Crickets

[MrBrute]

Is it better to breed your own? Or buy in bulk?

[infernalis]

It's better to start a roach colony.

Blaptica Dubia roaches are cheaper, better food.

And they are bigger, meatier and lizards love them.

No noise, (crickets chirp) They don't stink, are bulletproof, if you keep them warm they breed like crazy.

Dubia Roach Care and Breeding (http://www.nyworms.com/dubiacare.htm)

[MrBrute]

It's better to start a roach colony.

Blaptica Dubia roaches are cheaper, better food.

And they are bigger, meatier and lizards love them.

No noise, (crickets chirp) They don't stink, are bulletproof, if you keep them warm they breed like crazy.

Dubia Roach Care and Breeding (http://www.nyworms.com/dubiacare.htm)really? Thanks

[beardeds4life]

If you are like me and can not half roaches I recommend buying in bulk if you have a small collection or if you have a collection of more than a few lizards breed them. I do a mix of both. I have to admit they are the most annoying damn things.

[snake man12]

Cricket bites hurt like h..ll. A friend of mine has a roach colony and his beardie seems to love them.

[beardeds4life]

Ive never gotten bit but then again I dont hold them for more than 30 seconds and that is only if one jumps out or something.

[ashleynicole]

I am looking into trying out frozen roaches, mice direct is selling them, I am hoping they will be at repticon in september so I can buy a bag and try them out. I can't have dubia's in florida, and all the other roaches just creep me out too much. Right now I do phoenix worms and I buy crickets about once a week but I only buy enough for 1-2 feedings, I hate keeping them.

[beardeds4life]

Frozen? Are they like freeze dried?

[ashleynicole]

Frozen? Are they like freeze dried?
no, frozen and kept in the freezer. just like feeding frozen/thawed rats and mice.

Actually I just started freezing my own gutloaded crickets. I bought 1000 crickets online. When I got them home I gutloaded them for 24 hours with fluker's calcium fortified cricket quencher, zoomed juvenile bearded dragon pellets, and fresh greens, fruits, and veggies. Then I cleaned the container while they were in it (10 gallon aquarium). I cleaned all the debris from the bottom and removed the egg crates so all that was left was crickets and stuck the whole thing into my deep freezer for about 15 minutes. Then I put all the crickets into freezer bags and stuck that back in the freezer.

Now when I am ready to feed, I take out the amount of crickets I want, dust them with desired vitamins, let them thaw at room temperature, and then feed them to my bearded dragon. I dust just before feeding so that I am not freezing the vitamins because I read that some vitamins can be lost during the freezing process (2 days a week multivitamins, 2 days a week calcium with vitamin D3, 3 days a week plain calcium). I also still feed fresh greens and veggies every day. A few times a week I mix in a mash made from zoomed bearded dragon juvenile pellets to help round out the diet. Oh and I also feed phoenix worms every evening. So frozen/thawed crickets in the morning, veggies and greens out all day, and phoenix worms in the evening.

Benefits of freezing:

Kills parasites
Saves money on feeding insects (aside from what is used to gutload)
No loss of feeders due to die off
Dead crickets can't bite or chew on your pet
Healthier than freeze/dried or canned versions

[beardeds4life]

I just started that!

[iBaman]

dubia roaches....aren't those just rolley poleys?

[beardeds4life]

No rolly pollys are actually called isopods. Dubia roaches are a real roach.

[Terranaut]

It's better to start a roach colony.

Blaptica Dubia roaches are cheaper, better food.

And they are bigger, meatier and lizards love them.

No noise, (crickets chirp) They don't stink, are bulletproof, if you keep them warm they breed like crazy.

Dubia Roach Care and Breeding (http://www.nyworms.com/dubiacare.htm)

I would love to do this but I can't find any here. They are not legal to import so I have to find a local source. So far no luck :(

[iBaman]

No rolly pollys are actually called isopods. Dubia roaches are a real roach.

ohh. they look like rolly pollys =D haha