If you're tired of searching online for live crickets for sale at the best prices, breeding crickets, or noisy crickets, I will tell you the one insect I have found which can effectively serve as a feeder cricket replacement for you. After reading this post, you'll know the shortfalls of the commonly offered solutions and how to go about successfully replacing feeder crickets if you still want to.
Dubia roaches are often hailed as a cricket replacement. Dubia roaches work fairly well for species that will tong feed, grab an insect the second it hits the floor, or eat from cups. However, they breed much slower than crickets, hide much more than crickets, and are more expensive than crickets. As their reproduction is a little slow, they are also better suited for species that can eat a little larger of an insect. You'll also need to purchase a fair number to get started or it will be a very long wait before they can serve as an effective cricket replacement. While dubia roaches can serve as a cricket replacement it depends on if they move enough and stay in the open long enough to elicit a feeding response in your animals. They will likely be unsuitable if you need large numbers of very small roaches due to their fairly low reproductive output. Their big advantages are that they will not infest your home, they are fairly easy to sort, and a colony can all be housed in a single box (and a smaller container to house that months feeders). Most of my lizard species do eat dubia just fine.
Silkworms, waxworms, black soldier fly larvae, superworms, and mealworms. Silkworms work out to actually be a little bit expensive if you have to buy both the chow and the eggs. If you have a good supply of pesticide free mulberry trees nearby, you may be able to bring the cost down considerably. While they are a good food item and I use them, I am unaware of any information on the long term effects of silkworms as a primary feeder staple. They have the advantage of ranging in size from very small to fairly large. They are hit or miss with my insectivores. Waxworms are not a good staple feeder. There is no harm in feeding some here and there, but they are often grown in a bran/honey mix (sometimes with corn syrup mixed in to save on costs) that is not particularly nutritious and they are high in fat. I do feed them but they make up only a small portion of the overall diet. Superworms and mealworms sometimes get a bad rap, but they can be grown in non-medicated chicken feed to increase the nutritional value. Obtained from farms, they are normally fed on bran and make poor feeders until you get them gutloaded for at least 24 hours. I find both species are well accepted by a wide variety of herps although they only make up a smaller percentage of my herps diets. Black soldier fly larvae are a good food item, reasonably priced at places like Symton
and most of my lizards will eat them but not with the same gusto as crickets. If not cup fed, some will likely borrow and turn into flies. This can be a bonus if you have critters capable of catching the flies or an annoyance if the flies manage to escape into your home. They are a high calcium feeder, so if you have an insectivore that likes them, they are a good feeder.
Finally, the species of feeder insect that I believe is most likely to replace crickets in the widest variety of situations and especially in situations where larger number of smaller feeders are needed is the turkistan or red runner roaches
. They will consume any gutload, breed rapidly, grow rapidly, do not borrow, and elicit strong feeding responses in most insectivores. I have fed these to lizards ranging from hatchling and micro geckos all the way up to adult fire skinks. You can even sort the small ones in the adult enclosures by picking up the egg cases once a week with tongs and placing them in 8oz deli cups with an insect screening lid like those used for fruit flies. By putting the egg cases in a container with other egg cases laid around the same time, you can have a steady supply of tiny feeder roaches and the egg cases you miss are free to turn into larger roaches and more breeder stock. The only disadvantage is if they escape and your house is not kept clean, they may be able to survive long enough to breed. In rare cases, people have claimed to have suffered an infestation from this species. Keeping all food sealed and your home clean should help. They should also be kept in a gasket sealed storage tub with only the middle of the lid cut out and replaced with screen to prevent escape. You can get these tubs at local stores such as Target or online with Amazon. If they are used in a glass tank, some people report they may be able to scale the silicone corners so using a roach barrier around the top 1" rim of the tank may be a good idea. Like any roach colony, you will need some egg flatts to stack vertically for them to hide in and a heat mat to keep the colony warm (set the heat matt on 90-95F)
Dubia roaches are often hailed as a cricket replacement. Dubia roaches work fairly well for species that will tong feed, grab an insect the second it hits the floor, or eat from cups. However, they breed much slower than crickets, hide much more than crickets, and are more expensive than crickets. As their reproduction is a little slow, they are also better suited for species that can eat a little larger of an insect. You'll also need to purchase a fair number to get started or it will be a very long wait before they can serve as an effective cricket replacement. While dubia roaches can serve as a cricket replacement it depends on if they move enough and stay in the open long enough to elicit a feeding response in your animals. They will likely be unsuitable if you need large numbers of very small roaches due to their fairly low reproductive output. Their big advantages are that they will not infest your home, they are fairly easy to sort, and a colony can all be housed in a single box (and a smaller container to house that months feeders). Most of my lizard species do eat dubia just fine.
Silkworms, waxworms, black soldier fly larvae, superworms, and mealworms. Silkworms work out to actually be a little bit expensive if you have to buy both the chow and the eggs. If you have a good supply of pesticide free mulberry trees nearby, you may be able to bring the cost down considerably. While they are a good food item and I use them, I am unaware of any information on the long term effects of silkworms as a primary feeder staple. They have the advantage of ranging in size from very small to fairly large. They are hit or miss with my insectivores. Waxworms are not a good staple feeder. There is no harm in feeding some here and there, but they are often grown in a bran/honey mix (sometimes with corn syrup mixed in to save on costs) that is not particularly nutritious and they are high in fat. I do feed them but they make up only a small portion of the overall diet. Superworms and mealworms sometimes get a bad rap, but they can be grown in non-medicated chicken feed to increase the nutritional value. Obtained from farms, they are normally fed on bran and make poor feeders until you get them gutloaded for at least 24 hours. I find both species are well accepted by a wide variety of herps although they only make up a smaller percentage of my herps diets. Black soldier fly larvae are a good food item, reasonably priced at places like Symton
and most of my lizards will eat them but not with the same gusto as crickets. If not cup fed, some will likely borrow and turn into flies. This can be a bonus if you have critters capable of catching the flies or an annoyance if the flies manage to escape into your home. They are a high calcium feeder, so if you have an insectivore that likes them, they are a good feeder.Finally, the species of feeder insect that I believe is most likely to replace crickets in the widest variety of situations and especially in situations where larger number of smaller feeders are needed is the turkistan or red runner roaches
. They will consume any gutload, breed rapidly, grow rapidly, do not borrow, and elicit strong feeding responses in most insectivores. I have fed these to lizards ranging from hatchling and micro geckos all the way up to adult fire skinks. You can even sort the small ones in the adult enclosures by picking up the egg cases once a week with tongs and placing them in 8oz deli cups with an insect screening lid like those used for fruit flies. By putting the egg cases in a container with other egg cases laid around the same time, you can have a steady supply of tiny feeder roaches and the egg cases you miss are free to turn into larger roaches and more breeder stock. The only disadvantage is if they escape and your house is not kept clean, they may be able to survive long enough to breed. In rare cases, people have claimed to have suffered an infestation from this species. Keeping all food sealed and your home clean should help. They should also be kept in a gasket sealed storage tub with only the middle of the lid cut out and replaced with screen to prevent escape. You can get these tubs at local stores such as Target or online with Amazon. If they are used in a glass tank, some people report they may be able to scale the silicone corners so using a roach barrier around the top 1" rim of the tank may be a good idea. Like any roach colony, you will need some egg flatts to stack vertically for them to hide in and a heat mat to keep the colony warm (set the heat matt on 90-95F)
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