Cricket Care Sheet
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Scientific Name:
Acheta domesticus |
| Lizards
Home > Library |
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Statistics |
| Natural Location: |
North America |
| Estimated Size: |
Up to 1 1/4" |
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Nutritional
Information |
| Moisture |
75 % |
| Ash |
1 % |
| Protein |
17 % |
| Fat |
6 % |
| Other |
1 % |
| Calories from Fat |
87.73 % |
| Calcium (ml/100 grs) |
42.90 |
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| * Not a significant source of Vitamin
D3 or Calcium |
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Food
& Water |
High protein baby
salad flakes mixed with reptile vitamins, green beans,
orange squash, parsnips, sweet potatoe, cantaloupe, apples,
pears, carrots. You can also purchase Cricket Food from
your local pet store, usually calcium enriched pellets.
It is advisable to offer your feeder crickets a mixture
of foods. Make sure to remove old food and replace with
new food every couple of days to ensure a clean, healthy
habitat. The healtheir your crickets are, the healthier
your pet will be.
For water, it is easiest to provide a section of a sponge,
dampened with water. Crickets will tend to drown themselves
if you provide actual water. This will keep their housing
clean, as well as lower the death rate. They will also
get water from the food they eat, like lettuce and fruits.
You can also purchase a 'water-gel' from your local pet
store. |
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Lighting,
Temperature & Humidity |
Your crickets
should be kept in an area where the temperature is around
70-75 degrees F. They should be kept in an area with
low humidity. There is no specific lighting needed for
keeping crickets. They will survive in high to low light.
However, if kept in bright lighting, make sure to include
egg cartons in their housing. |
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Housing |
An empty container
will be enough to house crickets. A 'Cricket Keeper'
available from pet stores is excellent (also has tubes
for easy transport) , but any plastic container will
suffice. A deep container is ideal so the crickets can
not climb/jump out. Make sure to throw in some egg cartons
so they can hide, and to allow them more standing room.
No substrate or bedding is needed. It will also be easier
to move crickets from their housing to your pets habitat
without bedding. |
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Breeding |
| To breed crickets,
follow the directions in 'Housing'. Place damp paper towel
on the bottom of the container, and damp cotton in a jar
lid. Only include 15-20 crickets in the container. Crickets
can be territorial and become stressed. The crickets will
lay eggs in the paper towel and/or cotton (eggs look like
small yellow cylinders). |
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Disease
& Sickness |
| The main concern
regarding diseases with your crickets are the dead ones.
Remove dead crickets as soon as possible.
Crickets tend to be canabalistic, and will eat their dead.
Dead crickets also smell rather bad. A cumulation of crickets
dropping will also promote disease, so make sure to clean
the container regularly. |
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