Caring for Field Crickets

Hi!



Field crickets are very common food for all those creatures you might like to catch in your backyard. They are easy to care for and are often very nutritious for them. If your creature (salamanders, toads, frogs, and even mice and voles!) likes these insects, you will find that keeping them is very handy. First, you will need a container with a secure lid, such as one of those plastic cages used for keeping small creatures, or a fish tank, depending on how many you want to keep. Another good cage idea is this. Take a 5 gallon bucket and also some packing tape (packing tape is the only tape that works because it is wide and smooth) and place the tape in a circle around the top or the bucket, about an inch down. The tape is so smooth that the crickets are unable to climb out of it. Or you can take a five gallon bucket and cut a piece of netting and put it over the top and secure it with either a big rubber band or a stretchy headband. But don't expect to use the head band again since it stretches it out. The bottom should be sand, dirt, or oatmeal. I would use sand because oatmeal ruins quickly and they need some sand, so even if you had dirt, or oatmeal, you would need to put some sand in bottle caps. One advantage of oatmeal is that they can eat it, but it isn't the most nutritious thing for them. Also you can use grass piled up, they love hiding in it. Experiment to see what works best for you! Put in a bottle cap and then fill with water for drinking. Also you need food, they will eat almost anything. Tomatoes, apples, soggy dog or cat food, and hings that are softer are their favorite. Remember to feed them good stuff, because this is what your creature with be eating. Put in either toilet paper tubes or a cut up egg carton for hiding, and then you can use it to shake the crickets in your creatures cage. As for catching them, you can either use a net, your hands, or the like. I find that my hands are the easiest. Find them near fields or grassy areas, also all over yards and in mulch, pretty much anywhere! Walk your normal speed looking at the ground and if you see something move, it is probably a cricket. Remember to catch field rickets, these are the usually smaller black ones that make the chirping sound you hear. I usually make sure to have at least 20 crickets, although you may want more if you have the time to catch them. Another way to get them is to buy them at a pet shop, or at an online pet store. These are usually a lot more expensive in the long run, though.

Have fun cricket catching!!

A Girl

How to Care for a Tiger Salamander

Hi!

If you are like me and like to keep anything creepy, crawly, and furry, or slimy, (as long as it doesn't have 8 legs!!), you might sometime want to keep a salamander. Here is a really good guide to figure out what type of salamander you have. This post is about keeping tiger salamanders, because those are the ones most common and what I always keep. Suitable cages for them would be either 5, 10, or 20 gallon tanks, glass or plastic, depending on their size. Also a kiddie pool with drain holes works. The bottom of the cage needs to have 1-2 inches of gravel or rocks for drainage. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!! Otherwise the cage could flood. Then put 2-4 inches of dirt in the cage. It should be soft, but not very muddy. Either a log or a big rock or two will need to be placed in the cage for the salamander to burrow under. You will need to put in a wide, shallow, water dish in, but clean often and change water at least twice daily because it gets muddy very quickly. They like to eat really anything that moves, but worms, slugs, and things like that are high on their list. Earlier today I took a big, fat, earthworm we had just caught to replenish our worm supply, and held it in the air in front of the salamander, who was sitting on a rock. All of a sudden, the salamander jerked and snapped at the worm and ate it! It took it a while to finish eating, but it was neat seeing it eat it. It kept shaking it like a mini crocodile. Another food easy to find is field crickets, although they would much prefer something slower. They can be kept outside if they have shade and almost no sun. Once you have had fun keeping them, let them go so you can catch some more in the future.

NOTE: Don't catch creatures in the winter, as they have to hibernate, and make sure that they are released in fall, to find their hide away for the winter.

Keeping Voles as Pets

Hi!



If you are like me and think that mice, rats, voles, and the like are cute! You probably either would own or want to own one, if you thought the above was true. I like catching wild voles for pets. We have managed to catch one so far, and I hope to catch more. look for the burrowing under mulch or in fields. Either set humane traps, or go the cheaper way that I do. I find some in the winter runnign around in snow tunnels and I catch them then, or they are easier to catch when you mow down a field or garden, we caught ours, dubbed 'Junior', when my mom mowed down the garden and several ran out. We used sticks to herd it into a bucket, then transfered it into a small cage while we prepared the tank. A good vole house would be a 10 or 20 gallon glass tank with a lid that fits completly over the top, snugly. 5 gallons can be used for temperary houses, such as keeping for several days at a time. The bottom should be lined with gravel, about and inch or two, to keep water from collecting in the tank. Then up until about a couple inches from the top fill it with mulch. The vole will make tunnels in this. Put in a bowl of water, and also food. The food mix that works for me is equal amounts of 2 different brands or cat food, a cob of corn, and equal amounts of bird seed, rabbit pellets, and dog food, as well as cat treats and some hay and grasses. This way there is a lot of stuff to chose from, but high protien food of either dog or cat, and seeds and some type of grasses or hays. Make sure that the water dish is shallow so the vole won't drown. Also, put some sort of hide away in there, I used a old, small, bird feeder gourd, which our vole loves!!! As well as a hide away, put in some cloth and/or fur. They will use this to nest. Also, I haven't put more than one vole together, so you would have to check up on that. These instructions are for a meadow vole. Also, I would be happy to answer any other questions I could.



A Girl

Super Dog plus Dance Tee!!

Here's my cutie pie Mya in her Super dog outfit I made for her and My old dance tee. Isn't she darling?!?

A Girl

Giant Garter Snake

Hi!

We found a HUGE garter snake in our old sand box pit the other day. It was so big, bigger than a corn cob (see picture.) We took it FAR away before releasing it!!

Creatures

Hi!

I catch and keep small creatures like insects, frogs, toads, salamanders, voles, and snakes for a few days at a time. Right now I have a vole, 2 toads, and a salamander. If you want any info on things like what do voles, toads, salamanders, frogs, and snakes eat or how to care for them, please leave a comment and check back soon!

A Girl