As a cricket farmer I have seen crickets ability to chew holes in clothes, wooden sticks, even make holes in plastic sheets. Crickets have a mouth with hundreds of small teeth, but can crickets actually bite?
Most cricket species aren’t able to bite and harm humans or pets. Cricket’s bite is too weak to go through the skin of a human. Crickets have jaws and many small teeth. Crickets can bite cloth, card board, wooden sticks or even sheet of plastic. Crickets are sensitive to motion and light, so in the wild you will not get bitten by a cricket, because they will hide and won’t attack humans or pets.
Do Crickets Bite Humans?
There are types of crickets which are capable to bite humans. However, cricket bites don’t hurt and aren’t considered dangerous or have noticeable impact on humans. Cricket bites are too weak to bite through human’s skin.
There are hundreds types of crickets in the wild. Most popular cricket types are:
| Cricket Type | Can Bite Humans? |
| House Cricket | No. Jaws not powerful enough to bite humans |
| Camel Cricket | No. Jaws not powerful enough to bite humans |
| Cave Cricket | No. Jaws not powerful enough to bite humans |
| Raspy Cricket | Yes. Jaws are strong and it can bite humans, but bites are not considered dangerous |
House cricket, Camel cricket and Cave cricket can be found in U.S. These species are not dangerous for humans. Raspy cricket is only found in Australia rainforests, which can bite humans and have actual impact on a skin.
Crickets are not aggressive bugs. They usually are afraid of humans or any movement for that matter. Also, crickets are very jumpy bugs, so to confront one in the wild would be a hard task. To be bitten by one is even less possible.
I own crickets farm (Acheta Domesticus) for over 2 years and raise them from eggs until maturity. I always work with bare hands and have never been bitten. Doesn’t matter how long crickets stay on my arms, they never bit me. I only feel ticking due to their long moustaches and tiny legs.
To summarize, majority of crickets are not able to bite humans.
If you’re interested to read more about crickets and if they are harmful (or maybe beneficial?) to humans, the check out my other post.
Do Crickets Bite Bearded Dragons?
There is no literature confirming that crickets bite bearded dragons. If you feed your bearded dragon with crickets, most probably you use popular species – Acheta Domesticus. This cricket type is not capable to bite or harm your bearded dragon.
I’ve researched multiple websites looking for more details, but no one confirmed that crickets actually bite bearded dragons.
I found bunch of vague claims in online forums that “crickets can attach bearded dragons” but it looked to me as empty claims without factual back up. No one showed any photos or confirmed that their bearded dragon was bitten or harmed by a cricket.
Instead, here’s a video post where it shows a cricket sitting on bearded dragon’s head for over two minutes. No biting or distractions.
So, you can be calm and continue feeding your bearded dragon with crickets. Just keep in mind that in your bearded dragon’s terrarium probably there are multiple spots to hide. Crickets tend to hide in dark cracks/holes.
It can be hard for bearded dragon to catch crickets and after few weeks a cricket may die (depending on its age and if there are food leftovers which could help crickets to survive longer). It can be that crickets can die inside terrarium unnoticed and if not cleaned, after some time you may start feeling bad smell from terrarium.
Just be careful and put 1-2 crickets for a bearded dragon at a time, so you could keep track of all crickets what was eaten and what is still in the terrarium.
Do Crickets Bite Dogs?
No, crickets don’t bite dogs. Crickets’ teeth are too small and jaws are too weak to bite through dog’s fur and skin.
In U.S. there are several cricket species, some have stronger jaws and some have weaker. Though, none of the crickets in U.S. are capable to bite and harm a dog. Crickets are too weak to impact human’s skin, so bite through dog’s skin is impossible for a cricket.
There are more chances for a dog to eat a cricket than a cricket to bite a dog.
I had a dog several years back. It wasn’t unusual for it to find a grasshopper or a crickets in the field and eat it. I never noticed any harm for a dog to eat this kind of bug.
I am sure all dog owners have seen their dogs each much worse things than crickets without any problems.
What you should be aware of is that crickets have exoskeletons, which is basically a thick shield. Older crickets are bigger and have larger exoskeletons.
So, what could happen is that your dog may eat a cricket and start choking due to thick exoskeleton.
Also, in rare cases it may happen that crickets can carry a parasite called Physaloptera. It can be transmitted through the stomach after a dog eats a cricket. It may result in dog’s vomiting. However, such infestation is very rare for dogs (source). Even less chances that cricket in the wild will carry Physaloptera parasite.
Can Crickets Bite Through Plastic?
Yes, can bite through plastic.
Even I farm crickets for 2+ years, they still don’t stop surprising me.
In the farm it’s not uncommon for crickets to jump out from their living container.
Once, several crickets jumped out on the ground and hid somewhere. In the farm I had a wrapped thin black plastic sheet laying around.
After a day or two I picked the plastic ant unfolded it.
And surprise, surprise.. a cricket fell out.
Somehow a cricket got tangled inside the wrapped plastic sheet.
The plastic sheet had bunch of holes. Looked closer and realized it was the cricket which did it. It tried to chew its way out.
So, then I learned that crickets are capable to bite through plastic.
Do Crickets Eat Each Other?
Yes, crickets are cannibalistic and can eat each other.
Naturally, crickets don’t live in large colonies. So in the wild it would be rare to find a cricket eating each other. Of course, in the wild it’s very hard to find a cricket as they are very sensitive to motion and light.
Crickets in captivity can eat each other more often than in nature.
Crickets in captivity can eat each other mainly because of two reasons:
1. It’s overcrowded
Crickets in captivity can start eat each other when it’s too many crickets in one location.
I have the cricket farm and raise them commercially. I breed crickets in big plastic boxes. Usually there are ~500 crickets in 200 lbs. (90 liters) boxes. So, crickets live much closer to each other than in natural habitat.
Check this video to see how many crickets I keep in my farm per container.
When it’s crowded I’ve noticed that sometimes crickets eat each other. However, after 2 years of cricket farming practice I always notice that crickets only eat more vulnerable crickets. Most of the time these are crickets which are shedding their exoskeleton.
Crickets which are shedding their exoskeleton don’t have their shield, so they don’t have how to defend themselves. So for other crickets it’s an easy prey.
So, crowded areas with crickets can result in crickets eating each other.
2. Lack of food and water
Crickets can start cannibalize each other if they don’t have sufficient supply of food or water.
However, in my cricket farming experience I didn’t notice that crickets ever started eating each other when there’s no food or water in the breeding box.
During a cricket’s lifecycle there’s a period when crickets should be kept without food and water for two days. That period is before harvesting crickets for freezing. After crickets mature they need to clean their digestive system, so they need to stay 2 days without food (I only keep water supply) for them to clean themselves.
So, during this period I didn’t spy any crickets eating crickets scenario.