Keeping your crickets alive and healthy is very simple. Crickets have three main requirements:
- A large, clean container with enough room- The bin you receive your crickets in is perfect for the amount you ordered. The bin will have enough egg carton to give the crickets opportunity to hide and avoid getting trampled be each other. The egg carton gives more surface area for the crickets to climb since they cannot climb the sides of the bin, which is a good thing if you want to keep your house free of stray crickets! Your job is to make sure the bin is clean by removing uneaten food and any dead crickets on a daily basis. Also, keep the bin well ventilated by keeping the lid open. A build up of humidity can lead to mould and many dead crickets pretty quickly.
- Food and moisture source- Your crickets will obviously need food and some source of moisture if you want to keep them alive for any period of time. For food we offer our crickets wheat germ or bran sprinkled on the bottom of the container, uncovered by any egg carton. You also want to offer a moisture source to ensure your crickets don't eat each other. Good sources of moisture include items that give the crickets some vitamins and minerals as well. After all, whatever the crickets eat will end up in your reptile as well. Items to offer for moisture include: fresh carrot, dark leafy greens, potato, and a small amount of fruit such as apple. It is best to offer small amounts of moisture rich items to avoid making the bin humid and smelly. The trick to figuring out whether you're giving too much moisture is to keep an eye on the cricket droppings. Dry droppings that are easy to sweep up are what you are looking for.
- Ideal temperature- Avoid keeping your crickets too cold or hot and they should keep for weeks. If you want to grow your crickets quickly keep them a bit warmer than room temperature. If you want to delay their growth keep them a bit cooler.
That's it! Keeping crickets is extremely simple once you've gotten the basics right.