Lathis
Chameleon Enthusiast
I made my first purchase of Banded Crickets from Ghann's Cricket Farm. Previously, I have always purchased smaller batches of house crickets locally, but I thought now I could justify needing/purchasing/using a larger cricket supply. I try to make crickets no more than 25% of my cham's diet, but always like to have them on hand. Ghann's is a sponsor for CF, so I ordered there.
I ordered 250 large banded crickets, and here are my thoughts (trying carefully to adhere to forum guidelines about reviews, so please let me know if I break any rules here.)
1. Cost with shipping was about $0.06-0.07 per cricket, less than half local costs. Obviously, the more you order, the cheapest it gets.
2. Shipping and packaging was done very nicely in vented boxes and clearly marked as insects.
3. Zero crickets dead on arrival. Zero! Couldn't count them perfectly, but my gut feel is that I got somewhere around 5-10% over count?
4. Open the box outside(!) to transfer them to the cricket tub. Learned that the hard way, hehe.
5. Banded crickets are a bit smaller than house crickets with very cool striping and loooooong antennae. High jumpers!
After using them for a few weeks:
6. They are pretty lively crickets. The long antennae catch my cham's attention and they climb screens really well.
7. They just *seem* smarter than house crickets... like they are more clever or something... very good at avoiding being caught when loose.
8. I can't quantify this, but I really believe that they smell much less than the house crickets. 250 in the same cage as 30, and they don't smell nearly as strongly.
9. They are voracious and really seem to eat more than the house crickets. I have also found them to be aggressively cannibalistic to their dead.
10. Being smaller doesn't really seem to affect my cham's interest. Maybe when he's bigger, he will stop wanting them, but for now, they still work.
11. They aren't quieter than house crickets but their chirping is less abrasive. More like a metallic hum than loud single chirps.
12. (Edit) The die-off rate is much, much, much lower than my past experience with house crickets. Not sure if they are just healthier or if it is because they do live longer.
TL;DR: I really like the banded crickets. Perky and less smelly. Ghann's was a good deal for bulk purchase. I'll keep buying them as long as Bucky eats them.
I ordered 250 large banded crickets, and here are my thoughts (trying carefully to adhere to forum guidelines about reviews, so please let me know if I break any rules here.)
1. Cost with shipping was about $0.06-0.07 per cricket, less than half local costs. Obviously, the more you order, the cheapest it gets.
2. Shipping and packaging was done very nicely in vented boxes and clearly marked as insects.
3. Zero crickets dead on arrival. Zero! Couldn't count them perfectly, but my gut feel is that I got somewhere around 5-10% over count?
4. Open the box outside(!) to transfer them to the cricket tub. Learned that the hard way, hehe.
5. Banded crickets are a bit smaller than house crickets with very cool striping and loooooong antennae. High jumpers!
After using them for a few weeks:
6. They are pretty lively crickets. The long antennae catch my cham's attention and they climb screens really well.
7. They just *seem* smarter than house crickets... like they are more clever or something... very good at avoiding being caught when loose.
8. I can't quantify this, but I really believe that they smell much less than the house crickets. 250 in the same cage as 30, and they don't smell nearly as strongly.
9. They are voracious and really seem to eat more than the house crickets. I have also found them to be aggressively cannibalistic to their dead.
10. Being smaller doesn't really seem to affect my cham's interest. Maybe when he's bigger, he will stop wanting them, but for now, they still work.
11. They aren't quieter than house crickets but their chirping is less abrasive. More like a metallic hum than loud single chirps.
12. (Edit) The die-off rate is much, much, much lower than my past experience with house crickets. Not sure if they are just healthier or if it is because they do live longer.
TL;DR: I really like the banded crickets. Perky and less smelly. Ghann's was a good deal for bulk purchase. I'll keep buying them as long as Bucky eats them.
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