Cricket Care Sheet
Introduction
Common Name: House Cricket
Scientific Name: Acheta domesticus
The House Crickets (Acheta domesticus) are insects and are found almost all over the world. Crickets can vary in size, but a Fluker cricket can get up to an inch in length. These insects are an excellent source of protein and are very easily “gut-loaded” with calcium and other important vitamins for your pets.
Nutritional Benefits
Typical nutritional analysis of Crickets:
- Moisture: 77.58%
- Protein 15.88%
- Fat 3.46%
- Fiber 2.4%
- Calcium .2%
- Phosphorus .95%
Unique Characteristics:
Chirping: Only male crickets can chirp, and they achieve this by using their stridulatory organ, which is located on the tegmen, or forewing. On each tegmen the crickets have a vein running along it with serrations on its edge, making it look almost like a comb. At the end of the tegmen, they also have a scraper. The cricket will move its wings onto each other and produce a noise which goes through a "harp," apart of the body that has a lot of membrane, which amplifies and resonates the volume of the sound, causing a chirp!
Chirp Variation: There are many chirps made by crickets, and each one sounds different from species to species, but some species are mute. There are calling songs to attract female crickets, courting songs to encourage mating, and even a triumph song to celebrate successful mating! Not only are there different songs, but the pitch and volume of the chirp can also be changed by environment and temperature, which is why we can use cricket chirps to determine how hot it is outside using this formula: Temperature = 40 + number of chirps in 15 seconds.
Wings: Most cricket species have wings, even if they aren’t for flight. The ones that utilize their wings for flight are very inept fliers and the number of species which fly are very few and far between. In some species, the wings are pulled off and consumed by the cricket for a nutrition boost.
Feeding and Maintenance:
Omnivorous: They will eat both plants and animals, but, if deprived of their normal selection, will revert to a wide array of organic foodstuffs, such as flowers, fruits or even grass. This feeding strategy is called a generalist feeding strategy, meaning they are not picky in what they eat.
Some species are more predatory: hunting other insects’ larvae and pupae or aphids and scale insects.
Others are scavengers: seeking out remains and, decaying plants, seeds and fungi. In captivity, some species have been found to eat ground-up dog food!
Breeding and Lifecycle:
Most crickets lay their eggs in soil or inside plant stems. If the breed of cricket lives in the ground, they can lay them in underground chambers or into the walls of their burrow, such as mole crickets. Crickets have a hemimetabolous life cycle, which means their life stages consist of an egg stage, a nymphal stage and an adult stage known as the imago.
Storage and Longevity:
Housing: A bulk of one thousand adult crickets will require at least a 10-gallon aquarium.
Bedding: Suitable substrates for your crickets' home include egg crates and orchid bark. You should also provide dark places for hiding.
Maintenance: It is important to clean the cage out at least once a week, or between cricket shipments.
Temperature: The optimum temperature range for crickets should be 70°-75°F during the day and at night. This is necessary for the crickets' metabolisms and immune systems to function properly.
Feeding to Reptiles and Amphibians:
Gut-loading: You should gut-load the crickets with Fluker's High Calcium Cricket Diet 24 hours before introducing them to the reptile. You could also mix half of the High Calcium Cricket Diet with half of the Cricket Diet.
Hydration: Use a small dish filled with gravel, with water just covering the gravel, or Fluker's Cricket Quencher in Original and Calcium Fortified to provide a clean water source.
Vitamins: Also available is Fluker's Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet, a convenient, easy to use nutrient filled water and food source. Simply drop a few in the container with the crickets. It is specially formulated to be easily digested by both crickets and animals that consume them and packed with vitamins E, B12, A, D3, and Calcium carbonate. This diet is a three-in-one: food, vitamins, and water in one diet!
Additional Considerations:
You can also use our dusting products on your crickets to provide your reptiles with essential nutrients and vitamins.
- Reptile Vitamin with Beta Carotene
- Calcium:Phosphorus 2:1
- Repta Calcium with Vitamin D3 and Flavored Repta Calcium with Vitamin D3
- Repta Calcium without Vitamin D3 and Phosphorus Free
Find out more about the safe disposal of live feeder insects.
By following these guidelines, you can maintain healthy cricket and provide a reliable source of small, live feeder insects for your reptiles and amphibians. Regular care the benefits of gut-loading insects will ensure your pets receive the best possible nutrition from their diet of crickets.
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