What should I feed my crickets?
Like many animals and insects, crickets have complex dietary needs and are capable of tasting carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. Insects have 3 lobes in their brain, one of which tells them what they need to eat more of to get the right amount of vitamins and minerals etc. This means that crickets and some other insects are able to regulate their diet themselves, except for malnourished crickets who loose this ability.
DID YOU KNOW: A crickets brain only controls a small amount of the functions required for it to live. The stomodeal nervous system and other ganglia control most body functions independently of the brain.
You should aim to give your crickets both a wet and a dry source of food. A variety of fresh fruit and vegetables are a great wet food option for crickets and if possible should be available to them at all times. Crickets love to eat spinach, lettuce, cabbage, bok choy, carrot, sweet potato, apple, banana, broccoli, cauliflower and more! These foods are also a great way for your crickets to hydrate themselves as most of these fruit and veggies are full of water. Be careful though about using these as your only source of water as they will dry out quite quickly. You should check for and remove any dried out or shrivelled fruit and vegetables as the crickets won't eat them once they are at this point and they will start to go mouldy.
A dry food source is recommended for your live crickets as it will increase longevity and give them the protein that is necessary in order to produce a healthy and robust insect. Some examples of great dry food options are a mixture of crushed cat or dog biscuits and 1 tenth skim milk powder or a ground up variety of unsalted nuts and seeds such as peanuts, almonds, bird seed and sunflower seeds (husks and all). Another option is using baby formula however this can become expensive so if you are feeding large amounts of crickets than the first two options are probably better suited. Although protein is important for producing large, strong crickets, giving them food that contains a protein content above 30% is not advisable as it will encourage aggression between crickets and will cause adults to be over interested in mating.
DID YOU KNOW: It is possible for male crickets to chirp themselves to death while looking for a mate and a female cricket will die once she has laid all of her eggs (approx 200) as she has completed what she was born to do.
When deciding what you will feed your crickets you should keep in mind what is good for the animal that your crickets will be fed to. What you feed to your crickets will most likely still be in their stomach when they get eaten by your pet so you should aim to have well fed, healthy crickets so that they can pass on as many nutrients as possible to your pet. For instance, vitamin D and calcium are very important for reptiles and helps to prevent metabolic bone disease however it can be hard to make sure that your crickets contain enough. If vitamin D isn't already supplemented in the crickets food you may consider adding a spoonful of reptile vitamin D supplement or calcidust into their dry food mixture so that they can pass it on to your reptile.
- Crickets have complex dietary needs and can regulate their diet themselves.
- Crickets should be given both a dry and wet source of food.
- Ground up dog or cat biscuits are a good dry source and fruit and veggies with a high water content make a good wet source.
- Protein is important to get large, strong crickets but too much can make them aggressive.
- The proteins and minerals given to your crickets through their food can be passed on to your reptile, so give them a variety of dry and wet food so your reptile can get the most out of the crickets.