It looks very much like something I could have written back in the day... :roll:
As I was reading, I couldn't help but think this kind of thing may be more common than I thought, and comments seem to bear that out. How did I ever avoid this rite of beardie passage? I guess by reading a lot of articles on BDs (i.e. doing my homework) before I took the plunge, and watching videos of similar escapades on YT (not to mention signing up here a few months before plunging).
I've never fed or ordered crickets online, regardless of urging by some to do so. Between my revulsion to the noise, stink, and creepiness (despite going out as a kid and capturing grasshoppers to feed to Mr. Spectrum); reading about dead deliveries & parasites; seeing the conditions of crickets in pet chains/stores (including dissuading numbers of dead smelly bodies & parts :bleick: ); watching "unboxing" vids of feeders on YT, and investigating other options, I never succumbed. :dontknow:
The first feeders I bought were 100 small dubia roaches at the same time/show when I got ZaRDoZ. They came in plastic containers similar to
this. They didn't last anywhere near as long as we thought--ZaRDoZ turned out to be a roach vacuum. The first dubias I ordered online came in larger ones like
this. Of course, both were specifically mfd. for holding/shipping insects--with appropriate holes in the lids. When we graduated to larger size dubias (and super worms) in bulk, I was wary--not really knowing what to expect upon opening the box. I opened it slowly and cautiously, having first placed the box entirely within a large sterilite bin. I had visions of loose dubias swarming out like the scarab beetles in the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies (sorry--couldn't find a good clip
). Fortunately the vendor knew what they were doing, and both feeders (1000 med dubias; 500 lg. supers) were shipped in tightly sealed burlap bags. It was actually a little anticlimactic, but in retrospect, I'm glad--it was a tense moment, and things could easily have gone sideways (MAN, I'm glad dubias can't fly! :laughing6: )
The linked story is a year old.
Quickly scanning YT, it appears crickets are being shipped (as of a year ago) both loose
and in containers. Are feeder vendors
still shipping loose crickets, and if so, do they advise/label/warn customers? :dontknow:
Seems like a no-brainer to me. :roll:
