Basic Cricket Needs
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Food
Water
Warmth
Egg laying medium
Escape proof container (ok, this is my need)
Hiding places
Please note- the details below are the results of 16 plus years of trying different ideas to raising crickets easily and being somewhat cost effective. There is a history section in the article that details some of the interesting ideas attempted, some of which were abandoned due to failure, or a better technique was found.
A very quick overview of how I raise crickets
read the life story from a cricket's perspective if you have not.
Types of cages:
Cage #1 has the breeding crickets and the medium for them to lay eggs in.
Cage #2 has the egg laden medium from cage #1. All cricket hatching is done in a cage #2.
Cage #3 has recently hatched pinhead crickets from a Cage #2. They remain in this cage for 14 days.
Cage #4 has juveniles from cage #3 that need more space/ hiding and ready to eat the dry food mixture.
Cage #5 contains crickets in the last few instars (moults) with possibly some adults developing.
Life cycle timings in my rearing conditions
This is the life cycle given my heating conditions. Small temperature differences affect the timing greatly. This cannot be stressed enough. My standard ambient air is around 65°f. In the late spring and early summer it can get up to 75° f, until the AC is turned on to further cool the upstairs, which also cools the basement.
From the same batch of eggs, hatching starts 9 days from the eggs first being laid and continues for over 25 days. See: Experiments – Hatching Duration for a trial that was run.
From hatch to adult is between 25 to 40 days, depending on environmental conditions, averaging 30 days at 65°f ambient, base heat at 90°f at the surface. Not all individuals in the cage mature at the same rate (evolutionary trait?). Once becoming adults, they can mate and start laying eggs. They are most productive from days 10 thru 30 of the egg laying cycle. The number of eggs produced drops significantly after day 30. In the time period between days 30 and 50 most females die or are unable to lay eggs. Look in the Experiment section for data.
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