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Breed your own crickets
After buying crickets for several months I realized it became very expensive.
I don't know about other countries, but in Sweden crickets are very expensive.
So I tried to raise them myself. It was very easy.
This is how you do it:
Buy a number of adult crickets. You see that they are adults if they have wings.
The males chirp, the females don't. Female crickets are usually fatter too.
You don't need hundred of crickets. One single female can lay up to 200 eggs...
Place the crickets in a plastic terrarium (or something else that is good for the purpose)
Take a small plastic container and fill it with soil (not fertilized soil) or peat.
Water it so everything is moist. The soil shall be moist - NOT wet.
Place the "soil container" with the adult crickets. If needed place a "ramp" at the container so the crickets can climb up.
Leave the container with the crickets for 3-7 days (how many days depend of how many cricket babies you want!)
Check the soil every day to make sure it is moist (not wet!) all the time. If it dries up the eggs will die.
When you think there are enough eggs, move the container to another plastic box of some kind. You don't need a
lid but it keeps the substrate moist and the heat in. If you use a lid make sure there are holes for air in it.
Place the plastic box with the container of soil on a heating mat of some kind. The temperature shall be around 28
degrees Celsius (82-83 F). If you don't have a mat, you can use a spotlight as long as the temperature is right.
If it is too cold the eggs won't hatch.
Wait 10-14 days. Make sure the soil is moist (but never wet) all the time. If it is too wet or dry the eggs will die.
And voila! After awhile you have millions of baby crickets.
When hatched
When they hatch I "pour" them into a bigger plastic terrarium, with eggboxes etc.
I don't leave them in the plastic box and I don't put them in with the adults - they can eat the babies.
You feed these small crickets exactly the same things as the adults. Easy.
How long does it take?
If the temperature is around 28 degrees Celsius (82-83 F) it usually takes about 2 months after the eggs
hatched until it is an adult cricket with wings. If the temperature is lower (like room temperature) it takes a bit longer.
Cricket breeding - PDF for printing
Arrangement with egglayingbox
The little box with moist soil is full of eggs
(they are hard to see, not visable on the image)
Newly hatched crickets - how tiny!
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