Cricket Care

 

This is what works for us in caring for 500-1000 shipments of crickets

 

Pictures can be found at http://public.fotki.com/theldara/husbandry/bugs/

 

Please see these additional resources for alternate means of keeping crickets

 

http://cricketfood.com (view the Insect Care section)

 

http://www.reptilerooms.com/Sections+index-req-viewarticle-artid-53-page-1.html

(Cheri S from ReptileRooms.com)

 

I highly suggest the two links above, what I have below is merely an adaptation of the two above. The more effort you put into keeping healthy, well fed, clean crickets the better the results you will see in your dragon! While I know the food I recommend can seem costly at first, by the time you properly make a gutload by hand you’ll have surpassed the cost, plus you’ll have to order crickets more often as they die faster. I’m not one for parting with my money, which is why you will rarely see me advocate using a product, but I heartily stand behind the cricket food and would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat! And no, I’m not a paid spokesman, LOL.

 

New information, per Cheri’s efforts above, has come to light about cricket care. Please read her page as well!

 

Supplies Needed:

  • Various Sized Rubbermaid (depending on size of crickets)
  • Clear Packing Tape
  • Drink Trays from Fast Food Restaurants
  • Toilet Paper and/or Paper Towel Rolls
  • Small paper plates
  • Dry Cricket food (I highly recommend www.cricketfood.com or Zoo Med’s Adult Iguana food or even Dry Cereal)
  • Stalks from Dragon Veggies
  • Fresh Orange Slices for a safe watering method

 

Method:

 

  1. Clean Rubbermaid with water – be wary of any chemicals because the residue can kill crickets!
  2. Go down about 3-4 inches from the top of the Rubbermaid and ring the entire thing with one row of clear packing tape, horizontal to the bottom of the container. This prevents crickets from walking up the sides and escaping.
  3. Take a drill and drill holes for air into the top of the Rubbermaid and the sides above the tape line (not below!). Drill however many you want, we didn’t do all that many and have had fine results.
  4. Make sure Rubbermaid is VERY dry and clean.
  5. Place 2 small paper plates on the tub floor for dry cricket food and orange slices.
  6. Now, put a bunch of TP rolls on the bottom there. Tear apart the drink trays into the 4 cup sections; use those in the bottom too.
  7. When crickets arrive, dump them in and put their egg crates on top of the TP rolls and all… this kind of covers up the food a bit, but its fine since its not touching the foods.
  8. Daily, using the stalks from the morning salads or fresh salad from the fridge, put these in the cricket tank on one of those little paper plates (I generally put these on the top of the egg crate since its easy to get to quickly. Each evening (or every other day even) remove the plate and replace, so that the greens do not rot, stink, and kill the crickets.

 

Tips:

-          Store Crickets in a environment that maintains 70-80*F and is free of drafts

-          Keep all pesticides away from crickets

-          Remove leftover veggies daily, replace oranges every few days

-          Keep crickets very dry!

-         Change out the TP rolls and drink trays once a week or so, this cleans out the poop very well!