Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm about to buy a leopard and I'm just making sure everything I need is available. So far I haven't found any local cricket/mealworm distributors in my area. The closest is about 5 hours drive, and their minimum order is much higher than I could use (I highly doubt a single leo can eat 1000 crickets before they 'go bad').

1) Does anyone know a distributor in my area (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada), or Waterloo, Ontario Canada. Anything close to either of these cities would be great.

2) Also, I looked up HerpFood.com and found that they'll ship smaller quantities (hopefully to canada, but I haven't confirmed that yet). Are they reliable?

3) What can I expect for a young leo as far as appetite? I've heard anywhere from 4-12 crickets a day depending on appetite. Any insight or suggestions on what I should order at a time and how long that might last for? I can always go to the local pet store, but at 10 cents/cricket (eventhough that's in canadian dollars, that's still quite expensive), I don't want to use them on a regular basis.

Thanks,
Blaine

Actually its not hard to keep 1000 crickets depending on how u keep them.When I se to feed crickets to my leos i kept the crix in a large plastic container with a bunch of egg cartons and they did very well.But i would suggest u get 1000 mealworms instead of crix cause its way more easy raising mealies than crix also with 1000 mealies u can start a great colonie and they are easy to breed .

a good site to order feeder food is www.silkworms.ca i had never had a problem ordering from them yet!

Goodluck with your leo when u get it.

Hello,

First of all, I recommend that you DO NOT buy 1000 crickets. You will regret it. In a month there will be crickets running around your house and making LOTS of noise. Trust me, I've been there.

In my opinion, you're best off buying appropriate sized crickets from your local pet store for the first little while. When your gecko is big enough, try offering superworms, small silkworms, butterworm and waxworms. The waxworms are very high in fat, so don't offer them too often. (Unless you are trying to fatten them up)

Once you've decided what your staple diet will be, go to Port Credit Pets in Mississauga for a large quantity. It shouldn't take too long to get there. It takes me 45 minutes or so from Pickering. Port Credit carries pretty much every kind of feeder and their prices are pretty good. (Not to mention a HUGE variety of reptiles)

If you are having trouble finding some of the feeders I've listed, PJs in Pickering Town Center carries all of them. They're a little expensive, but if you're only looking to buy a few of each kind to try, it's a good place.

You can also try regular mealworm. They are cheap and easy to keep, but aren't very nutritious.

if they are gutloaded properly.
LeoLover has a good gutload recipie on her website.
-----

4.5 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Marbled Gecko
1.1 Red Eared Sliders
0.2 Siamese Mice

You should go with mealworms. They're smaller, quieter, and easier to maintain than crickets. Plus, you're likely to have most of them survive to when you need them.

A young leo can easily consume 10-15 mealworms a day; some leos will eat even more than that. You shouldn't have to pay more than $10-$11 for 1000. I'm not sure who ships to Canada, but there are a ton of insect breeders out there. I'll attach a link to Kingsnake's list of them.

You can feed your leo exclusively on mealworms if you want, provided that they're gutloaded properly. Or you could use the mealworms as a staple diet and then offer crickets a couple times a month for variety.
list of feeder sites

-----
chickabowwow

3.2 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)
and 3 eggs a' cookin'

Hi, First, i agree totally with Fritz, mealworms can be very good with proper gutloading. They also breed easily. LeoLover has a great site and using the methods there i now have a very promising colony on the way (worms are very very small right now).

Second, i ordered my mealworms and butterworms from CanadianFeeders.com

Rob was great, my order was here when it was supposed to be and the worms thenselves are being eaten up like mad. The prices are great and you can order different amounts. Theres monthly specials and i was given two shipping options. Check out their site I was very impressed and will be ordering more from them soon

Red
-----
Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)
2.0 bettas

Thanks to everyone who responded. You were all very helpful. Looks like the Cricket vs. Mealworm death-match continues...