# Breeding locusts - eggs not been laid in holes



## truly_juan (Dec 21, 2011)

Hi all,

I've been attempting to breed locusts.

I have read the sticky and other articles.

They have mated and laid eggs, but they arent laying them in holes, so eggs are not surviving.

I'm using sand, which I read elsewhere that it was better than soil.

I spray the sand in the morning with water to keep it moist.

Could the problem be the sand? I did start off with soil, but nothing happened for ages, so I assumed I should change it for sand.

Any ideas?
Thanks


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## LovLight (Apr 14, 2012)

What temps/heat source do you have? 

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## truly_juan (Dec 21, 2011)

Thanks for the reply.

Average temp is 24c. Heat source is a spotlight on for 6 hours a day from 1pm to 6pm. 

I have seen them sometimes directly under the spotlight, other times to the side of it, and sometimes they just hide in the egg cartons.


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## LovLight (Apr 14, 2012)

I think you need to bump the temps up a bit to more like 88-90F. Do you have a heatmat for when your switching off the bulb? And do you have a seperate tub to move the lay boxes to when the holes appear? 

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## truly_juan (Dec 21, 2011)

LovLight said:


> I think you need to bump the temps up a bit to more like 88-90F. Do you have a heatmat for when your switching off the bulb? And do you have a seperate tub to move the lay boxes to when the holes appear?
> 
> Sent from my U8180 using Tapatalk 2


Ok, thanks I'll try that. No I dont have a heatmat. 

No I just have the sand loose in there, on a slope.


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## LovLight (Apr 14, 2012)

Ahh, that'll be the problem then! Try putting the sand in an old ice cream tub or marg tub or something similar, when you see the surface of the sand become full of holes remove the tub to a seperate enclosure and put a new lay box back in with the locust. You just rotate them as they hatch. 

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## truly_juan (Dec 21, 2011)

LovLight said:


> Ahh, that'll be the problem then! Try putting the sand in an old ice cream tub or marg tub or something similar, when you see the surface of the sand become full of holes remove the tub to a seperate enclosure and put a new lay box back in with the locust. You just rotate them as they hatch.
> 
> Sent from my U8180 using Tapatalk 2


Thanks.

What exactly do you think the problem is - because its sloped instead of flat and in a tub?


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I just put cricket tubs filled with eco earth (a coco fibre soil) in my breeding tanks. I leave them in there for two weeks, then date them and put the lid on and move them out into my rack and put a fresh one in. So far over 80% seem to have eggs laid in them and they hatch out, then I just take that cricket tub to my hatchling tank and leave the lid off and off they go. I use a red light on 24/7 though.


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## truly_juan (Dec 21, 2011)

Athravan said:


> I just put cricket tubs filled with eco earth (a coco fibre soil) in my breeding tanks. I leave them in there for two weeks, then date them and put the lid on and move them out into my rack and put a fresh one in. So far over 80% seem to have eggs laid in them and they hatch out, then I just take that cricket tub to my hatchling tank and leave the lid off and off they go. I use a red light on 24/7 though.


Thanks for the reply. 

I will definitely move the sand to the cricket tubs, I have loads of them. I still have some soil left too, so I may have 1 of each in there?


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## LovLight (Apr 14, 2012)

There ya go, Athravan knows, she breeds them at her shop 

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