Raising Crickets At Home: Breeding and Incubation

[@Man-EatingMushroom]

Your substrate moisture level is called “field capacity” and you have it down perfect with your peat moss. Also, I’m learning a ton from you. We’ve been successful here and there with our home cricket breeding projects (just for our 100-200 tarantulas) and are now trying to take it more seriously. Thanks!

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thanks for watching!

[@nowirehangers2815]

Did you just mansplain her breeding business to her??😂

[@Man-EatingMushroom]

@@nowirehangers2815 what are you talking about? I explained my own business…super dumb comment my guy.

[@polsopostos]

Hi Shelby, great videos! I was wondering... how many days in a row do you place the breeding substrate into the breeding bins? And do you let all your crickets breed? Or do you harvest them before they're fully grown and only let a few develop to become breeders?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Hi Sara! It depends on how much you want to expand your population. I typically rotate breeding trays out every 36-48 hours once laying begins. I don’t need to breed all of my crickets to keep my barn full. When you’re trying to expand your population, you’ll need to breed all of them multiple times. Hope this helps!

[@webowebo5712]

What do you think about me using the cricket protein powder I have grown as the main source of protein in my cricket food? Just thought that might help me keep the costs down. 🙂

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

I'm not sure how that would go! I mean, they do cannibalize, so there's not reason they wouldn't eat it.

[@vivala3457]

Do you have a video of you putting in the soil with a screen ? What mosquitio screen is best to buy. And will adult crickets climb out of tall plastic bin if there’s no top? Thanks

[@pequiventania9658]

I really want to get into this!! thanks for the lesson :)

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Welcome to the adventure! Please don't hesitate with any questions.

[@Hotruongvu.]

I have a cricket farm here, every day I raise 70 kg (about 154 lbs). It's sad because I only sold 2.2 lbs = 2$

[@PhillipCollins-r4j]

You'r a very good teacher. I love all videos Thank you so much.

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@FioreCiliegia]

Finally someone actually mentioned the moisture of the egg laying medium! Ive seen way too many videos and they all skip it.

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

The moisture level is critical. Thanks for watching!

[@FioreCiliegia]

@@BuildingInASmallTown ive realized that after watching a million videos saying how easy it us but going almost 3 months with only a single pinhead though lucky me today i just got my first half dozen :) they only just started

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

That’s fantastic!! Congrats on the new babies 🙂

[@FioreCiliegia]

Im breeding them as jumping spider lunch so thankfully I don’t need a lot but very small pinheads have been very hard to find since covid

[@Holypikemanz]

@@FioreCiliegia what did you fix to start getting pinheads?

[@jayincase245]

I just started my farm about a week ago thx for all the info

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Awesome!!! Congrats on starting up. I’m so glad some of the info was helpful.

[@mariaocampo2479]

Where should I put the egg tray for incubation? Should I put under a heat lamp for 15 days? Or where?

[@tedmiller1745]

Hi Shelby, so, I have one Leopard and not sure what to do. She is about 9 months old. I have a great setup for medium circks in my 10 gallon tank... What do you suggest? Thanks in advance, new subscriber here....

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Hi Ted! Thanks so much for watching. How many crickets is does your leopard gecko eat per week? That should help you figure out how many crickets you need to breed, etc. If you're going to keep a colony, I would suggest 3 bins: one for your breeding crickets (fully grown, and laying eggs), one for incubation (kept warm and high humidity), and one for your younger nymphs to grow out a bit before they go in with the breeders (they can become easy prey for larger crickets) Hope this helps!

[@FioreCiliegia]

Random question. I had a single cricket hatch from the oddball eggs laid in the condensation in the corner of my adult bin. I can see a lot more eggs in there but they are really in the humidity. What are the odds you think ill get any more from them? They kinda look developed but even with a magnifying glass they are too small for me to see

[@steelheadchaser574]

How do you seperate the sizes. Ive run into some grow significantly faster than others.

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

So, I put a new hatch in a new bin each day so that the sizes aren’t mixed. You’ll run into increased cannibalism with the smalls and bigs together. There will be slight variation that’s unavoidable, but that should take care of it for the most part.

[@zainiraznihunteramuntai7340]

Hay...i'm from Indonesian..... It's Verry good 👍👍💪

[@maaw1196]

Hello again, Cricket Lady. I am starting to build my farm tomorrow morning, so I will be ready for the insects to rehoused within 3 weeks max. I am going to be growing BSF, and Mealworm as well as Crickets. The reason for this is that I have been successful in growing BSF and Mealworm without a single problem, I am actually growing both of them in the same tub and they have just produced eggs. I have a question for you regarding your quality control. How you decide the shelf-life of your products, and would you be kind enough to let me know what the "best before" date would be (length of time), and what your "sell by date" would be. Both of these dates, I am presuming, will be from you time of processing and packaging. I am very new to this and have limited experience and cash, but I love pressure and I am going alone so I will be doing everything, which I like. I will keep you posted as to how things are progressing, and thanks for your time. Micky Web 🕸

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Hi! Congrats on getting the farm up and running. That's a huge step (and a little scary, I know). As far as advice on your shelf-life, that's a hard one for me. It's super dependent on how you intend to process them, what you're processing them for, packaging, storage, flavor degradation, etc. With cost being prohibitive, I would recommend reaching out to a university near you with a food science department. They might be able to help you out well below market rates.

[@maaw1196]

@@BuildingInASmallTown thanks for the advice. I am going to process animal feed using the BSF, and concentrate on human consumption with the Crickets. I have decided not to grow the Mealworm, not because of the growing side of farming but I will have enough work growing, processing, and marketing the BSF and Crickets. Thanks for your reply, and good luck for the future. Micky Web 🕸

[@justinabbott4116]

What is your male to female ratio or does it matter?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

No idea! And it shouldn’t matter. As long as you have males chirping and you can see mature ovipositors on females, you should be good to go.

[@WHAA52]

Great video thanks

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thanks for watching!

[@hi_tech_reptiles]

Thank you for this, this was very helpful. I was using sponges for water because I was told any other way they will drown lol.

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thanks so much for watching! Sponges work in a pinch, but not something I would rely on long term.

[@neridaneuman9534]

Thank you for your nelpful hints Shelby

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

You are very welcome! Thank for watching

[@mobileplayers5008]

Good thing u always have a lab for temperatures around 85-83. Da where the crickets always grow faster.

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

I wouldn’t call it a lab. I would call it a barn!

[@spindaddy]

That shirts dope!

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thank you!

[@drutube7750]

What's the reason for not putting nesting box in to early. Why can't you just leave it in the entire time till they lay

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Sorry I missed this! There are many reasons you wouldn't want to do that. For one, they would knock out all of the substrate and/or poop in it. It would dry out to the point that it wouldn't be usable (you would need to redo it before the ladies are ready to lay, or you will lose the crickets to drying out.)

[@rico99586]

Should the egg tray be misted?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

You can mist it if it starts to look dried out. Be careful not to get it too moist though. The eggs can rot if they get waterlogged.

[@JS-hk4hc]

Are these gryllus assimilis??? 🦗

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Acheta domesticus!

[@DanhNguyen-gc7cp]

Bên bạn có bao tiêu đầu ra k

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Not sure what you mean, but thanks for watching!

[@WingedFerret]

Love your videos!!

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thanks so much for watching!!

[@big66bob66]

amazing video, thanks

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@Omadinjie-v4e]

How can attrac cricket in the wild

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Food water and heat!

[@AarysGigi]

You are awesome, thank you!

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@borosisen6556]

So good

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thanks for watching!

[@ishadyishady6883]

Lovely girl and her crickets

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

so many crickets!

[@katiestine6600]

Anyone else see the little fella wanting to also be recorded lol

[@Azu_Raged]

Do you make money off this?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

I do!

[@cherylelsberry3722]

Ova positter

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Ovipositor*