Can you feed crickets two days dead? REPLY!!!

[jordy1380]

I have some crickets that I got from lllreptile. It is cold where I am from but they were only on the porch for like 15-30 minutes. I waited for about 5-6 hours and none of them were really moving, maybe 20-30 so almost all of the crickets that I got were dead. It has been a day since I got them and probably around a day since they have all died. Is there anything that I can do to preserve them and use them for feeding in the future? I know that the dragons only eat anything that is moving, but I can feed them by hand and they eat them. I will probably try to preserve tomorrow if i get some answers on how.

 

[patrickb]

I would recommend against this personally. Dead crickets, especially two day old ones are already decomposing and are full of bacteria. Definitely not something you would want to feed your dragon. With the small amounts that you are currently buying, you might be better suited to just go buy some from a local petstore, as the shipping costs on small amounts is probably eating up any savings you are getting. The ideal solution is to look into breeding your own feeders whether it be crickets or roaches. It really helps not having to worry about the live feeder supply. You could also consider ordering silkworm eggs and hatching them out. I have never tried it and it seems like some people have great success with the silkworms while others have no luck getting them to hatch and grow. They are a bit more expensive though.

 

[NegativeCreep]

Did you talk to the company? Are you sure that they were only there for 20 minutes? I don't think that there is a guarantee if you are not there for delivery.. I wouldn't feed them. Dead crickets are deadly to other dead crickets, due to a gas that their dead bodies put out, so I would assume they are bad for BDs. I was about to order from lllreptile, but I missed the deadline for the holiday season. Don't they offer a heat pack/winter shipping?

 

[jordy1380]

Yeah, they had a heat pack in there with them, but it did nothing. It wasn't even warm at all when I got them so it didn't really do anything for them. Also, the nearest pet store to me is about 30 miles so i would have to drive there and back to buy crickets that are 12-15 cents a piece where I could order them from an online provider for around 3 cents a piece. LLLreptile sells 1000 for 19.95 but that is the two day delivery, one day is about $33. I think that I am going to salvage the ones that are still alive and I have already ordered another package. They are giving me a discount since i am basically getting screwed out of $20 so i am getting the overnight for the price of the two day so that I can get them before thanksgiving. What really made me mad was that the delivery person didn't knock on my door or ring the doorbell so I didn't even know that they came. I know that they were only outside for about 15-30 minutes because I went to check if they had come at about 12:30 and they didn't then I went back in my house and checked again at 1:00 and they were there on my doorstep. No knock, no ring, no nothing. So i am at a loss then.

 

[NegativeCreep]

Yeah, they had a heat pack in there with them, but it did nothing. It wasn't even warm at all when I got them so it didn't really do anything for them. Also, the nearest pet store to me is about 30 miles so i would have to drive there and back to buy crickets that are 12-15 cents a piece where I could order them from an online provider for around 3 cents a piece. LLLreptile sells 1000 for 19.95 but that is the two day delivery, one day is about $33. I think that I am going to salvage the ones that are still alive and I have already ordered another package. They are giving me a discount since i am basically getting screwed out of $20 so i am getting the overnight for the price of the two day so that I can get them before thanksgiving. What really made me mad was that the delivery person didn't knock on my door or ring the doorbell so I didn't even know that they came. I know that they were only outside for about 15-30 minutes because I went to check if they had come at about 12:30 and they didn't then I went back in my house and checked again at 1:00 and they were there on my doorstep. No knock, no ring, no nothing. So i am at a loss then.

Sheesh, that sucks. I would call USP/FedEx and complain. They can tell who was on that route that day.. and we can hope he is reprimanded. I've never ordered feeders from lllreptile, but the other places I have bought from clearly stated live crickets or something to that extent. Where are you located, geographically.. maybe we, on this board, can find a supplier closer to you. If you live in the same state as a feeder farm, you can often get them overnight, without extra charge (I'm not this lucky!)...

 

[jordy1380]

I am from seward, ne and I don't think that there are any breeder farms, but not for sure. If you can help out that would be great because they charge a ton at petco and petsmart compared to online stores.

 

[NegativeCreep]

No, I'm not familiar with any that close to you.. but it was certainly worth a shot. It seems like we should all move to GA. There are a few cricket suppliers and that's where phoenix worms come from, too!!!

There are a ton of other suppliers out there, though. I have dealt with lllreptile (just not bought feeders) and I liked them a lot.. but I typically order from premiumcrickets.com. A lot of folks have been finding other bugs in their orders, so I was going to give someone else a shot, since I ordered my last pw's from phoenixworm.com. There is ghann cricket farm and mulberry farms. They are both very popular on this site (with good reason, I'm sure). But, if they can't make things right, it might be worth checking out another supplier..

 

[jordy1380]

Yeah, i sent the owner an email about my problem and he basically blamed it on the fedex provider so he said that he would give me 50% off. If this next shipment is dead then I am going to a different provider for sure and that is basically what I told him. I wasn't very nice because that is basically all i have to feed my bearded dragons besides greens. I am looking to start roaches soon since my bearded dragons and my tegu are getting bigger. Anyone have any good experience with them? I heard that all you have to do is feed them and the are really easy to breed.

 

[NegativeCreep]

Yeah, i sent the owner an email about my problem and he basically blamed it on the fedex provider so he said that he would give me 50% off. If this next shipment is dead then I am going to a different provider for sure and that is basically what I told him. I wasn't very nice because that is basically all i have to feed my bearded dragons besides greens. I am looking to start roaches soon since my bearded dragons and my tegu are getting bigger. Anyone have any good experience with them? I heard that all you have to do is feed them and the are really easy to breed.

How cool that you have a Tegu! I have a monitor, but he eats mice. I plan on starting a dubia colony, but I don't have any experience with them. Search around on here, though. There is a TON of information on here about them.

 

[patrickb]

I'm glad to hear the owner offered you a discount for your troubles. However, if the box the crickets were sent in had no insulation, then the little heat pack is going to do very little good against the elements if your temperatures are down there anywhere near as cold as it is down here in the south. I don't think the 15-30 mins on your porch was the turning point. It was more than likely just poor packaging IMHO. I do agree, the Fedex guy should have knocked on your door at least. They always do at my house.

As far as the roaches, there really isn't an easier feeder to breed than them. I can go on and on about all the plus'es, but basically they don't stink, they don't make noise, and they thrive on neglect. Yes, that's right, they do better when you forget about them. Various species available and you will need to consider which one you want. If you need a colony going right now since you are having supply problems, I would recommend Turkestans or Lobster roaches. They are very fast breeders and are cheap. You can buy a 1000 for about the same price as crickets. Lobsters can climb smooth surfaces, so I prefer the Turkestans myself and will never own Lobsters. Dubias are probably the best species period, but they are a bit expensive and slow to get started. Once in full swing they make for a great feeder, though. Breeding is simple with any of these species. Put them in a ~30 gal plastic container, put lots of eggcartons/paper towel tubes in, give them food about twice a week, water crystals or some other water source every 2-3 days and let them do their thing. Just do a little search on the forums here and there are many posts detailing the benefits of roaches and how easy they are to breed.

I would have to say, given your current situation, you should consider ordering Turkestans AND Dubias both. Let the Dubias establish their numbers for 6 months or so, and the Turkestans should be breeding pretty good if you get some larger ones in. Even if they aren't breeding faster enough, you can still buy them almost as cheap as crickets if you shop around.

 

[diggerdrake]

I order crickets from Lucky Lure Cricket Farm. $20/1000 including shipping (2 day via DHL) add $6 and you get next day delivery. Never had a problem with any shipments. Recently I have gotten a shipment of Dubia. No more crickets as soon as the colony gets up and running. Only problem is what to do with the adult males that I figure are too many and my baby isn't quite big enough to eat them without risk of impaction. Maybe I get a snake to feed them to.