Crickets are small insects known for their chirping sounds, leaping legs, and fascinating behaviors. Whether you’re curious about the role of crickets in the ecosystem, raising them as feeder insects, or simply observing them in your garden, understanding what crickets eat is key to appreciating — and caring for — these tiny creatures.
In this article, we’ll explore what crickets eat in the wild, in captivity, and what they should avoid, along with tips on how to feed them properly.
🦗 What Are Crickets?
Crickets belong to the order Orthoptera and the family Gryllidae. They are nocturnal insects found in many parts of the world, thriving in grassy fields, forests, and even urban gardens. With their long antennae and distinctive chirping sound (produced by rubbing their wings), crickets play important roles in nature, especially in the food chain.
But what fuels these tiny musicians? Let’s dig into their diet.
🌿 What Do Crickets Eat in the Wild?
Crickets are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter. In the wild, their diet is quite diverse and depends on their environment.
✅ Common Wild Cricket Foods:
- Decaying plant matter – rotting leaves, grass, and stems
- Fungi and mold
- Fruits – fallen apples, berries, bananas, etc.
- Vegetables – soft or decomposing vegetable matter
- Seeds and grains
- Dead insects and small arthropods
- Organic debris in soil or under logs
Crickets are scavengers, meaning they often clean up natural waste. This behavior makes them important decomposers in the ecosystem, similar to earthworms and certain beetles.
🏠 What Do Crickets Eat in Captivity?
If you’re raising crickets as pets or as feeder insects for reptiles, amphibians, or birds, you need to provide a nutritious and varied diet. A healthy cricket diet ensures they live longer and provide more nutritional value to the animals that consume them.
✅ Best Foods for Pet or Feeder Crickets:
- Commercial cricket food (available at pet stores; usually high in protein)
- Fresh fruits: apples, oranges, bananas, grapes
- Fresh vegetables: carrots, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash
- Oats, wheat bran, and cornmeal
- Fish flakes or dry cat food (in small amounts)
- Leafy greens: kale, mustard greens, dandelion leaves
- Water crystals or a damp sponge for hydration
💡 Pro Tip: Avoid overfeeding crickets high-protein or fatty items like dog or cat food. Offer them only occasionally in small amounts.
🚫 What Crickets Should Not Eat
While crickets are not picky eaters, some foods can be harmful to them — or to the animals that may eat them later.
❌ Foods to Avoid:
- Moldy or spoiled food (can cause disease)
- Raw meat or dairy (not part of their natural diet)
- Salty, spicy, or processed human foods
- Chocolate, onions, garlic
- Citrus peels in excess (can be too acidic)
- Chemically treated plants or produce
If you’re raising feeder crickets, remember that you are what you eat applies here: unhealthy crickets can pass toxins or low-quality nutrients to your pets.
🍽️ How Often and How Much Should Crickets Eat?
Crickets are frequent grazers and should always have access to fresh food. Here’s a feeding guideline:
- Fresh food (fruits, veggies): Replace daily to prevent mold
- Dry food (grains, cricket chow): Keep in small containers or lids inside the enclosure
- Water: Use damp sponges or water crystals to avoid drowning
The amount you feed depends on how many crickets you’re caring for. A colony of 50+ crickets will consume a few tablespoons of food daily, along with moisture sources.
💡 Gut-Loading: A Crucial Step for Feeder Crickets
Gut-loading refers to feeding crickets high-nutrient foods 24–48 hours before they are offered as food to reptiles or amphibians. This ensures your pet gets maximum vitamins and minerals from the cricket’s last meal.
Best Gut-Loading Foods:
- Dark leafy greens (e.g., collard greens, kale)
- Sweet potato, squash, and carrots
- Calcium-rich commercial gut-loading products
- High-protein insect food blends
Avoid using plain bread, sugar, or empty-calorie grains during gut-loading — focus on nutrient density.
🌍 Do Crickets Eat Each Other?
Yes, cannibalism can occur among crickets, especially when:
- Food or water is limited
- Their enclosure is overcrowded
- Injured or weak crickets are present
To avoid this, keep their habitat clean, spacious, and well-fed with consistent food and hydration.
🐥 Do Baby Crickets (Nymphs) Eat the Same Food?
Cricket nymphs have the same diet as adults but require softer food in smaller pieces. Offer finely chopped vegetables, powdered cricket food, or ground-up grains.
Make sure food is always accessible and moist enough to help nymphs grow quickly and healthily.
🌿 Final Thoughts
Crickets are resilient, adaptable, and surprisingly useful insects with a diet that reflects their role as nature’s recyclers. Whether you’re feeding them to your pets or simply observing them outdoors, offering the right food helps support their health and natural behavior.
In Summary:
| Cricket Type | Food Types | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wild Crickets | Decaying plants, insects, fruits | Scavengers and decomposers |
| Pet Crickets | Fruits, veggies, grains, cricket food | Feed daily and remove leftovers |
| Feeder Crickets | Gut-loaded greens, carrots, squash | Improve reptile health by feeding quality food |
| Nymphs | Soft fruits/veggies, powdered food | Small portions, easy to digest |
If you’d like a printable Cricket Feeding Guide, or help building an infographic or care sheet for your website or product, just let me know!
Ask ChatGPTCrickets are small insects known for their chirping sounds, leaping legs, and fascinating behaviors. Whether you’re curious about the role of crickets in the ecosystem, raising them as feeder insects, or simply observing them in your garden, understanding what crickets eat is key to appreciating — and caring for — these tiny creatures.
In this article, we’ll explore what crickets eat in the wild, in captivity, and what they should avoid, along with tips on how to feed them properly.
🦗 What Are Crickets?
Crickets belong to the order Orthoptera and the family Gryllidae. They are nocturnal insects found in many parts of the world, thriving in grassy fields, forests, and even urban gardens. With their long antennae and distinctive chirping sound (produced by rubbing their wings), crickets play important roles in nature, especially in the food chain.
But what fuels these tiny musicians? Let’s dig into their diet.
🌿 What Do Crickets Eat in the Wild?
Crickets are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter. In the wild, their diet is quite diverse and depends on their environment.
✅ Common Wild Cricket Foods:
- Decaying plant matter – rotting leaves, grass, and stems
- Fungi and mold
- Fruits – fallen apples, berries, bananas, etc.
- Vegetables – soft or decomposing vegetable matter
- Seeds and grains
- Dead insects and small arthropods
- Organic debris in soil or under logs
Crickets are scavengers, meaning they often clean up natural waste. This behavior makes them important decomposers in the ecosystem, similar to earthworms and certain beetles.
🏠 What Do Crickets Eat in Captivity?
If you’re raising crickets as pets or as feeder insects for reptiles, amphibians, or birds, you need to provide a nutritious and varied diet. A healthy cricket diet ensures they live longer and provide more nutritional value to the animals that consume them.
✅ Best Foods for Pet or Feeder Crickets:
- Commercial cricket food (available at pet stores; usually high in protein)
- Fresh fruits: apples, oranges, bananas, grapes
- Fresh vegetables: carrots, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash
- Oats, wheat bran, and cornmeal
- Fish flakes or dry cat food (in small amounts)
- Leafy greens: kale, mustard greens, dandelion leaves
- Water crystals or a damp sponge for hydration
💡 Pro Tip: Avoid overfeeding crickets high-protein or fatty items like dog or cat food. Offer them only occasionally in small amounts.
🚫 What Crickets Should Not Eat
While crickets are not picky eaters, some foods can be harmful to them — or to the animals that may eat them later.
❌ Foods to Avoid:
- Moldy or spoiled food (can cause disease)
- Raw meat or dairy (not part of their natural diet)
- Salty, spicy, or processed human foods
- Chocolate, onions, garlic
- Citrus peels in excess (can be too acidic)
- Chemically treated plants or produce
If you’re raising feeder crickets, remember that you are what you eat applies here: unhealthy crickets can pass toxins or low-quality nutrients to your pets.
🍽️ How Often and How Much Should Crickets Eat?
Crickets are frequent grazers and should always have access to fresh food. Here’s a feeding guideline:
- Fresh food (fruits, veggies): Replace daily to prevent mold
- Dry food (grains, cricket chow): Keep in small containers or lids inside the enclosure
- Water: Use damp sponges or water crystals to avoid drowning
The amount you feed depends on how many crickets you’re caring for. A colony of 50+ crickets will consume a few tablespoons of food daily, along with moisture sources.
💡 Gut-Loading: A Crucial Step for Feeder Crickets
Gut-loading refers to feeding crickets high-nutrient foods 24–48 hours before they are offered as food to reptiles or amphibians. This ensures your pet gets maximum vitamins and minerals from the cricket’s last meal.
Best Gut-Loading Foods:
- Dark leafy greens (e.g., collard greens, kale)
- Sweet potato, squash, and carrots
- Calcium-rich commercial gut-loading products
- High-protein insect food blends
Avoid using plain bread, sugar, or empty-calorie grains during gut-loading — focus on nutrient density.
🌍 Do Crickets Eat Each Other?
Yes, cannibalism can occur among crickets, especially when:
- Food or water is limited
- Their enclosure is overcrowded
- Injured or weak crickets are present
To avoid this, keep their habitat clean, spacious, and well-fed with consistent food and hydration.
🐥 Do Baby Crickets (Nymphs) Eat the Same Food?
Cricket nymphs have the same diet as adults but require softer food in smaller pieces. Offer finely chopped vegetables, powdered cricket food, or ground-up grains.
Make sure food is always accessible and moist enough to help nymphs grow quickly and healthily.
🌿 Final Thoughts
Crickets are resilient, adaptable, and surprisingly useful insects with a diet that reflects their role as nature’s recyclers. Whether you’re feeding them to your pets or simply observing them outdoors, offering the right food helps support their health and natural behavior.
In Summary:
| Cricket Type | Food Types | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wild Crickets | Decaying plants, insects, fruits | Scavengers and decomposers |
| Pet Crickets | Fruits, veggies, grains, cricket food | Feed daily and remove leftovers |
| Feeder Crickets | Gut-loaded greens, carrots, squash | Improve reptile health by feeding quality food |
| Nymphs | Soft fruits/veggies, powdered food | Small portions, easy to digest |
If you’d like a printable Cricket Feeding Guide, or help building an infographic or care sheet for your website or product, just let me know!
Ask ChatGPTCrickets are small insects known for their chirping sounds, leaping legs, and fascinating behaviors. Whether you’re curious about the role of crickets in the ecosystem, raising them as feeder insects, or simply observing them in your garden, understanding what crickets eat is key to appreciating — and caring for — these tiny creatures.
In this article, we’ll explore what crickets eat in the wild, in captivity, and what they should avoid, along with tips on how to feed them properly.
🦗 What Are Crickets?
Crickets belong to the order Orthoptera and the family Gryllidae. They are nocturnal insects found in many parts of the world, thriving in grassy fields, forests, and even urban gardens. With their long antennae and distinctive chirping sound (produced by rubbing their wings), crickets play important roles in nature, especially in the food chain.
But what fuels these tiny musicians? Let’s dig into their diet.
🌿 What Do Crickets Eat in the Wild?
Crickets are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter. In the wild, their diet is quite diverse and depends on their environment.
✅ Common Wild Cricket Foods:
- Decaying plant matter – rotting leaves, grass, and stems
- Fungi and mold
- Fruits – fallen apples, berries, bananas, etc.
- Vegetables – soft or decomposing vegetable matter
- Seeds and grains
- Dead insects and small arthropods
- Organic debris in soil or under logs
Crickets are scavengers, meaning they often clean up natural waste. This behavior makes them important decomposers in the ecosystem, similar to earthworms and certain beetles.
🏠 What Do Crickets Eat in Captivity?
If you’re raising crickets as pets or as feeder insects for reptiles, amphibians, or birds, you need to provide a nutritious and varied diet. A healthy cricket diet ensures they live longer and provide more nutritional value to the animals that consume them.
✅ Best Foods for Pet or Feeder Crickets:
- Commercial cricket food (available at pet stores; usually high in protein)
- Fresh fruits: apples, oranges, bananas, grapes
- Fresh vegetables: carrots, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash
- Oats, wheat bran, and cornmeal
- Fish flakes or dry cat food (in small amounts)
- Leafy greens: kale, mustard greens, dandelion leaves
- Water crystals or a damp sponge for hydration
💡 Pro Tip: Avoid overfeeding crickets high-protein or fatty items like dog or cat food. Offer them only occasionally in small amounts.
🚫 What Crickets Should Not Eat
While crickets are not picky eaters, some foods can be harmful to them — or to the animals that may eat them later.
❌ Foods to Avoid:
- Moldy or spoiled food (can cause disease)
- Raw meat or dairy (not part of their natural diet)
- Salty, spicy, or processed human foods
- Chocolate, onions, garlic
- Citrus peels in excess (can be too acidic)
- Chemically treated plants or produce
If you’re raising feeder crickets, remember that you are what you eat applies here: unhealthy crickets can pass toxins or low-quality nutrients to your pets.
🍽️ How Often and How Much Should Crickets Eat?
Crickets are frequent grazers and should always have access to fresh food. Here’s a feeding guideline:
- Fresh food (fruits, veggies): Replace daily to prevent mold
- Dry food (grains, cricket chow): Keep in small containers or lids inside the enclosure
- Water: Use damp sponges or water crystals to avoid drowning
The amount you feed depends on how many crickets you’re caring for. A colony of 50+ crickets will consume a few tablespoons of food daily, along with moisture sources.
💡 Gut-Loading: A Crucial Step for Feeder Crickets
Gut-loading refers to feeding crickets high-nutrient foods 24–48 hours before they are offered as food to reptiles or amphibians. This ensures your pet gets maximum vitamins and minerals from the cricket’s last meal.
Best Gut-Loading Foods:
- Dark leafy greens (e.g., collard greens, kale)
- Sweet potato, squash, and carrots
- Calcium-rich commercial gut-loading products
- High-protein insect food blends
Avoid using plain bread, sugar, or empty-calorie grains during gut-loading — focus on nutrient density.
🌍 Do Crickets Eat Each Other?
Yes, cannibalism can occur among crickets, especially when:
- Food or water is limited
- Their enclosure is overcrowded
- Injured or weak crickets are present
To avoid this, keep their habitat clean, spacious, and well-fed with consistent food and hydration.
🐥 Do Baby Crickets (Nymphs) Eat the Same Food?
Cricket nymphs have the same diet as adults but require softer food in smaller pieces. Offer finely chopped vegetables, powdered cricket food, or ground-up grains.
Make sure food is always accessible and moist enough to help nymphs grow quickly and healthily.
🌿 Final Thoughts
Crickets are resilient, adaptable, and surprisingly useful insects with a diet that reflects their role as nature’s recyclers. Whether you’re feeding them to your pets or simply observing them outdoors, offering the right food helps support their health and natural behavior.
In Summary:
| Cricket Type | Food Types | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wild Crickets | Decaying plants, insects, fruits | Scavengers and decomposers |
| Pet Crickets | Fruits, veggies, grains, cricket food | Feed daily and remove leftovers |
| Feeder Crickets | Gut-loaded greens, carrots, squash | Improve reptile health by feeding quality food |
| Nymphs | Soft fruits/veggies, powdered food | Small portions, easy to digest |