Crickets/roaches

[RaeAnn]

I was wondering if any one has some good suggestions of where to order crickets and roaches from? I'm on the east coast in VA if that helps at all. I've quickly realized that constant trips to the pet store are not going to cut it for long lol. It gets pricey! And it is pretty time consuming. I'm currently exploring different sellers online and would love to see if you guys have any recommendations.
Thanks

 

[Humanmeerkat]

Ebay...and start a colony of your own it is by far the cheapest and easiest option. I have an assortment of different critters and not fed a shop bought feeder in over a decade. I breed locusts, blaptica dubai roaches, waxworms and fruit fly. I know they are quality feeders as I am the one to control what they eat so I know they are gutloaded from birth. All tubs are from the pound shop. Im in the UK and all breed fine year round at room temperature so I'm sure over the pond you will have no problems. Cost of feeding the feeders is around 1 pound a month and any excess feeder I take to my local reptile store and swap for frozen thawed feeders for my 4 snakes. In the summers months I can make around 60 pounds a month selling to local reptile keepers in the free ads in the local rag.. win win win

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[RaeAnn]

Ebay...and start a colony of your own it is by far the cheapest and easiest option. I have an assortment of different critters and not fed a shop bought feeder in over a decade. I breed locusts, blaptica dubai roaches, waxworms and fruit fly. I know they are quality feeders as I am the one to control what they eat so I know they are gutloaded from birth. All tubs are from the pound shop. Im in the UK and all breed fine year round at room temperature so I'm sure over the pond you will have no problems. Cost of feeding the feeders is around 1 pound a month and any excess feeder I take to my local reptile store and swap for frozen thawed feeders for my 4 snakes. In the summers months I can make around 60 pounds a month selling to local reptile keepers in the free ads in the local rag.. win win win

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That's awesome and definitely sounds like the smartest method. I really like the idea of knowing where all of her crickets come from (I've read some scary things about the parasites they can carry if not taken care of). How would you recommend I try this out? Just simply get a few male and Female adults and give them food, a water source, and space with the right temps? It's definitely something I will eventually attempt.

 

[laswabbie]

Start by reading the How to Start a Dubia Colony pinned post under Beardie Diet. Then decide if you want to put in the time and effort to raise your own or just buy on a regular basis. I've started a dubia ranch of my own, but it will be months before I know if it's something I'll want to keep doing.

 

[RaeAnn]

Start by reading the How to Start a Dubia Colony pinned post under Beardie Diet. Then decide if you want to put in the time and effort to raise your own or just buy on a regular basis. I've started a dubia ranch of my own, but it will be months before I know if it's something I'll want to keep doing.

I will definitely check it out, but if I do either it will most likely be crickets. I know Dubias are very beneficial to beardies but they creep me out! Lol. I plan on ordering a hundred or so at a time just to mix in with her crickets since they are so good for her. But the less I have to deal with them the better I will sleep lol

 

[Hdrydr31]

I was wondering if any one has some good suggestions of where to order crickets and roaches from? I'm on the east coast in VA if that helps at all. I've quickly realized that constant trips to the pet store are not going to cut it for long lol. It gets pricey! And it is pretty time consuming. I'm currently exploring different sellers online and would love to see if you guys have any recommendations.
Thanks

I've kept crickets for 5+ years and by far I LOVE raising roaches and they are soo simple...And WAY cheaper!!! you can get them online but I've gotten most of mine from one of our members here.. Sixofwandstattoo or Brandon has a fb page Arizona Roach Farm.. he's great and I couldn't recommend a nicer guy..

 

[Hdrydr31]

That's awesome and definitely sounds like the smartest method. I really like the idea of knowing where all of her crickets come from (I've read some scary things about the parasites they can carry if not taken care of). How would you recommend I try this out? Just simply get a few male and Female adults and give them food, a water source, and space with the right temps? It's definitely something I will eventually attempt.

I've put together info on breeding roaches it is in the general info link below my comments.. it's what works for me and I've had to slow them down even lol

 

[laswabbie]

Please give the dubia some serious consideration. They don't fly and cannot crawl out of an appropriate container. Plus, they don't stink and crickets do - very much so. I'm raising both right now, but these will be my last crickets. Just think of the dubia as big pill bugs if you know what they are. Dubia are nothing like the roaches that you are familiar with. Google crickets versus dubia for more information.

 

[Hdrydr31]

I will definitely check it out, but if I do either it will most likely be crickets. I know Dubias are very beneficial to beardies but they creep me out! Lol. I plan on ordering a hundred or so at a time just to mix in with her crickets since they are so good for her. But the less I have to deal with them the better I will sleep lol

Crickets are hard to get to produce and take forever to get to the right feeding size, they are VERY sensitive to temp changes and odors..dubia are quite, don't stink, don't climb, don't BITE, and they live 1 1/2" to 2 years

 

[RaeAnn]

I've kept crickets for 5+ years and by far I LOVE raising roaches and they are soo simple...And WAY cheaper!!! you can get them online but I've gotten most of mine from one of our members here.. Sixofwandstattoo or Brandon has a fb page Arizona Roach Farm.. he's great and I couldn't recommend a nicer guy..

Thank you very much. I will definitely look into that. Maybe in time I'll be more open to raising them myself it definitely seems like the best option. For now I think I will order them and gain more experience with them (as well as my beardie) before I bite off too much at once lol. I really appreciate every ones advice! Thanks so much

 

[RaeAnn]

Crickets are hard to get to produce and take forever to get to the right feeding size, they are VERY sensitive to temp changes and odors..dubia are quite, don't stink, don't climb, don't BITE, and they live 1 1/2" to 2 years

Oh wow, they sound much easier compaired to crickets. I'm am not a big fan of crickets either but I do what I have to bc little momma loves/needs them. In the future if I ever decide to give raising my own colony a chance I may just have to look into dubias instead. I also like the fact that they seem to be more beneficial to dragons which makes me much more open to ordering them than I once was.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Thank you very much. I will definitely look into that. Maybe in time I'll be more open to raising them myself it definitely seems like the best option. For now I think I will order them and gain more experience with them (as well as my beardie) before I bite off too much at once lol. I really appreciate every ones advice! Thanks so much

when your ready ask anything you need. the nice thing about dubia is 1 = 5-6 crickets and the dragons love them roaches.. I don't like roaches and I still resist the urge to fling them but it's gotten better

 

[Hdrydr31]

Oh wow, they sound much easier compaired to crickets. I'm am not a big fan of crickets either but I do what I have to bc little momma loves/needs them. In the future if I ever decide to give raising my own colony a chance I may just have to look into dubias instead. I also like the fact that they seem to be more beneficial to dragons which makes me much more open to ordering them than I once was.

Oh and you don't have to clean out the roach bin!! when you get the nymphs (babies) they eat and hide in the frass (poop) so you don't have to clean out the bins. It doesn't stink either..

 

[RaeAnn]

when your ready ask anything you need. the nice thing about dubia is 1 = 5-6 crickets and the dragons love them roaches.. I don't like roaches and I still resist the urge to fling them but it's gotten better

Haha, at first I would literally grab a cricket and quickly fling it into her cage and she would look at me like "girl you have issues!"
But thank you, I really appreciate it. I will definitely post on here to obtain more insight once we are ready to go that route. Until than I will be sure to order some for her well being and to begin getting use to them.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Haha, at first I would literally grab a cricket and quickly fling it into her cage and she would look at me like "girl you have issues!"
But thank you, I really appreciate it. I will definitely post on here to obtain more insight once we are ready to go that route. Until than I will be sure to order some for her well being and to begin getting use to them.

take a look at the info i posted to learn more on housing.. and Brandon has great deals..

 

[RaeAnn]

We are about to look up the Arizona roach farm fb page now I also wanted to ask what size roach we should probably get? I'm completely unfamiliar with them and have no clue just how big small, med, and large is. Spyra is about 10 1/2 inches long if that helps. Also is there anything particular we will need to do to care for the roaches? I know gut loading crickets and providing them with a water source is important, but I'm not sure how we will need to care for the dubias?

 

[Hdrydr31]

We are about to look up the Arizona roach farm fb page now I also wanted to ask what size roach we should probably get? I'm completely unfamiliar with them and have no clue just how big small, med, and large is. Spyra is about 10 1/2 inches long if that helps. Also is there anything particular we will need to do to care for the roaches? I know gut loading crickets and providing them with a water source is important, but I'm not sure how we will need to care for the dubias?

The nice thing about dubia is they are mostly soft shelled so they are edible the entire lifespan.. The food item shouldn't be bigger than the space between their eyes...that's the rule anyways.. but what I've learned is they really do chew their food pretty good and they really do have big mouths!! lol I would say at that size small to med would be fine.
In the link below I wrote out how to care for the dubia

 

[Hdrydr31]

Simon is 17 1/2" long at 7 months old and he can easily eat an adult male and adult female roach no problem

 

[RaeAnn]

He's a big guy
As always, thank you for your very helpful advice. We will go ahead and order her some asap

 

[Hdrydr31]

He's a big guy
As always, thank you for your very helpful advice. We will go ahead and order her some asap

Added bonus: Once you have a producing colony you won't have to buy anymore I only buy supers and treats now..