Cricket Care

Many people raise crickets as a food source for other pets such as lizards or frogs. With a total life span of about eight weeks and the female cricket's ability to lay about 100 eggs in her two weeks as an adult, crickets may be difficult to keep as pets in and of themselves.

Habitat

According to the Western New York Herpetological Society, you can use a variety of containers for your crickets' home, including commercial cricket tubs, plastic storage tubs, aquariums or even a garbage can. Ventilation, warmth, cleanliness and places to hide are essential elements for your cricket habitat. There should be plenty of air flow in your container, provided by cutting a large hole in the lid of your container and covering it with metal mesh. Place egg crates and paper towel tubes in the crickets' habitat to allow them to stay off waste products and provide places to hide to minimize cannibalism.

Feeding

Crickets are omnivorous and eat a wide variety of foods. Suitable examples include fruits and vegetables, cat food, and dry dog and rabbit foods. Earthlife Web suggests a combination of rolled oats and bran flakes with fresh fruit and vegetables. Keep in mind that your crickets will eat one another if they are not well-fed; if you are raising them as food for another animal, they will be less nutritious if they are undernourished. Provide water in a shallow bowl or via a clean, damp sponge, moist cotton or paper towels.

Cricket Comfort

Crickets should be kept around room temperature, between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Avoid overcrowding and the excess waste and dead and decaying crickets that will result. Crickets will do well in a dark atmosphere or in the normal lighting of a home.

Habitat Maintenance

Crickets are sensitive to their environment. Excess moisture, mold or chemical exposure will kill them. Be sure to clean your habitat weekly to remove waste, uneaten food and any dead crickets. Thoroughly clean your habitat with a mild soap and water between any new shipments of purchased crickets. Be sure to rinse the habitat well.

Breeding

Females will lay eggs in damp soil or cotton if you make these available. Keep the items moist, and eggs should hatch in one to two weeks. Cricket babies can be kept in the main habitat as long as ample food is provided to keep the adults from eating them. Earthlife Web suggests putting a light at the top of your habitat to make breeding more likely.

References

• Earthlife Web: The Care of Crickets