Raising crickets can become easy if you have the right tools and the necessary knowledge. Also, if you want to have a good number of specimens available, it's important to take the right steps to make your colony thrive. Read the following steps to learn how to keep crickets alive in captivity and raise them properly.
Steps
Step 1. Provide them with an adequately sized space in which they can live
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Find a glass or plastic container that works well to house your crickets. You can use an aquarium tank, wide-mouthed jar, 20-liter bucket, or even a garbage can (although it's not particularly suitable). Use a screen as a lid. Good air circulation is essential for the colony to thrive. If there are holes in the lid, cover them with tissue paper; this will make the environment more livable.
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It is important to ensure that the crickets have enough space to live. In an overcrowded environment, crickets would end up hurting each other. Providing each specimen with the necessary space to live is essential for the survival of the colony.
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Step 2. Give the crickets something to climb on
You can use paper balls, egg boxes, or untreated cardboard tubes. You can use cardboard tubes from toilet paper or kitchen paper.
Step 3. Give the crickets to eat and drink
- Cricket-specific feed can be purchased from pet stores. However, you can also use food for dogs, cats, fish or small rodents. You can also put cornmeal and small pieces of vegetables or fruit in the container. Using specific cricket food has the advantage of providing your insects with the right amount of vitamins and nutrients.
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Giving crickets to drink correctly can be complicated, as the water stagnating inside the container could become harmful to the health of the insects. To give your crickets a drink, soak sponges or cotton balls and place them inside the container. To carry out this task in the best way, products based on gel crystals have even been created.
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Step 4. Clean the container once a week
You should also give it a good clean every time you introduce new specimens
Advice
- If you raise crickets to feed your pets, know that the more protein the first feed is, the more nutritious they will be for the second.
- When you feed your crickets, provide them with a varied diet; this will keep them healthy.
- Keep the crickets dry.
- When choosing the lid for the container, opt for an aluminum screen. Lids made of other materials could be gnawed by the crickets, allowing them to escape.
- Put the water and food on a flat plate that is convenient to pick up, clean and refill.
- As for the number of crickets to buy or catch each time, only take the amount you intend to use over the span of a couple of days.
Warnings
- Keep your crickets in a not too hot area of the house, out of direct sunlight. Avoid wet areas. Such conditions could cause losses within the colony.
- Examine the container daily for dead specimens. If you find any, remove them. Any corpses inside the container could decimate the colony, being toxic to other crickets.
- Using insecticides inside or outside the home can harm your crickets.
