best place to buy crickets? questions about keeping them ali

[stephnt619]

I'm looking for good place to buy crickets online. Buying them from the pet store is costing me a fortune. I am worried about losing a TON of crickets though if I order online in large amounts. I get 4 dozen at a time (every 4 or 5 days) and seem to have about 10-12 of them die every time. Before I order online I wanna know the best way to keep the crickets alive longer. I have the FLukers Orange Cube and Water Gel in with my crickets right now. I keep them in a 10 gallon Sterilite container with a single styrofoam egg carton in there for them to climb on.

How can I reduce the amount that die? What are some simple things I can do? Any tips and recommendations? Also, any other food sources I can raise, fairly cheap? I don't have a lot of money at the moment. I've seen dubia, are they hard/expensive to raise?

Also, where is a good/cheap place to order online?

Thanks alot everyone! My female might be pregnant (due to being w/ male before I bought her) so I am gonna need to find ways to feed them, and possible babies, without breaking my bank.

 

[Delshara]

Clean the cricket bin as often as you can, and provide good ventilation by cutting out some plastic out of the lid or sides and glue over the holes with metal mesh. I cleaned every day. Add more egg flats. Keep the humidity low too. I've never tried the orange cubes, but found out that you can buy just the dry crystals, and then add the water yourself. This is MUCH CHEAPER than buying the premade gels.

Also, pick a really good cricket supplier. I used Ghann's Cricket Farm out of Georgia. Just to give you an idea, my last batch of 1000 from Ghann's arrived on 6/9. Due to introducing superworms and Nero just being Nero he started to refuse crix. I had at least 100 still alive on 7/1. Fortunately I got him to eat the rest, but some of them were chirping by the time they were all gone. (He's a subadult though; he handled the bigger crix just fine). You still get some dead ones, but I never had that many.

I'm going to start with a dubia colony when I get paid, so I can't tell you much about that, but apparently they end up paying for themselves over time. There's just the startup cost to get over and once the colony is growing, you're set.

People 'round here have also had good experiences with Premium Crickets (... though I didn't) and Fluker's. You might want to try to find a local supplier to cut down on shipping costs also. Good luck

 

[Mikhail]

Here's my two cents. Armstrong Crickets was selling 1K for 20.5 shipping included but the last two batches I got from them were crawling with some kind of beetle larvae that has since infested my house. I've been vastly overcounted before by them and other times I've been undercounted. They were always quick to fix this, but the beetle thing wore me out with them. I grow roaches now so it doesn't matter.

Roaches definitly pay for themselves over time and they provide an inexhaustible supply of food once they are established. Right now I'm raising lobster roaches and blaberus discoidalis. have kept dubia in the past. If you have any roach questions hit me up.

 

[koiboydavid]

Mike with Premium Crickets is great! Had an issue with a couple of shipments where the boxes had caved in just enough so that the crickets were escaping around the screen. Emailed Mike and he made it right. They also are now using new shipping boxes that are holding up much better.

 

[ddma]

i live very close to a reptile store so i don't have to order my crix online. i buy 1000 at a time and keep them in an 18 qt rubbermaid container with a cut out in the top with screening glued on. i clean my cricket keeper every other day and give them fresh food. i bought a mini dust pan and broom from walmart for 2.00. i put egg crates and paper towel holders in the keeper. when ready to clean , i take out egg crates and paper towel holders sweep the bottom of the keeper ( crix will move out of your way) . i feed my crix gerber baby food (flakes) mixed grain, fish flakes (high protein) , orange slices, carrots , sweet potatoe, fluker's orange cubes and any greens and veggies that i feed to my dragons. then replace the egg crates and paper towel holders . i never have any smells at all and i hardly have any die.

 

[Amellio]

You can try http://luckylurecricketfarm.com/ They are cheap. Prices you see are including shipping. i believe 1000 crickets is $21 shipped. I just ordered 1000 superworms from them for $27 shipped so once I get them I will let you guys know how they look. Should be receive them tomorrow.

 

[AutopsySoldier]

Hey Amellio, have you gotten your superworms yet? I'm kinda anxious to see how they came and if you would recommend them.

 

[bubbagumper6]

Stay away from premium crickets, I ordered from them once and ALL of the crickets were DOA. I emailed mike and he was a total ass and just stopped responding to my emails. I had to file a complaint with the BBB before I got my replacements.