# Jerusalem Cricket.



## Camden (Nov 26, 2011)

Well as some of you might have seen, I made a thread a few days ago, saying I was going to get a Ferocious Water Bug.
But RIGHT as I went to the website to actually order the water bug, Peter Clausen (BugsInCyberspace) had updated his site, and he has some Jerusalem
Crickets in stock! Which has been my dream bug ever since I got into the hobby.
Has anyone ever kept these? What are their behaviors like? Did you like them as a pet?

I ordered one nevertheless. I couldn't help myself!

EDIT--Are Jerusalem crickets communal?


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## Tarantel (Nov 27, 2011)

Jerusalem crickets are easy to keep, so long as you have a 30'' by 30'' by 30'' tank made out of solid titanium and make sure to feed them live rabbits regularly. If they aren't feed every day they will eat through the walls of their tank and lat eggs in your ear canals. They are communal but keeping them together is not recommended due to their habits of making evil plans to kill you together. The bite of a Jerusalem cricket contains a potent toxin that will kill you in .0000002 seconds. The inside of the cage should simulate their natural environment, so there should be lots of sulfur, fire and molten rock. A audio device playing a loop of the screams of tortured souls would also be a nice choice.

I'm joking, obviously. I don't know much about Jerusalem crickets other than that their bite is painful but not venomous. I just couldn't resist saying the above. (There are a lot of urban legends about them, they are the solifugid of the insect world.)

Reactions: Funny 3


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## Camden (Nov 27, 2011)

Haha! Thanks buddy, you have no idea of the look on my face when reading that, yeah I pretty much know the basics. I was just curious as to if anyone has kept them, what their experience was like. no idea why a lot of people hate them, I love the little guys!
After a lot of experience with them, I plan on writing a care sheet on them. The only one available seems like it's intentionally trying to make you scared of them, not to mention half of the info is not valid.


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## llamastick (Nov 30, 2011)

Camden said:


> no idea why a lot of people hate them


Uncanny valley. The enormous head, overall proportions, and slow, deliberate limb movement makes them resemble an anthropomorphic cartoon insect, imo.


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## catfishrod69 (Nov 30, 2011)

i have never seen J. crickets, but mole crickets are pretty amazing...


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## Camden (Nov 30, 2011)

Catfishrod, I've never seen a mole cricket before, I just googled it, they look absolutely vicious! Jerusalem Crickets kinda resemble an ant and a cricket, but a LOT bigger as you
can assume. Some people call them potato bugs, look them up, they're awesome.


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## catfishrod69 (Nov 30, 2011)

yeah i looked them up...wasnt all that cool i think...looks like a cricket....the mole crickets get huge too....i have lived in the same county my whole life, but 3 different places....well where i lived when i was little, my friends next door had mole crickets everywhere in thier garage...then there is a place that i bass fish at, and i seen one there...i caught it and released it...but other than that, i have never seen them...this spring im going to go to that place, and do some night hunting..try and catch some and see if i can get them to breed.....i did go up there once looking for them...was raining, and daytime, but didnt find anything.....





Camden said:


> Catfishrod, I've never seen a mole cricket before, I just googled it, they look absolutely vicious! Jerusalem Crickets kinda resemble an ant and a cricket, but a LOT bigger as you
> can assume. Some people call them potato bugs, look them up, they're awesome.


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## Evanator1996 (Jan 2, 2012)

J.crickets are realitivly easy keepers 65 to 80 degrees they do burrow so deep substrate is a must at least 3 inches deep they can take up to 2      years to mature they will eat dog cat or fish food and the occasional soft boddied insect for protein and as a primary diet carrots potatoes and.   some lettuce they are not communal they will eat each other I do occasionally find 2 or nymphs under the same log sometimes but not often.
That's the most I really know from experience . And adults get 2 1/2 inches to even 3 inches and as long as you don't grip them they don't            usually bite


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## Camden (Jan 2, 2012)

Evanator1996 said:


> J.crickets are realitivly easy keepers 65 to 80 degrees they do burrow so deep substrate is a must at least 3 inches deep they can take up to 2      years to mature they will eat dog cat or fish food and the occasional soft boddied insect for protein and as a primary diet carrots potatoes and.   some lettuce they are not communal they will eat each other I do occasionally find 2 or nymphs under the same log sometimes but not often.
> That's the most I really know from experience . And adults get 2 1/2 inches to even 3 inches and as long as you don't grip them they don't            usually bite


Thanks, I got my J. cricket a few weeks ago, it's doing great eating all the veggies i put in there, and it surprisingly enjoys the hide I put in there as well (Just a small clay flower pot) and I appropriately named him Jiminy Hitler.

Reactions: Dislike 1 | Funny 1


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## gwalchguin (Nov 4, 2017)

Camden said:


> Thanks, I got my J. cricket a few weeks ago, it's doing great eating all the veggies i put in there, and it surprisingly enjoys the hide I put in there as well (Just a small clay flower pot) and I appropriately named him Jiminy Hitler.





Camden said:


> Thanks, I got my J. cricket a few weeks ago, it's doing great eating all the veggies i put in there, and it surprisingly enjoys the hide I put in there as well (Just a small clay flower pot) and I appropriately named him Jiminy Hitler.


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## gwalchguin (Nov 4, 2017)

I currently own three of these and have had experience keeping them in the past.  I have an adult from Palos Verdes CA, and an adult and juvenile from Redondo Beach CA.  These insects are not hard to keep and are usually not agressive regardless of their appearance.  However, they do not like being touched on the back.  I feed mine a diet of carrots, Romain lettuce, plain oats, bread, Apple slices, and small crickets, mealworms, or waxworms.  If you get any more they must be kept in separate containers.  I make my own substrate; about 2/3 coconut fiber, 1/3 fine sand.  Humidity doesn't matter much, but the substrate must be kept damp.


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## Jammers86 (Oct 8, 2020)

I know 


Evanator1996 said:


> J.crickets are realitivly easy keepers 65 to 80 degrees they do burrow so deep substrate is a must at least 3 inches deep they can take up to 2      years to mature they will eat dog cat or fish food and the occasional soft boddied insect for protein and as a primary diet carrots potatoes and.   some lettuce they are not communal they will eat each other I do occasionally find 2 or nymphs under the same log sometimes but not often.
> That's the most I really know from experience . And adults get 2 1/2 inches to even 3 inches and as long as you don't grip them they don't            usua
> 
> 
> ...


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## WorthinJ (Dec 15, 2020)

gwalchguin said:


> I currently own three of these and have had experience keeping them in the past.  I have an adult from Palos Verdes CA, and an adult and juvenile from Redondo Beach CA.  These insects are not hard to keep and are usually not agressive regardless of their appearance.  However, they do not like being touched on the back.  I feed mine a diet of carrots, Romain lettuce, plain oats, bread, Apple slices, and small crickets, mealworms, or waxworms.  If you get any more they must be kept in separate containers.  I make my own substrate; about 2/3 coconut fiber, 1/3 fine sand.  Humidity doesn't matter much, but the substrate must be kept damp.


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## WorthinJ (Dec 15, 2020)

Where did you get your crickets? I want one!!! 
my son and I found one when we were camping and I thought it was the strangest feature in the world. I was ready to call scientists onboard to share this odd THING. So I brought him home (i decided it’s a boy I dunno why) and found out via internet that he was a a weird version of a cricket. And I let him go in my backyard and he immediately burrowed DOWN. I haven’t seen him since (but I’m also not out looking for him in the middle of the night). 
anyways.... it’s been a while and I keep thinking about him.What does it take to have them in a terrarium? And where does one purchase a Jerusalem Cricket?


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## WorthinJ (Dec 15, 2020)

Did you just find them wandering about? Or did you order them from some sort of exotic big store?


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## MrGhostMantis (Dec 15, 2020)

This is an old thread but I could answer your questions for you as these users haven’t been on in a while. 

I often find crickets under logs with a bit of moisture under them. They do dig a lot and need a lot of substrate. You won’t see him again. He probably burrowed away. Sometimes after it rains you will find them out and about. Maybe reach out to Peter Clausen from Bugs in Cyberspace as he sometimes has them.


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## scolopendra277 (Dec 17, 2020)

they look like AT-TE's

Reactions: Like 1


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