|
|
How to keep a Singing Good-Luck Cricket in the House
The House Cricket (scientific name Acheta domesticus) is
native to Southwestern Asia. In many cultures, especially
Asian cultures, the House Cricket is believed to bring good
fortune, and so having one living in your house will bring
good luck to your family. Many people go to some effort to
keep a cricket always around, and you can even buy extremely
fancy and artistic little bamboo cricket houses for your
lucky pet.
Most people know what a cricket generally looks like, even
if they've never actually seen one, due to several popular
stories and movies that featured crickets, from Jiminy
Cricket from the Walt Disney version of "Pinocchio" to the
lucky house cricket in the movie "Mulan." Here's a
description, just so you'll know more about your pet
cricket:
House crickets originated in Asian, and have bodies with
three distinct segments covered by a hard shell called an
exoskeleton, and two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs
on the thorax (middle segment). The hindmost pair of legs is
very large and they are used for jumping or hopping.
Crickets have two compound eyes and three small white photo
sensors on their heads, two jointed antennae, and mouths
with different parts designed for tearing, grinding, and
salivating. The House Cricket is dark brown or black in
color.
The song of the cricket is produced by the males, who have
special rough file-like parts on one forewing and a scraping
part on the other wing. When they rub the "bow" on the
"fiddle strings" it produces the signature cricket song. The
song of the male cricket is of course designed to attract a
female, but many people enjoy hearing it as well.
You can buy your lucky cricket from your local pet store
where they are often sold for live pet food, (He will indeed
be a lucky cricket to have avoided his intended fate.) or
you can have the adventure of catching one in your own
backyard or even in your own house if crickets are native to
your part of the world.
Once you have your cricket you should put it into the cage
you have already prepared for it and provide it with water
gel or a clean damp cotton pad in a jar lid for drinking
water and a good varied diet of small amounts of fresh
fruits and vegetables along with a "cricket mix" of crushed
dry dog food mixed with a little dry milk powder. You can
probably also purchase special "cricket food" from your pet
store if they sell crickets. Be sure to remove any uneaten
fresh food from the cage before it can mold or rot and
endanger your pet. Also be sure to give your cricket some
hiding places of bark or moss so it will be happy and feel
like singing.
A Male House Cricket will sing for you if it is kept at
temperatures around eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit (thirty
degrees Celsius) and are exposed to eight to sixteen hours
of light each day. House Crickets, though nocturnal, do not
do well in complete darkness or in conditions that are too
cold or too damp.
More on Crickets, Insects & Invertebrates
Plush Crickets will add Good Luck to your Home
|
