What do crickets eat? (Serious bug question.)?

Question

ds(6yr) going through phase, wanted crickets for pet. I gave in... now I need to know what they eat. (please)
Do they need water?

We started with celery.. seems to be working.
(( Note: I do not want to spend money on cricket food.))

Son would like to know " do crickets like to play in water. "

I could not locate any info. on-line, other than crickets are feeders.

Thanks for your support. We are laughing about this one too.

Answer 1

http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/crickets.htm#Keeping
http://www.progeckos.com/caresheets/crickets.htm

try these,
if you type a search on invertebrate care or cricket care you will find a lot.
i have crickets, they are for my tarantula but I still like to keep them happy, I have a 5 gallon tank, with some substrate in the bottom an inch or so, you can buy this on-line it's quite cheap or you could have no substrate as this would be easier to clean because crickets can get smelly, also remember that crickets are cannibals so they will prey on each other, feeding them slows the cannibalism down but does not stop it.
I have some ordinary cardboard egg cartons so they can hide and I use a jar lid with polished stones in it so they can have a drink but not drown.

crickets will eat almost anything, mine eat weetabix and veg.

It would be wise to find out about breeding because the last thing you need is 1000's of them hopping around.

maybe you should get him a tarantula Lol.

Answer 2

Interesting choice for a pet! Anyway, I've raised crickets with help from this website: http://skylab.org/~chugga/cricket/

It will give you ideas for food and water. I can vouch for the fact that they love dry cat food. They'll also eat anything you use in a salad and would even like some breakfast cereal (the real cereal part, not the marshmallows!) Maybe you can use the crickets to teach you son good nutrition.

As for the ones that go swimming in my herps' water dishes, they usually drown, so I wouldn't advise a pool.

In the orient, a cricket is considered good luck. I hope you bought plenty of it (especially when the males start chirping at night!).

Answer 3

We kept crickets to feed various other critters when we went through that stage. We actually graduated to snakes and hedgehogs. For crickets, we put them into their home with the ocasional slice of orange and we misted frequently. We left a wee thing for water as well. THis worked well. DO some google esearch, Or just go here.

http://carolinapetsupply.com/crickets.htm

Laughing. When we needed to keep larger critters to feed larger critters, the key to no tears over meal time was to NEVER EVER give the feeder a name! I am not joking, give em a name and it was meant to feed the iguana/snake/ whatever... you will meet with tears and or resistence. It is, however, a wonderful way for a kid in the city to learn some of the basic elements of nature. But once that critter has a name, you are sunk. Your kid will NEVER let you forget. Well, until tomorrow anyhow.

I miss those days. Enjoy them while they last, they are what constitute a memorable childhood, part of what creates strong smart compassionate children who also understand the concept of life and death. We had a spot in the rhubarb patch out back that was well fertilized over the years and they immediately grasped the cycle of life in the Lion King.

Enjoy yourself. This can be the time of your life. Oh yeah. I forgot about the pleasure of escapees. There are always a few! They are fond of hiding in the hardest of places, and keep the household merrily (?) entertained at any hour of the day.

Answer 4

Crickets feed on almost any kind of organic matter. They prefer soft plant matter, but will also eat other insects and carrion. On the whole it is true to say that crickets are quite harmless domestic animals.

Here is a website you can go to find out everythng you need to know about raising crickets.

http://skylab.org/~chugga/cricket/

Have Fun!!!

Answer 5

They do need water, but they can get it from fruit.

Actually I have a jar of "Cricket feed" in my refrigerator. I used to feed them wheat bran, and mix in vitamins...They vitamins were designed for the next leg up in the food chain though. My chinese water dragons, but in order for the dragons to eat well, I have to feed the crickets well. So I bought a jar of cricket feed, it has lasted over a year for a 32 oz. jar. I also have a jar of 'Orange Cubes' they are orange in color, smell citrus-like, and I don't know exactly what they are made of, but it provides water for the crickets. You can use any moist food for cricket water. I used to have a water dish with cotton balls in it as crickets will drown as said in a drop of water.

I have seen crickets swim though after accidentally getting into water. They love going near water, and if I am not careful, a dozen crickets will drown in my water dragon swimming pool every time I release the crickets into their cage.

Answer 6

crickets dont really like playing in water they are extremely dumb and can drown in a little drop of water

Answer 7

yes, they need water.

Crickets can eat veggie type things. I fed mine carrots and lettuce when I had a frog.

Answer 8

Leaves.

Answer 9

I do know that they eat peanut butter. Not sure what else tho.