How to Make a Cricket Farm

I tried using the cricket farming methods that I found online. I opted for the method that I see pet shops using and purchased a large plastic blanket box that you could easily see through. I've also used aquariums, they have a much nicer look to them . However I found that some of the crickets were able to climb up the silicone on the edges of the aquarium and escape. However an aquarium does make an excellent cricket farm if you can keep them in there.

That takes care of the container for our cricket farm however the crickets will still need shelter from drafts and light to keep them happy. Crickets prefer dark areas free from drafts, so I usually save extra 2 1/2 dozen sized egg crates to give them a variety of angles to hide. This means more space in your cricket farm for your crickets to hang out in. Try not to overcrowd your crickets as this will easily stress your crickets to the point of dying.

I recommend not using a substrate in the cricket colony as it makes it more difficult to keep your cricket farm clean and sanitary. However if you decide to use a substrate in your cricket farm then sand, coconut fiver, wood shavings, and peat moss all make suitable substrates.

Crickets will eat most stale foods such as stale bread, poultry mash, corn meal, cat food, dog food, tropical fish flakes, pond fish pellets, rabbit food, and many other similar foods. They definitely aren't picky. This is one thing that makes caring for your cricket farm inexpensive, crickets will literally eat almost anything!

Always remember to keep your crickets supplied with water. This has always been the leading cause of death in my cricket colonies as repetitive tasks aren't always my best skill set. One method of supplying your crickets with water is to moisten cotton balls, sponge, or even a paper towel and leave it in the cricket farm so that your crickets can drink from it at will. Make sure you don't leave any standing water in the cricket farm! Crickets have the worst self preservation skills of any creature I have ever seen when it comes to water. they will drown themselves in pools of water they can easily get out of so keep this in mind when constructing your cricket farm.

Another option for feeding your crickets is to buy the gelatin foods from your local pet store, this will supply food and water to your crickets at the same time. Or as a cheaper alternative you can simply use potato slices. Crickets love potato slices and will live quite happily on potato slices alone. The only issue I seem to have with them is that they dry out quickly, however you can spray them with water as well to keep them moist a bit longer.

Now that you have your cricket farm setup and ready to go you willl need to locate some crickets. There are two fundamental methods to go about this. You can catch them in the wild or you can buy some from the pet store. I have done both, but I personally recommend getting your starter colony from the local pet store, not only are these crickets much less likely to be contaminated with a disease or pesticide, but the brown crickets that you get in your local pet store have less of a shell to protein ratio and many of the tropical amphibians prefer these to the "from what I hear" more bitter shell of the black field cricket. Add your new crickets to your cricket farm and you have successfully create your own cricket farm!

It is very simple to tell a male cricket from a female cricket. Female crickets have a long tube coming out of their back end called an ovipositor, this is one of the most obvious ways to tell the difference. However male crickets have a special rough vein on their wing that makes it's chirp louder when it's wings are rubbed together.