Setup: A ten-gallon glass or plastic container will maintain between two and three dozen crickets, as long as it has a tight, metal-screened lid. You will also want another enclosure, as well as a heat source, for incubating the eggs and hatchlings. Lay down a thin layer of paper towels for the substrate. You will also need to provide a place for the crickets to hide, and most people use empty egg cartons for this. Depending on how many crickets you have, place a whole or half egg carton in the bottom of the enclosure. To lay their eggs, female crickets will need a small, shallow nest box filled with peat moss, soil, or sand, which should be kept damp at all times. For best results, keep the crickets at above room temperature; 85 degrees F is best.

Feeding: Crickets should be fed a diet of mainly fruits, vegetables, and a little bread. There are commercial foods made especially for crickets, too. For water, you can soak a sponge in water and place it in the enclosure. There are also commercial products, usually in a gel-like form, that can be used.

Reproduction: To tell the difference between males and females, look at the tail end of each cricket. Females have a long spike protruding from the back end (looks like a tail). That is the ovipositor. Males are the only ones that produce the well-known cricket call. Once they start calling, if conditions are correct, mating will begin soon. The females will then lay tiny white eggs in the nest box (over the period of one week), which should be removed and placed in a separate enclosure. In about 30 days, you should have baby pinhead crickets, which need to be kept warm, and fed the same as the adults. In the meantime, continue caring for the adults, and clean the enclosure as needed.When the new crickets reach ¼ inch, you can move a third of them back to the adult tank to continue the breeding cycle.

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Published on: 2004-11-20 (1511 reads)