# Good things about crickets



## agent A (Sep 2, 2009)

Well I have a few advantages to point out about crickets:

very easy to access

can be gut loaded with lots of nutritious stuff (pollen, fruits+vegies, etc.)

come in many sizes

easy to keep and hardy


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## idolomantis (Sep 2, 2009)

uhm they're indeed easy to acces, but they stink, make too much noise, are horrible when they escape(i've had a few hundred walking in my house for about 3 weeks)

I think roaches are everything crickets are, but very quiet and easy too.

I prefer locust and roaches anyday

Crickets are the cheapest tho.


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## vera_renczi (Sep 2, 2009)

idolomantis said:


> uhm they're indeed easy to acces, but they stink, make too much noise, are horrible when they escape(i've had a few hundred walking in my house for about 3 weeks)


you need a cat! my two take care of those crickets on the run in no time!


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## idolomantis (Sep 2, 2009)

vera_renczi said:


> you need a cat! my two take care of those crickets on the run in no time!


I have 2 and they were not interested.. lazy bums


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## massaman (Sep 2, 2009)

another good thing about crickets is you can get alot more in one container and dont need to wait for them to hatch out like fruit flies!


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## agent A (Sep 2, 2009)

yes and my mom doesn't mind them because they aren't invasive like cockroaches!


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## Kruszakus (Sep 2, 2009)

-they can damage mantids

-they stink like heck

-they escape and make horrible noise

-they are unsuitable for all Empusidae

-I live in Poland, and prices for 15-20 measly crickets reach about 3$ - I can have 250 ml of maggots for the same price


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## Rick (Sep 2, 2009)

Kruszakus said:


> -they can damage mantids-they stink like heck
> 
> -they escape and make horrible noise
> 
> ...


small risk, never personally had it happen in years of using crickets.

mine hardly ever stink, if they stink you need to look at the conditions you keep them in

mine don't escape. only escapes are my own fault, their noise doesn't bother me really

they are fine for about any mantis if you gut load them right


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## Kruszakus (Sep 2, 2009)

Rick said:


> they are fine for about any mantis if you gut load them right


Yeah, if all you know is Tenodera, Hierodula and Creobroter. Try to keep Idolomantis and feed them crickets - good luck.


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## jarek (Sep 2, 2009)

i don't know about you but I like the sounds crickets make, also you can get those that doesn't make that much noise.


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## bassist (Sep 2, 2009)

Kruszakus said:


> Yeah, if all you know is Tenodera, Hierodula and Creobroter. Try to keep Idolomantis and feed them crickets - good luck.


This.


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## massaman (Sep 2, 2009)

Try to keep Idolomantis

nahh i like my gambian and creobroter heh and also my chinese


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## jameslongo (Sep 2, 2009)

The life cycle of a cricket is usually much longer than that of any Dipteran. If you wanna breed a sustainable population, you need a bucket-load of them or a handful of mantids.


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## superfreak (Sep 2, 2009)

how are crickets NOT invasive?

roaches would be my preferred choice any day. especially if i lived over in the US - hissers sound like a wonderful food source for larger mantids. flies are good too.


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## idolomantis (Sep 2, 2009)

superfreak said:


> how are crickets NOT invasive? roaches would be my preferred choice any day. especially if i lived over in the US - hissers sound like a wonderful food source for larger mantids. flies are good too.


Yeah believe me.. crickets can be real invasive.  

I have used dubia's, hissers are too cool to feed imo lol.

Anyway both locust and roaches are better food than crickets but al of them can damage mantis, that's just the way it is.

the savest food source are probably flies.

But hey i can't feed a 4 inch _Hierodula membaranacea_ female on only flies eh.

You know, the best crickets to feed are black banded crickets, they don't make so much noise and are larger.


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## PhilinYuma (Sep 3, 2009)

superfreak said:


> how are crickets NOT invasive? roaches would be my preferred choice any day. especially if i lived over in the US - hissers sound like a wonderful food source for larger mantids. flies are good too.


Yeah, I wondered about the "invasive" thing. I think that his mum meant that crickets, unlike roaches, are not going to set up shop in the house. I have found that tropical roaches, though, die of the cold or dehydration if loose in the house. That was certainly true of my lobster roaches.

If you do decide to come and live in the U.S., let me know, and I'll have some hissers ready for you!


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## Rick (Sep 3, 2009)

Kruszakus said:


> Yeah, if all you know is Tenodera, Hierodula and Creobroter. Try to keep Idolomantis and feed them crickets - good luck.


I never said you could. I said most, not all.

The cricket we use as feeders are not invasive. How is something that lays eggs in soil going to be invasive inside your home? I have my doubts if they could even survive in the wild too. I use them as fish bait and always just toss the leftovers. I have never seen a cricket like those running wild.


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## kamakiri (Sep 3, 2009)

Rick said:


> I have never seen a cricket like those running wild.


I wish I could say the same. I have a huge population ouside of my house...I could go totally wild-caught for food supply, if not for the concern over wild parasites and the unknown of what is in their guts.


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## Rick (Sep 3, 2009)

kamakiri said:


> I wish I could say the same. I have a huge population ouside of my house...I could go totally wild-caught for food supply, if not for the concern over wild parasites and the unknown of what is in their guts.


Ok let me explain what I mean. I see plenty of wild crickets but have yet to see a wild house cricket such as the ones you buy. I feed the wild ones to my mantids all hte time. Parasites has never been a problem so go ahead and use them.


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## -MK- (Sep 3, 2009)

Haha - I always thought that the feeder crickets looked different from any others I'd seen around here. Now I know I'm not the only one.

I successfully keep small amounts of crickets in the same 32-ounce bug cups previously used for mantids before they outgrew them. With a chunk of cardboard egg carton and fresh romaine lettuce, they can live in there for weeks. Even the feeding hole in the side is useful for dispensing crickets one at a time, and if you dispense them into a shot glass that's the same size as the feeding hole, chances of escape are slim. The best part is that, once in the shot glass, they don't jump! In fact they barely move at all. I've been using this method for weeks now and I have yet to see a cricket jump out of the shot glass. This allows plenty of time (and both hands) to open the lid on the mantis container before it's bottoms up for the cricket. B)


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## ismart (Sep 3, 2009)

Crickets sux! :lol: Nah well, at least there filling.


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## PhilinYuma (Sep 3, 2009)

One of the best things about this question/statement is it lets us revisit our quarterly battle about feeding crix!


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## agent A (Sep 5, 2009)

well here in CT the easiest food to get for our mantids is to go to the petstore and buy a bunch of crickets. That's the easiest way to get food, no ordering and shipping, no catching things!


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## superfreak (Sep 5, 2009)

i dont know if the crix you guys buy over there are different to ours (most likely) but ours can easily breed with the wild field crickets. they may be a different color but theyre still the same species.


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## kamakiri (Sep 6, 2009)

Rick said:


> Ok let me explain what I mean. I see plenty of wild crickets but have yet to see a wild house cricket such as the ones you buy. I feed the wild ones to my mantids all hte time. Parasites has never been a problem so go ahead and use them.


I do mean that I have wild house crickets outside...

For me the parasites are only of secondary concern...I have no idea what they eat!


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