Feeder Crickets

[LittleMutz]

How to care for feeder crickets! Any tips on what enclosure to buy, how many to start with, their food, etc please.

[splashy07]

If you must use crickets (I prefer other choices, I'll get back to that) a plastic critter keeper will suffice, you can use cardboard egg crate pieces or paper towel rolls for them to hang out on. Organic greens, (obviously nothing with pesticides) supplemented bran type products marketed for feeder insects and commercial cricket diets work well. I breed my own feeder insects (dubias and superworms) and they are fed rep-cal pellets sold as bearded dragon food.
Now back to the cricket thing...most pet shops do not pay much attention to feeder insect care. Unless it's a reptile specialty shop that uses them for their own stock, chances are the crickets are malnourished. They cannibalize, eat their dead and often carry disease because of that. You may buy online from commercial breeders, but that depends on how many you need. Back in the day before there were other feeder options I'd buy them by the thousands.
Superworms and dubias are a much better choice for so many reasons. They do not escape and make noise all night in your closet, and are much easier to care for.
How many you should buy should be the absolute minimum for the amount of animals you keep. They're going to die if overcrowded, and there are ALWAYS escapes.

[Janella]

I couldn't agree more with Splashy on this one! Also these guys don't necessarily have to be fed insects. Their diets consist of 50% a protein source (insects, canned dog food, canned cat food, eggs, snails, ground lean turkey, etc). Then 40% veggies (dark leafy greens, squashes, green beans, cactus pads, carrots, zucchini, etc. Next, the fruit is 10% (blueberry, banana, peaches, etc). Mix things together in a food processor so they can't get picky. This should help.

[LittleMutz]

Thank you guys for the information! I think my biggest reason for the crickets is the enrichment. I have fed him worms but the crickets seem like a more satisfying hunt (in my head anyway). No idea what the skink is thinking! It’s definitely interesting to see how different insects are treated and which ones are most nutritious for my skink (and convenient for me).