Feeder sites with good winter shipping

Ok, so I have run into a slight problem. Long story short, my dubia roach colony hasn't matured enough to feed my dragon during the winter months, which leaves me to order online in the meantime. Problem is, I live in Ohio, and the nights can get cold this time of the year, well below freezing, and the daytime temps aren't great either. I'm not sure my dragon's age, but it's only about 8 in. long, so it's young, but eating a TON of bugs each day. Buying from the pet store is gonna be too expensive.

Does anyone know of any sites they've used that had really good shipping in cold weather, that I can buy in bulk? AKA, proper packaging, heat packs, holding for pickup, etc. I tried Dubideli once last month, but they forgot the heat packs, didn't hold at the post office, and I was just lucky the day they were delivered wasn't SUPER cold, so they somehow survived, but that won't fly in sub-freezing temps. Rainbow Mealworms won't let me order in the amount of roaches I need, and don't seem to have cold weather shipping, so they're out of the running too.

It doesn't have to be roaches either. Anything that can be a proper staple insect is all I ask for. I'd rather not deal with crickets if I don't have to though...they smell. I like my dubias. Haven't tried BSFL yet, but I'd be willing to. My dragon seems to go after anything small enough to eat that moves.

Anyone in the colder states have any good places they know of?

I've used Great Lakes Hornworm and Symptonbsf in the winter occasionally. I haven't ordered roaches during the winter but used to get crickets from Georgia Crickets year round. I tend to hold off on requesting shipments during real cold snaps but when packed with a heat pack and overnight shipped the bugs have arrived in good shape. A good vendor will also hold shipment if they are in a cold snap and wait until it warms up a bit.

CooperDragon":76288pc9 said:

I've used Great Lakes Hornworm and Symptonbsf in the winter occasionally. I haven't ordered roaches during the winter but used to get crickets from Georgia Crickets year round. I tend to hold off on requesting shipments during real cold snaps but when packed with a heat pack and overnight shipped the bugs have arrived in good shape. A good vendor will also hold shipment if they are in a cold snap and wait until it warms up a bit.

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Thanks! I sent an email to Symptonbsf asking their recommended shipping temps, cause their prices look really good, but I'm also checking out Georgia Crickets as well. I'd love to be able to wait til it warms up a little, but this is Ohio in November, there's no such thing as "warming up" at this point. If anything, it'll just keep getting colder. By December, I may not even be able to order them online anymore. Georgia Crickets says they don't offer a live guarantee when temps drop below 25°F, which they most certainly will eventually.

Worse case scenario, I've been looking into breeding crickets. They seem like they'll reproduce MUCH faster than dubias, if not be a good deal more annoying to care for. But, if they can get me through the winter months without me spending an arm and a leg on feeders, then it'll probably be worth the aggravation (and I can always sell/feed them all off once the dubias really take off).

I can't believe just how many bugs a baby beardie can eat though! It's nuts...

Fluker says they guarantee BSFL down to 15*, and at check-out, you can opt to have them held at the PO.

Janelle":3vl355g4 said:

Fluker says they guarantee BSFL down to 15*, and at check-out, you can opt to have them held at the PO.

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I've heard better reviews for Symptonbsf worms than for Flukers, so I'd rather try them first. Speaking of, I got a response from them already! Here's what they said:

"In your case, it would be most wise to have your order held at your local post office for pickup, to ensure the larvae are kept at a safe temperature. To do this, write in your order notes: "Hold at Post Office for Pick-Up" - and be sure to include the best phone number to reach you at in your shipping information on the site."

I guess they figure they can survive the trip. I'll give them a go. Fingers crossed.

Still pretty sure I'm gonna breed crickets too, to get me through the coldest months, but an order of BSFL should give me time to set them up, and I've been wanting to try them anyways.

Man, though, if I start breeding crickets, on top of the dubias and the superworms I already have starting to breed, I'll have a veritable bug farm by winter's end :lol: At least that means if ( or more likely "when") I buy more reptiles later, I'll be all set.

Ive heard this one is one of the best. Havent tried them yet though but I plan on it


https://www.joshsfrogs.com/

Hi there, having crix shipped overnight from a reputable company that properly packs + uses heat packs is expensive but will pretty much guarantee live arrival . Great lakes hornworm are a trustworthy company. Just look for the best window of opportunity and order 1-2K of the half inch and they should last you a good long time. The 1/2 " are the right size for an 8" dragon and the crix will steadily grow for the next 6-8 weeks as you feed them off.


Another option is a reptile show. Are you close enough to the Cleveland or Columbus shows ? There are always insect vendors , contact them before the show + get there early to get your bugs.

AHBD":31vch9zm said:

Hi there, having crix shipped overnight from a reputable company that properly packs + uses heat packs is expensive but will pretty much guarantee live arrival . Great lakes hornworm are a trustworthy company. Just look for the best window of opportunity and order 1-2K of the half inch and they should last you a good long time. The 1/2 " are the right size for an 8" dragon and the crix will steadily grow for the next 6-8 weeks as you feed them off.


Another option is a reptile show. Are you close enough to the Cleveland or Columbus shows ? There are always insect vendors , contact them before the show + get there early to get your bugs.

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The Cleveland expo is about an hour away though, and held on Sundays, which are trickier to get the day off for, so it's not worth the hassle. I'd probably spend as much in gas and tolls as I would for overnight shipping from a site anyways. Probably for the best as it's SO hard to go to an expo and not bring home another reptile.

Edit: I put in an order from Georgia Crickets for 1000 mixed crickets, overnight priority with FedEx hub pickup and winter packaging. I've gotten snakes in the cold weather with this kind of shipping, so I'll be shocked if they mess this up. I figure between these and the BSFL, I should be set for a while, and I can raise some of the crickets from this order as breeding stock. It was $40 total, but that's still only $0.04 a cricket, which is a steal compared to what they charge at the pet stores.

Those should be OK. I've ordered from them in winter and they will hold shipping if temps get too low. I've had them delivered to my office during the day and the crickets were fine.

So, the Symptonbsf worms arrived at the post office today, so I went to pick them up. They arrived safely, despite no heat pack in the box. They really do seem to be sturdy little buggers! I can at least recommend that site for temps down to the 30s.

My Georgia Crickets overnight order got delayed due to weather though. They have winter packaging, and are going to be kept at the hub for pickup, so they should be fine as long as the heat pack holds out. Just means it's gonna be more of a pain in the butt for me to arrange pickup.

I'm just happy one of the sets of feeders arrived, so my beardie will have something to chow down on today, otherwise I was gonna have to make a Petsmart run. I'm also glad the little one's not picky when it comes to insects.

Glad to hear at least the larvae arrived OK. I usually just keep them in their container at room temp and take them out, remove all of the substrate, and feed them as needed. A sieve can sometimes help with this. The crickets should be fine, especially if they are indoors.

Georgia Crickets completely dropped the ball. I ordered from them because I saw their vid on YouTube explaining their winter shipping. Crickets in bags to keep them contained, a heat pack, insulated box...

Yeah, I got none of that.

Plus, the overnight shipping got delayed due to weather, so I couldn't get my crickets until this morning, and they had to spend the day still in the box in my locker at work (but it wasn't cold in there).

On top of everything, this was also after they nearly sent my package via ground after I'd paid for overnight priority, which I was lucky enough to catch and have them change.

So, long story short, my order of 1000 has maybe 75-80% dead, and I'm probably out $40. I am understandably not happy. I told them as much when I sent them a message. I'll see what kind of reply they send and how they deal with it. Until then, I absolutely cannot recommend Georgia Crickets for winter shipping (and I don't know if I'd use them at this point even for the non-cold months, with as angry as I am with them right now).

...and now I need to go sort out the survivors into a clean container. I'm glad I thought to buy two.

Oh boy, that's a shame ! Be sure to call them up ASAP and ask for a refund. Always take pics for proof, some people even do videos to show the condition the bugs arrived in. Give Great Lakes hornworm a try, I never had one problem with them.

AHBD":36ke78ig said:

Oh boy, that's a shame ! Be sure to call them up ASAP and ask for a refund. Always take pics for proof, some people even do videos to show the condition the bugs arrived in. Give Great Lakes hornworm a try, I never had one problem with them.

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I forgot to take pics, so it is what it is. I did contact them to let them know what happened, but they haven't responded back this time. I'll wait til after the weekend, but if I don't hear back, I'm leaving a nasty review on their FB page.

At least I have enough crickets that made it to even out to what I would have paid at Petsmart, which is where I would have otherwise been forced to buy from. I can hopefully get a colony started with them. I have plenty of fresh, wriggly BSFL at least, which will hopefully last til the crickets can start breeding.

Great Lakes Hornworm looks decent, but I'm mainly concerned with the fact that their site is still in summer shipping mode. They need to update it for winter.

Glad to hear that enough crickets survived for a few feedings. Since many did not survive, these may not live long either. And Great Lakes hornworm is located in Michigan so they will ship according to their weather because it's cold there already, no need to worry. You can contact them with a phone call, you'll usually get Rob the owner who is very congenial + will answer your Q's. They have a great reputation, I've never received dead bugs from them.