# Has Anyone Bred Locusts Sucessfully??



## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

i was wondering has anyone actually sucessfully bred locusts?? if so how did you do it and pics would be good also 

i ask as i am looking into breeding locusts, cos my lot cant get enough of them!

thanks: victory:


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

oo id love to hear anyone having bred them sucessfully.. and how they did it.. i dont think id want to but it would be interesting to know how...


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## spirit975 (May 15, 2007)

Well mine are laying eggs etc at the moment.....when the eggs hatch i`ll say i`ve successfully bred them!:no1:


Edited: Just checked and i have hatchlings!!!!


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

spirit975 said:


> Well mine are laying eggs etc at the moment.....when the eggs hatch i`ll say i`ve successfully bred them!:no1:
> 
> 
> Edited: Just checked and i have hatchlings!!!!


lol, excellent news!!

can you tell us how you did it and how many locsusts you started of with etc oh and pics would be good 

thanks: victory:


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

bump up :up:


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## spirit975 (May 15, 2007)

ANT said:


> lol, excellent news!!
> 
> can you tell us how you did it and how many locsusts you started of with etc oh and pics would be good
> 
> thanks: victory:


Well i got a deepish plastic tub, think its 2 feet tall by 18 x 12 or something similar, i cut a big hole in the lid and sealed a plastic faunarium type lid on top. Taped a small heatmat to the back and put porridge oats down as substrate/dry food. Then chucked a few egg cartons in and lots of bits of cardboard and things, placed 6 plastic pint "glasses" filled with damp sand and put the locusts in. I started with a bulk bag of 150 adult locusts and put a few mediums in too.

Feed them on mainly grass and weeds etc, they get cabbage leaves and any left over greens from the beardies.

Now just over a month later i have around 1000 hatchlings and thousands of eggs!: victory:

Got 1 pic, but will try and get some more decent ones at some point.


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## Scoffa (Nov 23, 2006)

I remember looking after the school locusts about 30 years ago. They were kept in tall, aluminium tanks with a glass front. They had a heat bulb in and we fed them on greens, mostly grass. I think there was about 5 tanks with locusts at different stages of their lives. I'm pretty sure they have 4-5 moults and are called instars. When they get to the largest size they will breed. The breeding tank had plastic tubes, placed at ground level, full of sand which the females laid their eggs in. Those tubes were then put in an incubator and when the babies hatched they crawled through a small tube into the first tank. I'm sure that back then you needed a licence to keep them because if they'd have escaped in Summer they would have caused a hell of a lot of damage. Just goes to show the Summers arn't as long or warm as they used to be.


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## andyshaw2008 (Mar 6, 2008)

WOOO this is good news beause im going to start breeding them my self so hopefully im succesful  if their is any thing else that you can tell me or shud i say us all that can help us then please do and how much did it cost you for the bulk bag of locusts and how long did it take before they started breeding?


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## Big Dave (Feb 18, 2008)

Cool Cool Cool,

this is great thread bin thinking about this but never thought t ask the question.

i've got a 2ft long x 1 1/2ft high x 1ft deep could this be used as it's spare would be great i think to breed these

also as both me and my missus hate crickets escaping i'd rather breed then locusts than crickets and to keep costs down.

P.S my beardie just jumped off the log and slammed ontop of the other one lol (lil wrestler)


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

this thread has taken off!!

thanks schip for the pic and description! i think im going to give it ago!

where was it that you got your locusts from?

keep the pics and instructions coming guys! : victory:


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## spirit975 (May 15, 2007)

ANT said:


> this thread has taken off!!
> 
> thanks schip for the pic and description! i think im going to give it ago!
> 
> ...


Thanks who??:whistling2::lol2:

The locusts came in bulk bags of 100 for around, don`t quote me, the £25 mark. Only had them just over a month and got babies, so didn`t take them long at all. The set up cost next to nothing, the only real outlay was the locusts in the first place, but hopefully they`re making up for that now.

I bought seperate locusts as feeders to let the breeders settle before taking from them.: victory:


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

lol sorry:blush: i meant spirit975 :blush:

i had a :crazy: moment!!


ok thanks for the info..im looking into breeding them now!!


sorry again:blush:


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## spirit975 (May 15, 2007)

No worries lol:lol2:

See, feed them and breed them i can do.....its catching them i have severe problems with, they bite, jump, kick, spit yucky black stuff and i just can`t bring myself to touch them....but because of the size of the tub i can`t really cool them first like i do for the crickets! Any tips for catching these blighters much appreciated!:lol2:


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

i dont like touching them either as they spike me with the hind legs!! lmao

i use metal tweezers 10 or 12 inch ones..rep tweezers...there great i use them for crix aswell


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## spirit975 (May 15, 2007)

ANT said:


> i dont like touching them either as they spike me with the hind legs!! lmao
> 
> i use metal tweezers 10 or 12 inch ones..rep tweezers...there great i use them for crix aswell


Do they make 5 foot versions??:lol2:


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

urm..................NO!! :lol:

lmao!


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

spirit leave them outside in the cold too cool them..

but come summer... ive no tips LOL


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## andyshaw2008 (Mar 6, 2008)

Yeh leave em out side to cool them but i hav an idea, put them in the coldest room in your house and get some ice cube bags and put them in the bottom and it should chill the whole place... ive never tried it before but ya know it could work lol.


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## gavlp20 (Feb 18, 2008)

*breeding locusts*

just starting to breed locusts getting 100 small ones so i can feed them up and now they will be healthy.Can some body tell what temp do i need to keep them at and in the incubater ?
cheers
Gav


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## redreps (Jul 10, 2007)

do you leave the eggs in with breeding adults or do you have to take them out and incubate them?


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## Reptilover (Jan 15, 2007)

ANT said:


> i dont like touching them either as they spike me with the hind legs!! lmao
> 
> i use metal tweezers 10 or 12 inch ones..rep tweezers...there great i use them for crix aswell


Sorry but i could just imagin you chasing aound the crickets and locust with a 12inch tweezer! :whistling2:


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

Reptilover said:


> Sorry but i could just imagin you chasing aound the crickets and locust with a 12inch tweezer! :whistling2:


:lol2:

anyone else breed locusts????:whistling2:


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

:up::up:


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

Its a doddle, keep them hot hot hot, feed them spring greens.
I use tall pint plastic cups for laying tubs filled with damp sand, dont let it dry out, I use three huge rub's one for the adults one to move the laying cups into and one for the hatchlings all on unstatted heatmats.
The eggs take between 4 to ten days to hatch, i leave the cups in with the breeders for about a week then replace them with new ones, and the cycle goes on:smile: hope that helps a bit.


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

thanks for that

is it true that when the female lays the eggs she will die soon after?? also on average how many clutches do they have before they die?? 

thanks


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

She wont die after laying they can lay a good few clutches, start off with a good group of adults, buy a bulk bag that way you can be sure of males and females.
The key things are damp laying pots plenty of heat and food and you have cracked it :smile:


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

ok, i brought some med/large locusts a few weeks ago..i have them in a 2ft tank with lots of branches and food and a 60w bulb....they seem to be growing fast so should be adults soon! lol


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

Mine arent doing anything, a few died off.

How important is ventillation to them? The lid of my LARGE Really Useful Box has plenty of holes melted in.

I have cricket tubs filled with damp sand, should they be deep enough?

Many Thanks

Gary


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

They will soon breed. once they get their wings they will change from a pinky colour, to their adult colours males are smaller than the females and yellower the females are more a buff colour. Good Luck


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

Hi Gary i use a pairs of XL tights stretched over the top, ventilation is very important, i cut the legs and knot them then i have entrance hatches through the legs avoiding escapees


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

Sorry missed the cricket tub bit, Gary they arnt deep enough buy some plastic pint pots they like a really deep laying pot.


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

Forestjewel said:


> Hi Gary i use a pairs of XL tights stretched over the top, ventilation is very important, i cut the legs and knot them then i have entrance hatches through the legs avoiding escapees


Christ, How big are your tights???

Seriously, a RUB is a WIDE opening!!

Gary


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

Forestjewel said:


> Sorry missed the cricket tub bit, Gary they arnt deep enough buy some plastic pint pots they like a really deep laying pot.


Will do!!

To be honest I was going to feed them all off and give up, but this thread is giving us mere mortals a bit of hope!!

Gary


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

What 'boxes' do you guys use? I will be going to B&Q tomorrow, is there anything there that works well?

Cheers

Gary


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

Buy huge tights they stretch lol


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

Any kind of plastic tub works, go to one of those cheap shops and buy plastic storage boxes for a couple of quid and your tights will fit them lol


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

Any other pics of setups guys?

Cheers

Gary


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

I put 500 crickets into a large cricket keeper and they bred themselves, Locusts cant be that much harder since there more hardy but they will need more space. All i did was give them greens and fish food and they did all the work themselves however i noticed theres a lot of caterpillars in there at the moment and i think there killing the babies.


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

I havnt got any sorry, its very basic really i have even used exo terras with success, just bung em in with a couple of pint pots full of damp sand some egg boxes, wack them on a heat mat and your away. Loads of spring greens and let the do their stuff


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

Well if you have plastic pint glasses full of damp sand to lay in, I am assuming you look for deep holes in the sand, indicating laying, then you remove the glasses and put new ones in?

If so, where do you put the glasses that have been laid in? In large faunariums? (Have to be tall obviously), if so it sounds REALLY expensive, surely it cant be that bad?

Gary


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

You can see where they lay it usually has a foamy plug on top to stop the eggs drying out, i leave the pots in about a week then put new ones in, i put the ones i remove into another plastic tub with tights over it, dont let them dry out give a light spray once a day and keep them warm. Main outlay is heatmats and cheap plastic boxes tights are cheap, in the winter i feed springreens in the summer grass and dandelions


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

Thanks, what plastic boxes do you actually use?

I have heatmats etc no worries, I am trying to convince myself that its still worth doing!

Thanks

Gary


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

I use all kinds from rubs to those cheap storage boxes even exo terra vivs, anything will do, give it a go even if you only do it once


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

Well I have a large RUB all set up, but it STINKS (going to do full clean out tomorrow). About 8 locusts have died. Not good so far!!

Ah well, last try!!

Gary


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

Go for it, just keep them hot and dry.


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

How do you keep the box clean?


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## spirit975 (May 15, 2007)

I don`t remove the pint pots when they`ve been laid in, i find they do just as well left in.

Just uploading some pics of my set up, hope it helps.......i`m overrun with the ruddy things now:lol2:


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## gavlp20 (Feb 18, 2008)

*Breeding*

Got 200 Smalls Last Week, Growing Great Only Have Heat On During The Day And At Room Temp At Night Will That Do For When They Are Breeding Or Do I Need To Keep The Heat On All The Time.
Gav


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## Pleco07 (Aug 15, 2007)

I keep the smaller ones in a tommy tank. When they are fully grown i put them into a 2 foot tank (old fish tank) with branches, feed them on spring greens and grass. I have a 0.7ltr RUB full of damp sand and they get on with it.

I covered the tank with a peice of linen.


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## andyshaw2008 (Mar 6, 2008)

Hey, dnt mean to be ermm thick lol but what is a rub:blush:lol and could some people post some more pictures of their set ups please


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## Brat (Oct 7, 2007)

RUB - Really Useful Box


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

rub - really useful box : victory:


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## andyshaw2008 (Mar 6, 2008)

THANK YOU BOTH :no1::no1:


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## helenaz0 (Jan 20, 2008)

Spirirt how did you get that lid to stay on top of the rub?? Im really interested in this as my bd have eaten 200 locusts in just under 3 weeks costing me a small fortune.
Thank god for Ricks bought 200 and all arrive alive and well.


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## spirit975 (May 15, 2007)

helenaz0 said:


> Spirirt how did you get that lid to stay on top of the rub?? Im really interested in this as my bd have eaten 200 locusts in just under 3 weeks costing me a small fortune.
> Thank god for Ricks bought 200 and all arrive alive and well.


There is a big hole in the lid, and the plastic terranium lid is stuck on with silicon sealant!: victory:


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

bump :up: 

one of my locusts have turned into an adult!! just waiting on the rest now!! lol


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## ANT (Nov 11, 2007)

another one just turned into an adult!!! lol


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## gavlp20 (Feb 18, 2008)

do i keep the temp high 24/7


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## ashy (Mar 27, 2008)

Buy online.
I have heard great things about rickslivefood. i have put my order in on the strength of his reputation with other BD owners.Prices are on the website.


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

My lot are shagging like crazy and starting to lay so its all good!

Gary


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## AndyDaDude (Oct 30, 2007)

ordered a couple of dozen adults which are coming 2moro, goin to start off small first  using an old aquarium, will post pics etc when its up and running and let you all know!


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## AndyDaDude (Oct 30, 2007)

well got mt locusts today so in they went along with a helping of veg and not forgetting a custom lid to stop escaping from the old aqaurium lid lol. heres a couple of pics so far  and if all else fails then im sure i can find a rep to fill there place :mf_dribble:



















just so you know my desk lamp isnt staying there, broke my proper bulb holder so another one is on its way  and that white box is a water absorber thing to try keep humidity down


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## 10371 (Jul 2, 2007)

I have got some hatchlings using spirit's method.


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## Uncle Les (Dec 29, 2007)

Just checking as I have Locusts at the moment bought as large but most have now developed their wings. I take it as soon as the wings develop they are adults. In which case how do they get the Extra Large ones? Are they a different species?


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## cannotstopbuyingballs (Dec 29, 2007)

I have bred them but to be honest I was spending more time on them then I was on my animals, Did a couple of cycles then I gave up and the amount of grass and cabbage they went through was incredible. It was such a pain changing sand tubs and putting in food as they flew out.

Good luck to anybody who wants to do it I did enjoy it in the beginning.


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

I just recently put in 15 3rd instar ones into a faunarium, picking up a double pack of adults tomorrow and gona start from there.


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## AndyDaDude (Oct 30, 2007)

jus as an update my locusts have been humping like mad for gettin on a week, saw one of the female with her body burried in the sand earlier so hopefully will have some babies in a week or 2


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## BeardieChaz (Apr 5, 2013)

*Heat source.*

I currently have a breeding tank set up for my locust but were wondering how long you have to leave the heat source on for.

They're laying eggs but I've not got any baby locusts yet 

Thank you in advance for your help.


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Holy thread revival batman! I was wondering how I managed to miss this thread!

I shall try to help anyway, what do you mean by how long do you leave the heat on for? Do you mean hours a day? I leave mine on for roughly 13 hours a day. They tend to take between 2-3 weeks from being laid to hatching.


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## BeardieChaz (Apr 5, 2013)

Do you have a locust breeding set up?
If so I don't suppose you could send me some pictures could you please and any information on starting up with breeding locusts.
Currently I have a 3ft glass vivarium where I keep my adult locusts with tubs of sand for them to lay their eggs in.
I leave the tubs in there for a couple of days say 3-4 days depending on how many holes are in there to indicate there's eggs been laid. then I transfer the sand tubs into a incubator I've made for the locust eggs to hatch then when they do finally hatch (if they do) I've got a hatchling tank ready for them.
I can get pictures of everything in the Morning when we have natural light  
Thank you in advance 
Charlotte


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

BeardieChaz said:


> Do you have a locust breeding set up?
> If so I don't suppose you could send me some pictures could you please and any information on starting up with breeding locusts.
> Currently I have a 3ft glass vivarium where I keep my adult locusts with tubs of sand for them to lay their eggs in.
> I leave the tubs in there for a couple of days say 3-4 days depending on how many holes are in there to indicate there's eggs been laid. then I transfer the sand tubs into a incubator I've made for the locust eggs to hatch then when they do finally hatch (if they do) I've got a hatchling tank ready for them.
> ...


http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/feeder/874620-locust-setup-sufficient-3.html

Take a look at that thread I started a while back. I'm using glass vivs now but principles the same. What temp are you incubating at? I'm sure you'll get hatchlings soon, 9 times out of 10 its just people being impatient, it can take a while and I was the same. If however you don't have success I'd suggest changing your laying medium from sand to 50/50 sand/soil.


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## BeardieChaz (Apr 5, 2013)

The incubator is at a steady 30c.How often would you advise to leave the incubator on for?
They're laying a lot in the sand but hoping for the eggs to hatch.
Just curious to find out more information on what to do once the eggs have been laid.
Sorry to sound so dumb just very new to trying my hand at locust breeding.
Thank you for all your help.
Charlotte.


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

BeardieChaz said:


> The incubator is at a steady 30c.How often would you advise to leave the incubator on for?
> They're laying a lot in the sand but hoping for the eggs to hatch.
> Just curious to find out more information on what to do once the eggs have been laid.
> Sorry to sound so dumb just very new to trying my hand at locust breeding.
> ...


They should hatch in about 2 weeks from when laid at that temp. I'd leave them on for 13-14hrs a day. There's not really much to do. I don't incubate mine separately. They're laid in the lay tub and stay in there with the adults. I don't mist or spray but rather pour a little water (small glass) on the medium every 2-3 days. Apart from that there isn't much more to do except be patient. Honestly if your setup and temps are correct it shouldn't be an issue, it's all about patience.


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