Once you are all set to start cricket breeding, it is important to know how you should manage and take care of your culture. Buying plastic containers and a nutritious food source for the crickets is simply not sufficient. Your entire process of breeding needs to be monitored carefully so that you achieve the desired benefits.
Your cricket colony will be based in a plastic container you have bought. You should be particular about what you feed your crickets as ultimately your breeding will serve as a food source for your pets or some one else’s pet.
Ventilation is the key element to look out for when setting up the container. You have elaborate choices for good containers and you should select one which keeps away mold and mites. Your container should have an egg laying site for the crickets. Remember the key to successful breeding is keeping the crickets stress free.
An egg laying site can be provided easily by placing a number of egg crates in the container. You can possibly stack them over each other taking care not to overcrowd the space. Maintenance of egg crates is also very essential and you should replace them as soon as you feel they are soiled. (As your culture grows, crickets will to tend eat more and start producing more waste which needs cleaning).
Once you provide ideal conditions for culture, it is important to add the crickets. Many pet shops offer a bag containing different sizes of crickets ranging from young to adult crickets. If you are new to the breeding process, it is a good idea to get one of these bags to start the breeding process.
You should never leave very young crickets or hatchlings in the same container as the adult crickets. You may think what difference it would make. Adult crickets are very fond of food so can treat their own hatchlings which are about a quarter of an inch (0.6 cm) in size as a delicious meal. You must remove eggs and hatchlings periodically if you want your colony to prosper at a good rate.
To have a successful colony, you need to be familiar with the basic anatomy of the crickets. Male crickets have two prongs on either side of their abdomen and the female crickets have three. (Male crickets can be spotted easily as they are smaller and make more noise). Female crickets have a large ovipositor which is used to lay eggs.
How many crickets do you need to add to your culture? The answer depends on how many crickets you need. You can have a healthy mix of male and female crickets. It is also good to have more females as each female will lay about a hundred eggs during her life. They can lay more or less but five to ten eggs per day are an average.
