Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have ordered crix thru a few different online places and have had mixed experiences. What has your experience been with different places? thanks,

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & no name
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & no name

I get my crickets from American Cricket Ranch. At $9 per 1000 for local pickup, they are the cheapest crickets I've found. They're friendly enough on the ranch to have allowed me to tour their facilities. They keep things nice and clean. My only complaint is their count tends to be a bit lower than others.
Reptilefood and LLL Reptile have comparable pricing on shipped crickets (about $16.00), but I think Reptilefood has a better customer service. I would reccommend either one of these for good quality, low cost shipped crickets.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Lele,

We purchase all our insects except the roaches from Sunshine Meal worms. They have a very clean facility. The biggest advantage for us is they are 10 miles from home. I don't know how many crickets you us at one time. But I think their cost per 1000 is around $14.00. The count is always 200-300 over.

We have helped others set up tubs for raising crickets because they didn't have the need for a 1000 crickets but liked the price. We told them to get the three week old crickets and raise them up. True you have to feed more in the beginning. However in two weeks the crickets have doubled in size. The secret to keeping crickets from really getting smelly is a wood frame we build that holds the egg crates vertical and about a 1/2 inch off the bottom of the tub. We also use this for our roaches. Cleaning is simple, pick up the frame and set in another tub, chase the few crickts that may not have stayed in the egg crates in to the new tub. Clean original tub. We use the 58 qt Sterilite tubs from Wal-mart.

Yosemite
Reptayls Ltd.

Where do you buy the egg crates? I can't seem to find a supplier online that sells them. I am always having to replace mine because the crickets poop so much. When I lived in San Diego, I used to buy my feeders from american cricket ranch and could buy the crates very cheaply from Buckman's Eggs next door. Now that i am in PA, I am almost out of my stash and I need a new supplier.

Thanks for any info you may have.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, R.I.P. 11/17/2003)
1.1 Nosy Be's - No Names Yet
1.1 Veiled - No Names Yet
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
0.0.1 3 toed box turtle
0.0.1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

We get all our egg flats from a chicken/egg ranch. They have them by the thousands, and they sell them inexpensively. The kind we get is the flats used to package 5 dz eggs in a stack.

Locate a local egg supplier - you should be able to get them there.

If anyone needs a picture of the set-up we use - give us a shout.
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At one point in my herp keeping ventures, i made a chart that lists companies and all their kinds of feeders, their prices, which feeder is cheeaper at which seller, as well as which combination is cheaper. I know... it was very nerdish of me, but at the height of your herp crazed phased, almost everything you do is herp related.

Anyway, I came to a conclusion that the best place to buy crickets online (notice i said ordered online, and local pick-up wasn't considered at the time of my "study" ) is LLLreptile. 1, because they are the cheapest($15.95) shipped. Two, their cricket count is twice that of most places. Reptilefood.com charges about 18 bucks shipped for their crickets, but the number of crickets is half to that of LLLreptile, eventough it is stated to be 1000 crickets.

Reptilefood.com's service is unparalled though. their service is the best of all the companies i have tried. There was once, part of my order was damaged i.e. my shipping box arrived crushed(thus causing some cricket loss). I complained and they immediately replaced the whole order, with mealworms and waxworms too, eventhough those weren't part of the damaged goods. needless to say, i got the better end of the deal. Their shipping packages are excelent too! and oh, you can also schedule when you want your package to arrive, something you can't do with LLLreptile.

Also if you are ordering combos, like some mealworms and some crickets, it is definately cheaper to order from reptilefood.com.

So, to sum it up. i just normally do it this way. If i am ordering a combo, i go to reptilefood.com. And if it is just crikets, I use LLLreptile.

So, if it is just crickets you want lele, My recommendation is LLLreptile. And oh...sorry for the long post.

LOL! I don't think it is nerdish it is a great idea when first starting out. I keep going back to the sites, jotting down prices and then confuse my self! haha!

I had some major die off from reptilefood.com. I have had to deal with their customer service before and I agreee, they are very responsive.

I have not order from LLL yet but may try them.

thanks for the chart idea!

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia

I would love a picture of your cricket setup.

rafjaime@aol.com

Thanks in advance!
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, R.I.P. 11/17/2003)
1.1 Nosy Be's - No Names Yet
1.1 Veiled - No Names Yet
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
0.0.1 3 toed box turtle
0.0.1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

Hi Raf,

Here is the picture.
This is a large tub - by rubbermaid.
The rack fits down inside - just below the painted section (that is Bug Barricade). We put a thin layer of pine shavings in the bottom - but you don't have to, as paper towels will work to absorb excess moisture.

We use the same set-ups for our roaches.
Hope this helps.

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What an awesome idea!!! Thanks for the picture and the ingenuity!! I'm going to steal your design because it's awesome!!
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, R.I.P. 11/17/2003)
1.1 Nosy Be's - No Names Yet
1.1 Veiled - No Names Yet
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
0.0.1 3 toed box turtle
0.0.1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

Morgana,

Always good to know about clean facilities first hand!! I live in NH so shipping is always an issue. They don't post their shipping charges on their site (at least not that i can find) which drives me nuts!

I would like to see a pic of your setup - thanks!

lele

>>Lele,
>>
>>We purchase all our insects except the roaches from Sunshine Meal worms. They have a very clean facility. The biggest advantage for us is they are 10 miles from home. I don't know how many crickets you us at one time. But I think their cost per 1000 is around $14.00. The count is always 200-300 over.
>>
>>We have helped others set up tubs for raising crickets because they didn't have the need for a 1000 crickets but liked the price. We told them to get the three week old crickets and raise them up. True you have to feed more in the beginning. However in two weeks the crickets have doubled in size. The secret to keeping crickets from really getting smelly is a wood frame we build that holds the egg crates vertical and about a 1/2 inch off the bottom of the tub. We also use this for our roaches. Cleaning is simple, pick up the frame and set in another tub, chase the few crickts that may not have stayed in the egg crates in to the new tub. Clean original tub. We use the 58 qt Sterilite tubs from Wal-mart.
>>
>>Yosemite
>>Reptayls Ltd.
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia

Lele,

I just posted the picture.
Hope it helps,
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hey that is a neat idea!! I try to lay in the egg cartons upright(angled) but they don't stay so I really like your setup!

thanks!!

>>Lele,
>>
>>I just posted the picture.
>>Hope it helps,
>>-----
>>
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia

herpfood.com? their prices are really cheap, too. I am a member and have been quite pleased with their supplies, packaging, promptness and customer service but have yet to order feeders. Input anyone??

>>I have ordered crix thru a few different online places and have had mixed experiences. What has your experience been with different places? thanks,
>>
>>lele
>>-----
>>0.1 veiled - Luna
>>0.2 green anoles Jaida & no name
>>0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
>>0.2 house geckos - Gaia & no name
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia

Lele,
Being that you are our resident expert entemologist (I would say 'bug expert', but you might take offense to this generic and wrong title, as your caterpillars are NOT 'bugs', but I digress ), and being that you're already a member of herpfood.com, I suggest you be our guinea pig. Order a batch of crickets and let us know how that turned out for you. We might find that it's worth membership to herpfood if for nothing other than cheaper, quality crix.
(this response is meant in fun- no offense or malice intended!)
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

I've gotten some silkworms from herpfood.com and they were great. Now, they obviously don't return e-mails because I asked them a question about the size of those that they had available and no answer. Sooooo...I would order from them again if I needed to.

Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

thanks kristen. You are right about emails - I had the same question awhile back! I have found they are readily available by phone, though and when I asked about the silkie size he said just write in what you want in the comment box when ordering. I think I'll try their crickets

lele

>>I've gotten some silkworms from herpfood.com and they were great. Now, they obviously don't return e-mails because I asked them a question about the size of those that they had available and no answer. Sooooo...I would order from them again if I needed to.
>>
>>Kristen
>>-----
>>1.1 pygmy leaf
>>1.0 carpet
>>1.0 jackson
>>0.0.3 red eared sliders
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta