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The following are recommendations for basic care. It is important that your exotic pet receive care from a qualified veterinarian. To schedule an appointment with Maryland Avian & Exotics Veterinary Care, email us at info@MarylandExotics.com or call (240) 687-1414.
Keep your crickets in their own cage/container. Be sure the container has adequate air circulation because moisture build up will kill the crickets. An extra large critter keeper or Exo Terra’s Cricket Pens work nicely to keep crickets in.
Don’t use any substrate in the cage bottom. Place paper towel rolls, egg carton and/or crumpled newspaper in the cage to increase surface area and to give them places to hide.
Feed your crickets a calcium-rich diet 24-48 hours before feeding them to your reptile. Appropriate diets include Hi-Ca Cricket Diet (Mazuri®), Fluker’s Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet (Fluker’s®) and Calcium Plus Food for Crickets (T-Rex®). If you are keeping crickets for a longer period, they can be maintained on crushed dry reptile food (that is appropriate for your reptile), crushed bird pelleted diet, and/or commercial cricket food until it is time to gut load. Check to make sure it is not “gut load”, but an actual cricket diet. You can offer small pieces of greens like kale and collard greens, too. Remove any old food before mold grows.
Fold a paper towel into quarters, and dampen with water. Place in the cage bottom away from the crickets' food. Change the paper towel daily to prevent mold growth.
Powder your crickets by placing a few in a cup/baggie with the supplement and gently shaking them so that the powder coats the crickets. Use a calcium/D3 powder supplement as well as a multivitamin powder supplement containing vitamin A. The frequency of supplementation will depend on the species of reptile you are feeding.
Remove any crickets that remain uneaten about 1 hour after feeding them to your pet. This is important, because the crickets that are left will not have food to eat and may bite your reptile/amphibian. The crickets will also clean off any powder supplements, so they won’t be as nutritious for the pet.
Crickets can be purchased from the pet stores or through internet services. It is ideal to feed the crickets for a few days after you purchase them before feeding them to your reptile to make sure they are nutritious for your pet.
