Keeping and Breeding Crickets and their Enclosures

I have had great success breeding crickets for over 15 years using the following process.

As a guide 20 adult female crickets with 5 adult male crickets will produce enough offspring to feed ten Knob Tailed Geckos for approximately one month.

How to Breed Crickets

1. For a cricket breeding enclosure you will need a big plastic container that is about 50–70cms deep so you do not need to use a lid. If a lid is used, even with holes in the top, it reduces the air flow and increases the mortality rate of the juvenile crickets. Good aeration is the key to succesful Cricket breeding. If you find that your colony is being invaded by ants then put a small amount of petroleum jelly around the rim of the container.
2. Place the following inside the plastic container
   • A two centimetre layer of sand on the base of the container which will help absorb the excess moisture.
   • Egg cartons and toilet rolls.
   • Two pieces of sponge that are squeezed to remove all air and then soaked with water.
   • Small dishes or plastic containers that are about 2–3 cm deep filled with moist coir peat. The coir peat needs to be kept moist and should never be left to dry out. Change the containers every 4–5 days with new containers full of fresh substrate.
   
3. Use the following foods for the breeding crickets and the juvenile crickets:
   • Dry cat food that is high in protein. “Friskies” is the best I have found with 38% protein, also “Nutricia Kari Care Gold Baby Whey Dominant Starter Formula” with 53mg of calcium. A protein whey powder can also be used with great results.
   • Orange, apple, carrot, broccoli or lettuce.

Moisture is the most important aspect of breeding crickets. Many people believe that crickets get all their moisture from fruit and vegetables however this is not always correct. To obtain enough moisture ensure that the sponges are always damp.

The temperature should be kept around 26–28° at all stages of the breeding process. If the temperature becomes too high then your colony will perish very quickly. If the temperature becomes too low, particularly during winter, then the crickets become inactive.

Female crickets will have a large ovipositor that is about 1 cm long. They breed and lay in the inside sides of the container. The eggs, which look like small grains of rice, can be clearly seen from the exterior of the container. Female crickets can lay up to 80–200 eggs in their life span.

Juvenile Cricket Incubation

Incubate the eggs inside a plastic container using a lid with holes in it for aeration. Incubate at 28–30° for 1–2 weeks until you have juvenile crickets the size of a pin head.

Juvenile crickets can be given the same food as the adult breeders and there is no need to crush the food into smaller pieces. High protein and calcium is the key.

Every 4–5 days change the containers full of eggs including the wet sponges as the crickets will lay in them also. Be sure to keep sponges moist at all times.