How To Build A Live Cricket Colony in Less Than 1 Minute
Chris briefly shows how to build a live cricket colony in less than 1 minute.
Housing Your Crickets: There are many options for storage of your crickets. Ideally, if you plan on keeping for more than a week they should be unpacked as soon as possible after arriving. The most economical storage containers tend to be plastic sided tubs (say 60+ litre), commonly available from most discount and hardware stores. The tub needs to be extremely well ventilated, as crickets don’t survive long in high humidity environments (due to bacterial and fungal exposure). A lid is not required.
As crickets can cannibalise, they need places to hide. The most economical options are piles of egg cartons, paper towel and toilet rolls and/or corrugated cardboard. Paper towel and toilet rolls are also handy devices for easily capturing your crickets.
Most crickets are produced at temperatures between 25 to 28 Degrees C and should be stored at room temperature of 20 to 28 Degrees C. The cooler end of this will slow their growth and help them live longer. Crickets stored at temperatures outside of this may have reduced life.
Other info:
Crickets life cycle is about 6 to 8 weeks. Therefore large crickets generally can live for 1 to 2 weeks after arrival and baby crickets for 5 to 7 weeks (if cared for optimally).
It is worth noting that crickets moult five times throughout their lives, you may see the shiny white recently moulted crickets and/or their skins that have been shed. These can sometimes be confused with dead crickets.
Toxic fumes can be very dangerous to your crickets including insecticides, cleaning products, dog shampoos, flea products, car fumes, smoke, etc.
Feeding Your Crickets: Crickets are veracious omnivores and will eat almost anything. Choose foods that you would be happy for your pets to eat. Thoroughly washed fresh fruit and vegetables such as carrot, pumpkin, cabbage, lettuce, apple, etc are ideal to meet both their food and water requirements. Dry dog food or rodent pellets are also a handy staple. No other water is required but some people also add a saturated sponge to be sure. Replace the food and clean up any waste every day or two to keep hygienic. Always ensure that there is sufficient food for the crickets, otherwise they might resort to cannibalism.
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