- The Care of Crickets
Introduction.
Crickets have been kept in captivity for thousands of years because
the singing of the adult males is considered pleasant by many
people. More recently they have been kept by many people as a
live food source for a great variety of carnivorous animals.
However they can be kept purely for the joy of watching them
as they are attractive and active little animals with a real
charm of their own.
Housing
An aquarium with a tight fitting wood/mesh lid makes a good cage,
the lid is to prevent the crickets from jumping out, it needs
to have ventilation holes a fine wire mesh is ideal.
Though they can be kept at house temperature, in colder climes
they will be more active and sing better if given some warmth,
an electric light or a heat pad are useful sources of heat, around
30 degrees is successful temperature for most species. Most species
of cricket seem happy with a regime of 16 hours of daylight to
8 hours of night including the primarily nocturnal Acheta domesticus
. Most species need some sort of cover to hide in, egg cartons,
the cardboard inners from toilet rolls and inverted polystyrene
cups all make suitable hideaways. However making a small wood
pile of dry and rotting branches 3cm to 6cm diametre by about
15cm long in one end of the tank works equally well and looks
far more attactive. In the base of the tank should be 5cm to
10cm of a peat substitute compost, this should be dampened occassionally
Water
Water should be made available in a shallow bowl filled with
cotton wool which should be changed as it gets dirty, alternately
water can be supplied in mini inverted drinkers similar to those
used for poultry.
Feeding
All crickets are omnivorous and in the wild some species are
carnivorous by choice, if crickets are not kept well fed they
will prey on one another. Most things can be used as food, I
have found that a combination of rolled oats and bran flakes
with fresh fruit and vegetables will surfice to keep them happy.
Most dry dog and rabbit foods will do as well and they also like
green peanuts such as you would by for a bird feeder.
Breeding
The females will lay their eggs in the damp cotton wool, or in
the soil if this is provided, cotton wool which should be changed
twice a week. The old cotton wool should be placed in a well
ventilated plastic box in a warm airing cupboard. The eggs should
hatch in a week or two, depending on the temperature. The young
and the adults can be kept together providing they have plenty
of food. I have found that if the top of the cage is not lighted
then breeding is much more difficult. I would also recommend
African black crickets Gryllus spp. rather than browns Acheta
domestica for the beginner, they are also better food as they
grow bigger.
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By gordon@earthlife.net
© Earth-Life Web Productions
Bringing Insects to the World http://www.earthlife.net/insects/
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