Hestia's Homeschool

Raising Crickets (for the less Squeamish Pet Owner) 

Cricket care and breeding

When we came home with a dozen or so chirping little crickets for the bat we sadly found that the bat had died.

Now, since these crickets are not the same crickets that are native to this area I could not release them in the back yard, so I did a quick search and found out how to raise them.  Tabitha had just read how to do this in one of her workbooks, but their suggestion--keeping them in a flowerpot--did not seem very feasible to me.

They will do well in a ten gallon aquarium, so we will be moving them into a sandy aquarium, complete with a damp area for breeding, a toilet paper roll or two for hiding, and food.   Apparently if you do not give them places to hide they will cannibalize each other.

They will eat oatmeal, slices of orange and other bits of fruit.

I have a feeling that the girls will get attatched to them  and they will no longer be feeders for bats.... the sources do mention that they smell.

Our neighbor Dennis stopped by to talk to Dave, and horrified me by talking about how he just walled in a place in his house where there were baby sparrows.  He laughed at how they cried for a few days but then died.  I was upset. He said they are a non-native and invasive species from England.

I got a bit rude and said, "Excuse me, but your skin is white. You are not Native to this land, either. "

He looked a bit taken aback.

I am usually not so aggressive but his description of the baby sparrows crying for their mother bothered me a great deal.

All life is sacred.

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• #8 Comment from cherokeedream40 
  5/8/05 2:17 AM | Permalink

  (((((Osiyo my friend)))) sorry to hear of the bat.......it is good you are teaching your children well about "Creators" gifts to us.....so that when they grow up they will respect all that is around them......I feel sorry for that neighbor of yours called Dennis........and what he did to the birds was very cruel......He is not even fit to be called a Human Being!......How can someone live with themselves knowing they have done such a thing......and he brags about it as well........well like the old saying goes......"God dont like ugly.......and right now he is one UGLY Man!......sorry for venting my friend but.....I love all creatures....they are here for a reason just as we are......I am glad you made that comment.......You have a good heart.......and yes life is very sacred to all here on earth.....dohiya to you and many blessings.....
  
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• #7 Comment from wildflower1764 
  5/7/05 10:34 PM | Permalink

  And some men are so cruel. It's men like this who killed humans unjustly. It makes me wonder what his death might be like.
• #6 Comment from ryanagi 
  5/7/05 1:34 PM | Permalink

  OMG those poor baby birds!! Good for you in making that comment.
  
  So now that you have a bunch of crickets...maybe you should add an iguana or something to the menagerie? LOL ;-)
• #5 Comment from my78novata 
  5/7/05 6:03 AM | Permalink

  My husband says that alot to people about this land hey whites were not the natives here.
• #4 Comment from thesheatons 
  5/7/05 1:39 AM | Permalink

  Good luck on the crickets. As for your neighbor, we also have a hole in our garage wall that has been a home to birds over the years. Somehow we never get around to fixing that hole........