Breeding crickets can be fun and easy. Many people have been buying crickets from pet stores for years. The money spent could easily add up to hundreds of dollars in a year. Breeding crickets isn’t all that hard with a few simple rules and methods. In this article I will explain briefly how to breed crickets at home.
First you will need a container for the breeding colony. I like to use large plastic storage containers. The Rubbermaid kind work great and are under $10 at most retail stores. You will need to make some holes in the lid for circulation. I make about 20 holes with a soldering
Now a very critical area is temperature. The crickets have to be kept between 75 and 80 degrees. They will live at lower temperatures but their reproduction slows down and will even stop. I keep my colonies in the closet of my spare bedroom. If you can’t keep them in the house because of their sound or a frightened family member you could keep them i the garage. But you will need to provide a heat source in the winter. What i have done in the past is place a medical heat pad under the container. Another thing you can try is cutting a hole in the lid and placing a light bulb through he lid. the light will provide enough heat for your crickets.
Now for shelter within the container. The best thing to use is egg cartons. They provide a ton of hiding places and increase your floor space. You could also use toilet or paper towel rolls. These can roll around though and kill some crickets.
Feeding your crickets the right diet is crucial. Mating and egg laying will drain your female crickets if they do not have a high protein diet. I give my crickets cheap dog or cat food. I also provide my crickets with vegetables once a week. You will need to be very careful that the veggies you provide don’t have pesticides on them. I have found that growing my own is the easiest way to do this. I grow mustard and collard greens in my flower beds and give them to my crickets. I provide water in a shallow jar lid with pea gravel on the bottom. This prevents smaller crickets from drowning.
Now all you have to do is provide a place for the females to lay their eggs. Place a small sandwich storage container filled with moist vermiculite on the bottom of your container. Your females will start to dig and lay eggs immediately. Now you can either remove the container and place it in another container until the baby crickets hatch or you can leave it in with the large crickets.
That’s all it takes to breed your own crickets at home. Feel free to check out our site for more detail about breeding crickets.