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Crickets.
Taking care of the “food” is not something most people want to do, but it’s a necessary evil. Crickets are the source of agony for many pet owners, mostly because of the smell. That being said, most insectivores will readily eat crickets.
Crickets like a cool, dry environment. If you have a dehumidifier, definitely use it when the humidity is high. That will keep your crickets alive and stink-free a lot longer. They like temperatures in the 60s or 70s F.
When you first get crickets, especially if you get them in large quantities, you should immediately get them out of the cardboard container. They are usually fed potatoes chunks for shipping. That can add to the humidity of your cricket container, so it’s a good idea to pitch the potatoes and feed them something else.
Cardboard egg crate and/or empty paper towel rolls are good for your cricket container. Large quantities of crickets are shipped with egg crate. If it’s not too dirty, you can just use that. Do not put substrate material in your cricket cage. That just adds to the smell.
You need to gut-load your crickets. Gut loading is feeding a good diet to your insects in order to feed your pet a nutritious diet. There are commercial crickets chows available. Vegetable and other food scraps can be used to feed them. Be careful not to put too many vegetables in at one time because they can make the cage moist, which is bad. The cricket chow is made of ground grain. A little dry dog food can be added to give the crickets some extra protein.
Offering water to your crickets is not a good idea. If the water is more than 1/4” deep, the crickets can drown. Some people use a sponge (either natural or man-made) or cotton ball. Those can become moldy, smelly and just plain gross. There is a product that is basically gelatin that is used to “water” the crickets. There are a lot of different brands, but they work really well. Some are just for watering and others have food mixed into the gelatin.
Whatever you do, keeping the crickets alive is vital to keeping your pet alive. Happy, healthy crickets lead to a happy, healthy pet.
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