Shipping Costs!

[dolcedragon]

Help, my beardies are taking all of my money!

Ha, I was just wondering if anybody could tell me the best way to cut down on shipping costs. I usually shop online at mulberry farms and the cost of the bugs aren't bad, just the shipping.

Would you suggest:
- I order from elsewhere.
- I ask a local pet store to order them in bulk and then buy from the store.
- I buy in bulk and hope they last.
- Attempt to raise something on my own (but ew!)
- Just deal with it and live off Ramen noodles.

Any advice is appreciated.

Kate

 

[3cherries]

Roman noodles!!!!!! lol..
I say raise your own.. in the long run it will be much cheaper and easier...

 

[NegativeCreep]

Yes.

Talk to a local store and see if they can get you bulk orders - it may or may not be cheaper.
See if you can find a cricket farm that lives near you - if you have one within the same state, they can ship ground which is significantly cheaper.
Look into raising feeders - you can breed crix (not recommended - gross!), dubias or other roaches, and some folks here breed superworms.

When they get older they don't eat nearly as many bugs. I'm vying for this day, too! I'm also getting excited about the transition to supers. Only 1 more inch!

 

[clear]

Buy some roaches and never worry about shipping costs again.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Just some information....
1k of roaches is self perpetuating, meaning they breed and you can feed off for one dragon. Now, I have 3 youngsters, ranging in age from 3 months to 9 months in age. I go through almost 1 k a week, thus I have 3 colonies going of turks, dubias and lobs.
Hope this helps out!
Janie.

 

[dolcedragon]

I very much appreciate your feedback. I looked into the roach thing and my family said NO. I then looked into crickets and decided they just stink too much. Lastly, I thought, OK superworms, worms don't bother anybody. However, apparently they involve beetles?? I'm so confused.

I checked for local feeders (duh Kate, shipping by plane is more expensive) but no luck with worms. I did find one in NC- Warren's Cricket Farm. Anybody heard of these guys?

I am going to try to get in contact with a pet store around here tomorrow and see if that buy in bulk option will be cheaper and then I'll post back and let everybody know (in case their beardies are pigs, too!)

 

[clear]

How about the dubia beetles?

 

[ILoveRoaches]

How about the dubia beetles?

LOL yes try the dubia beetles instead

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

Somebody dig up that old post we had a while back about how roaches can't infest your house... The benefits... etc.
Time to edumacte' some parents on roaches!

So here's my take on the word "roach". Funny how a few hundred years in the dog house effects the other "non infesting" species of roach that actually are crucial to earths oxygen factories the rain forest. Either way your parents have let something far worse into their house than a Dubia Roach... The most atrocious, infesting, annoying, disgusting little critter .... The Cricket! Unlike Dubia roaches and other non climbing , non flying species crickets are escape artists and can survive quite well here in North America for the duration of their lives. Unfortunately being a Dubia roach has it's disadvantages here in North America. Like the fact that they die within a couple days of escaping (if in fact they are able to). It doesn't happen often but sometimes a rogue roach gets out and meets its maker a couple days later.

To answer your original question and for you other guys who have been hounding me... The Roach Ranch should be up and rolling by the end of the month. Shipping dillema? N/p, FREE shipping on all Roach orders, overcounts... The whole 9 yards. We'll beat any roach dealer out there big or small w/ the exception of some really reputable dealers that you may or may not know about . Since it's a good idea to introduce new blood into a colony at least once a year to strengthen it, we'll also be offering links to the "go to guys" in the industry other than The Roach Ranch who will give you incredible service, more bang for your buck (and usually more roaches as well), and deliver some of the healthiest roaches to your door, alive and in tip top shape ready for whatever purpose you need them for.

I hope that answers all the questions in a nutshell so I don't have to PM back half the board... But thank you for PM'ing me. It makes me all warm and squishy feeling.

-Ian

-Ian

 

[MAJ]

Both of the local stores that deal with exotics both sell bulk crickets (500 or 1000 per box).
When I looked into ordering online, the shipping costs made it such that I could still buy cheaper locally.
I don't know what kind of luck you would have buying in bulk from a big-box pet store, but stores that specialize in exotics should be a good bet.
Growing superworms is easy, but it takes time to get a good supply built up (likely 6 months or so). Here is a great thread on how to raise them: http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=100703.

 

[bestcrickets]

you can try cricketsdirect.com. i buy most of my feeders from them and they have great service.

1k crickets $10
1k mealworms$10
1k superworms$20

i buy a few thousand of these a month and shipping to californai is only about $10 and if you get any DOA's theyll replace them without giving you any problems.

 

[bestcrickets]

u should look into breeding your own mealworms you can get started with as little as $20 (thats for worms and supplies) and be producing worms in a few months. this will let you take a step up from top ramen to microwave buritos in no time.

 

[erdeem]

Help, my beardies are taking all of my money!

Ha, I was just wondering if anybody could tell me the best way to cut down on shipping costs. I usually shop online at mulberry farms and the cost of the bugs aren't bad, just the shipping.

Would you suggest:
- I order from elsewhere.
- I ask a local pet store to order them in bulk and then buy from the store.
- I buy in bulk and hope they last.
- Attempt to raise something on my own (but ew!)
- Just deal with it and live off Ramen noodles.

Any advice is appreciated.

Kate

I saw that we are both live in VA. I live in Northern VA just outside DC. I usually buy 1000 crickets at Annandale Superpets, it's a local petstore nearby. The price is $24 (before tax). Their crix are healthy but I have to go there two times, first is to order/pay the crix and then to pick them up.

Recently I bought crix from premiumcrickets.com, the price is reasonable and and the is almost no DOA.