How to breed Locusts

[shep1979]

i found my first babys today , well impressed, sexing locust adults have , 6 sections on there abdoum with females and 7 for males

[ukaz87]

The white web thing known as FROTH is there to protect the eggs also helps hatchling to find their way out

[OrigamiB]

Important question that im sure alot need to know - How small is small??

I hear of alot of people getting escapee baby locusts... even out of the ventilation gaps in faunariums, and there small gaps! If I was to do this in a rub, I need to know how big my ventilation holes need to be to stop them!

[Will-2k9]

Originally Posted by OrigamiB

Important question that im sure alot need to know - How small is small??

I hear of alot of people getting escapee baby locusts... even out of the ventilation gaps in faunariums, and there small gaps! If I was to do this in a rub, I need to know how big my ventilation holes need to be to stop them!

Id suggest you put a pair of tights over the top of the RUB if i was you as i doubt you'll be able to drill a hole small enough that they wont be able to get out of. some of them are as small as 3mm or so.

Got my first load of baby hoppers! Wasnt expecting them at all as i thought the soil dried out a little too much a couple of times. Well chuffed. Although i cant find much info on rearing them from babies.

[ukaz87]

With the young hoppers you wont be needing your lay box in the tank dont keep them with the locust tho seperate them keeping humidity low and they are really no different to rear really

[Tarn~Totty]

Originally Posted by OrigamiB

Important question that im sure alot need to know - How small is small??

I hear of alot of people getting escapee baby locusts... even out of the ventilation gaps in faunariums, and there small gaps! If I was to do this in a rub, I need to know how big my ventilation holes need to be to stop them!

You might be better getting some fine mesh, drilling some holes or cutting out a section, then covering with the mesh. I got some from ebay for about a fiver...very fine metal, was easy to cut to size using scissors...much better than the pair of tights I used as the locusts bit holes all over them lol.

I keep mine all together...adults, hoppers and juvies. Ive had no problems with anyone eating anyone else, but I do have them in a very large set up (converted set of 5 drawers) so they have plenty of room to get away from each other if they want to

[Gemstone Dragons]

Originally Posted by Tarn~Totty

You might be better getting some fine mesh, drilling some holes or cutting out a section, then covering with the mesh. I got some from ebay for about a fiver...very fine metal, was easy to cut to size using scissors...much better than the pair of tights I used as the locusts bit holes all over them lol.

I keep mine all together...adults, hoppers and juvies. Ive had no problems with anyone eating anyone else, but I do have them in a very large set up (converted set of 5 drawers) so they have plenty of room to get away from each other if they want to

i have used silicone to glue tights over the vent holes in the lid, think i will change this for mesh instead now lol

[mrhoyo]

Anyone managed it in a 50l RUB? I've got my roaches breeding away in one at about 34c on my rack with a 50l space next to them.

[mickyworm]

Originally Posted by markhill

There's been a load of threads recently about how to breed Locusts, so I thought I'd tell people how I do it.

Housing
I use two large tanks (24x15x20", WDH), one for adults and one for grown on locusts that are near adults.
Once the Locusts have turned to adults they get moved into the adult tank to replace any that have died off.
Both tanks have full vented lids and egg cartons inside for extra ground space and to hang from during moulting.

Temperature/Humidity
I use a reflector bulb pointing down at one end of the tank to simulate sunshine and heat mats underneath and around the edges of the same end of the tank, the bulb is on from 6am to 8pm and during the night the heat mats do the work.
This holds the temperature at about 28c-30c 24 hours a day with a day/night cycle.
Keep the humidity as low as possible, which the full mesh top will help with.

Food/water
I feed my Locusts on bran and veg, any veg that I feed my BD's on is good,I make sure they they never run out of food.
I don't provide my Locusts with a water bowl, I've found that they drown and are perfectly OK with water obtained from their veg.

Breeding
Providing the temperatures aren't too cold I have found that adults will mate without any help.
Provide a few tubs with 10cm (4 inches) of soil for egg laying,ice-cream tubs are good for this, position these tubs over the heat mats and keep the soil moist but not soaking.
You can remove the tubs to separate incubating tanks if you want to (incubate at 28c) but I don't have the room so I leave them in with the adults and they do fine.
You should be able to see that eggs have been layed because there will be holes in the soil where the Locust has pushed the entire rear end if its body into the soil to lay the eggs, you may also see "spiderweb" looking white stuff on the surface of the soil, this comes out with the eggs and is normal.
Once the eggs have been layed it usually takes around 10 days for the baby Locusts to start digging their way out of the soil, I then collect them and keep them in cricket tubs with a piece of egg carton and feed them the same as adults.
Once the babies have got bigger they are either fed off to my animals or put back into the tub to become adults and lay their own eggs.

These are only my own methods which I have found to work well and may or may not work for others.

is there anywere i can buy a set-up to breed these ?

[swift_wraith]

Originally Posted by mickyworm

is there anywere i can buy a set-up to breed these ?

make one, all you need is marine ply and some acrylic. Mine took me 3 hours to build and that was only cos i stopped for a brew halfway. Mine cost me a total of £30 to make.