Crickets for snakes?

[phanatical92]

I don't have a snake myself, but I was getting a UVB at Petco the other day and noticed that they were feeding the little corn snakes crickets. Is this at all a good idea or just another example of Petco stupidity? I'm considering getting a snake, and being able to feed it from my cricket colony even for a while is a nice thought (I hate buying feeders, but I wouldn't have the heart to kill a little baby mouse ). I've heard of certain types of garter snakes eating banana slugs, but I just can't imagine using insects as a staple for a carnivore. Any advice?

 

[Grimleo]

Crickets suck. Crickets are very bad for most ANY kind of snakes except insectivores such as the rough green snake or the smooth green snake(learned this from a reliable source, thanks Wayne. xD) There are definitely better feeders for small snakes. Corns will eat minnows and small fish, small pinkies(frozen thawed, you don't have to kill them..), maybe even small amphibians, although they can easily carry parasites and bacteria that is bad for most snakes.

Garters can eat minnows, or guppies even. You can even slice up some of the larger fish for them like trout or salmon. They also eat amphibians(but they are not very trustworthy), and earthworms. There are a few garters that like the slugs but most probably wouldn't eat them. x.x