How to Raise Crickets for Fish Bait

Crickets are used for fish bait and to feed fish, birds and other insectivores. People in the southern United States can catch the common field cricket to use for breeding. The less adventurous can purchase crickets from a bait shop or pet store and raise their own.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Aquariums
• Cheesecloth
• Dog Food
• Sand
• Small Boxes
• Cotton Swabs
• Heating Pads
• Cat Foods
• Egg Cartons
• Plastic Containers

Breeding adult crickets

1. Purchase or catch two dozen male and female crickets each. Female crickets have long egg-laying tubes, making them a bit longer than male crickets.
2. Place an old aquarium in a warm place (75-80 degrees F,) and cover the top with screen wire. Place the bottom portion of cardboard egg cartons in the cage.
3. Stack a few cartons, if possible, depending on the size of the cage and the number of crickets. This will give the crickets a place to hide and rest.
4. Cut an "X" in the lid of a yogurt container, and feed a piece of cheesecloth through the "X" to act as a wick for water from which the crickets will drink.
5. Fill the yogurt container with water, making sure the wick is touching the bottom, and replace the lid. Then put the yogurt container into the cage.
6. Place a breeding dish, or a one-pint plastic tub filled with 2 to 3 inches of damp sand, in the box. The female will lay her eggs in the sand.
7. Place 1/4 cup of dog, cat or rabbit food, or a few fresh vegetable scraps in a lid in the aquarium. Feed them only what they will eat in a couple of days.
8. Place adult crickets in the cage, and keep the cage covered with screen wire.

Caring for Baby Crickets

9. Remove the breeding dish from the aquarium after four to seven days.
10. Place a lid on the breeding dish and keep it warm (between 80-90 degrees F) by placing it on a heating pad to maintain a constant temperature.
11. Know that pinhead crickets will begin to hatch in 7 to 10 days.
12. Place the dish in a small, covered box about 16 x 8 x 4 inches when crickets start hatching. Make sure to punch holes in the box for ventilation.
13. Keep the lid on the breeding dish inside the box, but leave a small crack so the baby crickets can get out and the sand won't dry out.
14. Place a few small sections of the bottom of a cardboard egg carton, a jar lid full of food (same as that for adults), and a jar lid with cotton soaked in water in the box after all eggs have hatched.
15. Remove the breeding dish after the crickets have stoped hatching. Discard the sand or nesting material.
16. Leave the baby crickets in the small box until they're about a 1/4 inch in size. Then move them to the adult aquarium.

Tips & Warnings

• Adult crickets live only a few weeks, so you'll need to keep replacing your breeder stock with the new hatches.
• Crickets have an odor, so the cages need to be cleaned every four months.
• Baby crickets must be raised in a container separate from adults, otherwise adult crickets will eat them.
• The sand used for nesting material must stay damp.