# Crickets



## libertine101 (Jun 22, 2008)

Hi all am new to this forum and to keeping mantids. Ive been feeding my mantis brown crickets and they have been feeding on cucumber. Was thinking of giving the crickets grapes for a change. Can anyone recommend other food types for my crickets?


----------



## The_Asa (Jun 22, 2008)

You can feed them a bunch of stuff... from apples, lettuce, other greens, to oatmeal...


----------



## Birdfly (Jun 22, 2008)

Also chicken meal, dog meal, leafy greens, fruit (especially citrus), cereal.

They are typically omnivorous and will eat most things


----------



## libertine101 (Jun 22, 2008)

How often should I feed them? Is it possible to over feed them?


----------



## bugzilla (Jun 22, 2008)

You can't over feed them but giving them as much variety as possible will make them more nutritious. Also, remove any un-eaten food before it goes off.

I've been told to aviod oranges because they can give the crickets diarrhoea :huh: 

Lots of people aviod feeding mantis on crickets because of bacteria/toxins that can kill them. Alternative foods include house flies, blue and green bottle flies along with any flying bugs you can catch.


----------



## macro junkie (Jun 22, 2008)

Iv recently started using them again.i have 1 inch layer of weeterbix on the floor..i then chuck in about 4 half inch chunks of apple every day//


----------



## libertine101 (Jun 22, 2008)

Would I need to put a little pot of water in with them?


----------



## macro junkie (Jun 22, 2008)

libertine said:


> Would I need to put a little pot of water in with them?


no.They get all there moisture from the apple..as long as u make sure u throw in fresh apple every day as it drys out very fast..well in my room it does any way(80F)..up to you really..theres lots of ways you can do it..water also works..if your using water make sure u put something in the water bowl..i used cotton wall balls soaked in water..it gets messy tho so i started using apple now after robb batt advised me to do it that way//


----------



## libertine101 (Jun 22, 2008)

Great advise thanks everyone.  Ive just put a layer of crushed special k over the floor, had no weetabix but they contain oats, got some sliced grapes and cucumber in there as well and a bottle cap with cotton wool and water.


----------



## macro junkie (Jun 22, 2008)

libertine said:


> Great advise thanks everyone.  Ive just put a layer of crushed special k over the floor, had no weetabix but they contain oats, got some sliced grapes and cucumber in there as well and a bottle cap with cotton wool and water.


lol..your crickets are in heavon.


----------



## OGIGA (Jun 22, 2008)

I remember reading something about carrots too. Umm, something about feeding carrots to crickets will give mantises diarrhea? Yeah, try searching.


----------



## libertine101 (Jun 22, 2008)

Did a search on carrots and its seems that you should never feed your feeders carrots as they contain a natural pesticide that helps the carrot to fight of fungi.


----------



## The_Asa (Jun 22, 2008)

I'm glad you found that one. h34r:


----------



## OGIGA (Jun 22, 2008)

I have an idea. I should feed lots of carrots to some crickets and let them loose in my garage. Then, the black widows would eat them and get poisoned. Muahaha!


----------



## libertine101 (Jun 22, 2008)

That sounds like an idea, although I think Id love a garage full of black widows!!


----------



## macro junkie (Jun 23, 2008)

libertine said:


> I think Id love a garage full of black widows!!


freake :lol:


----------



## libertine101 (Jun 23, 2008)

lol


----------



## OGIGA (Jun 23, 2008)

Yeah................


----------



## Birdfly (Jun 24, 2008)

The orange and carrot thing about diarrhea is rubbish (as long as its not the only thing they eat) and so is the thing about carrots being a pesticide (although i did wonder about this myself at one time), my roaches eat carrot amongst other things and nothing dies from eating them including the roaches themselves and they are classed as pests in a lot of places, this also applys to crickets, locusts, woodlice, millipedes, mealworms, zoophobas worms, slugs &amp; snails etc.

Keep crickets dry and warm with fresh water or fresh fruit n greens to get moisture from and a good all round diet and they positively thrive


----------



## duncan27 (Jun 24, 2008)

yeah now I guess I can classify my crickets as pets, lol. Taking care of them just as much as my mantids :lol: 

I used wet cotton balls in my cricket carrier and they used it to lay eggs. I had all sorts of pin heads. This was good to remember later when I got a curly hair t sling that needed small food.


----------



## Birdfly (Jun 24, 2008)

PESTS, I said pests


----------

