crickets, the two biggest species. Blacks are more prolific, and slower moving/jumping than silents so I'd recommend them. The only downside is that they stink more and make loads more noise. See my cricket breeding guide here Breeding Black & Silent Crickets


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## blatta (May 21, 2008)

RobB said:


> Hi,
> 
> How big is your dubia colony? I've just got back into keeping tarantulas after a 10 year gap and was wondering how easy it was to breed them / how productive they can be. My spiders range from small spiderlings to fully grown adults. Would I be better off with crickets?
> 
> ...


Blaptica dubia are good for adults, but the babies are far too big for small slings. The babies are about 5mm at first.
Is your garage heated in any way? Roaches need warmth all year (with the expetion of a few species, which I dont reccomend breeding), ideally 25-30oC. If theyre heated in a cold room then the huge ammounts of condensation would make the culture constantly damp, and encourage mites.
What size foods do the smallest slings take? Blatta lateralis nymphs are smaller, starting at about 3mm, but thats still alot bigger than hatchling crickets. A very basic comparison of the species can be found here: 
My website: species.

And a caresheet for dubia can be found here:
Dubia roach caresheet.

Locusts are great fun to breed, but require a lot of effort. They need a ot of space, cost a lot to heat, and require pretty much daily care involving loads of food. Its understandable why there so expensive. Crickets are a good food too, but are noisy (although i dont mind the noise they make), and not as clean as roaches, and require egg laying pots etc. Theyre great for the tiny sizes though, at one time I kept a group of adult blacks, and hatched the eggs on and fed the hatchlings straight away, no hassle of rearing them.

Andrew


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## grumpyoldtrout (May 19, 2008)

I can handle locusts and crickets, but there is something about roaches I just do not like. :blush:

Must give them a try when I have had a go with some locusts, I have tubs of, with luck, cricket eggs incubating ATM, do Beardies take to them as much as crickets?

TIA :2thumb:


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## Herp_boi (May 12, 2008)

Definately go for breeding lobster roaches! Alot quicker to breed than dubias! just stick a heatmatt under the tub! But make sure you put a border of vaseline around the top of the tub!!! :lol2:


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