If you’re looking for a place to safely store your crickets until your reptile’s mealtime, chances are that you’ve come across the Exo Terra Cricket Pen in your search. It comes from one of the biggest name brands in reptile care products, but is it worth your time and money?
Spoiler alert: We think it is!
In this Exo Terra Cricket Pen review, we’ll take you behind the scenes on what you can expect, the pros and cons, and give you our final verdict on whether this pen is the right choice for you!
Table of Contents
Does the Exo Terra Cricket Pen Work?
There’s good news if you have been on the lookout for a cricket pen that really works: the Exo Terra Cricket Pen is the real deal – especially if you don’t want to touch the crickets yourself. (Get the Exo Terra Cricket Pen here!)
Some people note that it’s hard to get the tubes out, but this could be remedied with a little practice before you start filling the pen with crickets.
One thing to note is that there is some space around the edge of the lid where smaller crickets have been known to wiggle their way through.
If you’re looking to breed your crickets, they may be too small to effectively be contained in this setup.
Some spaces and holes are 1 to 2 cm to 3 to 4 cm wide. The lid also has a small hole.
Medium-sized crickets won’t be able to escape here, but I think that pinhead crickets could get outside if they crawl up to the cover. Just to be safe, I would not use the Exo Terra Cricket Pen for pinhead crickets.
Even the package doesn’t recommend any crickets below the size of 0.5 inches, as you see below.
However, I found that the cricket pen worked great for me. It kept every cricket fed, watered, and in their tubes until I was ready to use them.
Make sure to inspect your cricket pen thoroughly before you start using it. Many users note that their cricket pens arrived damaged in transit with large cracks that made keeping crickets in more challenging. Always make sure it’s as described before use so that you can return it if you need to.
Pros and Cons
If you’re wondering what the detailed breakdown for the Exo Terra Cricket Pen looks like, here’s a quick snapshot:
Pros:
- Comes in two sizes depending on how many crickets you want to house
- Disposable foam in water dish prevents drowning
- Can dispense crickets without them escaping
- Transparent caps to view crickets in the pen
- Easy setup
Cons:
- Holes in the lid may be too big for pinhead crickets
- Can be challenging to learn to slide the tubes out efficiently
- Sometimes arrives damaged when ordered online
Setting Up Your Exo Terra Cricket Pen
To save you a bit of time when unboxing your new Exo Terra cricket pen, here is what you can expect:
Inside the box, you will find:
- The cricket box
- Two cricket pens
- One
food bowl - One water bowl with a sponge
I think it is pretty cool that they added a sponge to the water bowl. This way, crickets can’t fall into the water and drown.
The cricket pens come with a transparent cap. This way, you can see if crickets are in the pen.
The container of the Exo Terra cricket pen has two doors: one for each pen. If you pull out a pen, the door will close automatically.
The doors close due to gravity, so you must make sure to hold the container horizontally at all times.
As you can see in the image above, if you tilt the container to the side, the door opens.
The lid can be opened and closed. This way, you don’t have to take the whole cover off when putting crickets in the box.
Exo Terra Cricket Pen Sizes
No matter how many crickets you need to house to feed your reptiles, there is a cricket pen for you.
This handy option from Exo Terra allows you to choose from two sizes: small or large. Below is the breakdown of how many crickets you’ll be able to fit in each one:
| Cricket Pen Size | <0.5″ | 0.5″ | Adult |
| Small | 100 | 50 | 20 |
| Large | 250 | 100 | 50 |
How to Use the Exo Terra Cricket Pen without Crickets Escaping
Many people are not sure how to use this thing. Luckily, the cricket pen comes with instructions on the back of the package.
Basically, you put everything in the container just like this. Put some veggies or fruit in the
Then, put the cover on it. Open the lid as shown previously in this article and put the crickets from the box they come in from the pet shop in the Exo Terra Cricket Pen. Close the lid.
After a while, the crickets will crawl into one of the pens because they like dark places. You can look inside the pen through the transparent cap to see how many crickets are in the pen.
If you want to give your pet some crickets, you simply pull out one of the pens.
The doors in the Exo Terra Cricket Pen (container) will close automatically so that no crickets can escape.
Then, you hold the cricket pen into your
If the crickets do not crawl into the pen, I would suggest opening the transparent lid on one of the pens and putting a small piece of fruit into the pen so that it attracts the crickets.
What Do I Have to Put in My Cricket Pen for Food ?
If you’re concerned about how to keep your crickets alive until you’re ready to use them, then it can be helpful to feed them the right items. Fortunately, these critters aren’t very distinguishing when it comes to taste.
You can provide them with some fresh fruits and veggies if you really want to attract them.
However, you can also use cricket
This is often a time-saving and money-saving tactic if your crickets are only going to be
Exo Terra Cricket Pen Replacement Parts
Eventually, something is bound to wear out on a cricket pen that is well-loved. The bad news is that you won’t be able to purchase individual pieces if you need replacement parts.
However, given the price point of this cricket pen, you can easily afford to replace it.
The exception is that you can purchase replacement foam, which is used for watering your crickets. This foam is designed to water your crickets without drowning them, but it will get dirty and used over time.
As soon as you start to notice that your foam is looking dirty, it’s time to change it so that your crickets always have fresh water. Foam blocks come in a two-pack.
The Verdict
The Exo Terra Cricket Pen is a great way to keep your crickets alive and happy while waiting to feed them to your reptile.
It has unique features like a foam pad in the water dish and the ability to place the crickets in without taking off the lid.
While it may not be ideal for pinhead crickets or breeding, it works effectively to keep medium-sized crickets in and allows you to dispense them without the crickets escaping.
In other words, you can’t go wrong with the Exo Terra Cricket Pen if you need a safe space to store your mid-sized crickets!
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