Best place to buy Crickets / MealWorms?

plop9025

plop9025

Established Member
Whats best site to buy Crickets and Mealworms and silk and horn worms from? How many should I buy ahead of time for my 4 month Male veiled chameleon im buying on wensday? I am gonna keep them in a 10 gal tank w a egg carton and some oranges / potatoes.
 
Oh and ...

Mealworms are (in my opinion) a waste of money, and can actually pose a health risk (impaction/prolapse).

You'd do better with superworms, which eat anything and are easy to gut load.

If you get silkworms, you'll have to order their food as well ... they will only eat Mulberry leaves or chow.

-Brad
 
LLL Reptile sales 1,000 for 16.99 delivered, that is the cheapest I have come across. And they are ok quality. I had about 100 dead in my shipment, but there must have been more than 1000 in the order so I wasn't too worried.
 
Ok im going to oder 1000 1/2 crickets and 50 superworms for my 4 month Male Veieled Cham. Will this be enough food for a good start? and what should I do about gutloading? How much should gutloading these 2 cost me? I will switch up his diet also when I get more cash its just this cage and setup and the cham his self is digging a hole in my pocket. I do want a healthy very colorful cham tho so I will do my best to get what ever it takes. What are the best gutloaders for these 2? I do have HerpCare Calcium Supplement powder already.

I live in Charlotte NC by the way.
 
Superworms may be a bit to big for your chameleon if he is 4 months. i would hold off on those. Unless you can buy superworms that are not fu ll grown.
 
Ok, well I know its best to feed them a variety of insects and worms and I dont know if I buy 1000 crickets would this be ok to feed him for a week or 2? and then ill order some pheonix worms and maby some small superworms?
 
1k is too many. go with 500 to start, then if you need 1k do that ( you wont )

The gutload is the most important part. one well gutloaded cricket is better than several not properly gutloaded.

@ 1k it will be costly to properly gut load that many and keep them all alive long enough to use. most likely they will die because you arent using them, and pollute the rest of the crix population with dead bodies
 
I would go with 500 1/4" to 1/2" crickets. I have used Armstrong crickets, but currently use Lucky Lure as they are cheaper. Both great quality. Superworms may be a bit big for your new one. I would order 50-100 small silkworms plus silkworm food-these are a bit more pricey, but chameleons love them. Gutloading won't kill your wallet-just get some green leafy lettuce, a sweet potato, an orange etc... Cut them up and feed to crickets, store leftovers in the fridge for another feeding.
You should be able to keep 500 1/4-1/2" crickets alive for a month.
 
well that is a good deal 16.99 for a1,000 cricks ive been buying from ghanns cricket farm and its costing me 20.38 for a 1,00 delivered. thanks for that info
 
agree 500 is almost too much, and remember to buy smaller than what you need, the crix will grow fast and you dont wanna give the chamy too big of crix. i would go with 3/8 inch. can always feed too small of crickets, can never feed too big. keep that in mind.
 
I like to pick up my crickets from Mulberry Farms. When I pick up 1000 crickets and 50 medium silkworms it costs me 20 bucks! Sweet deal if you ask me. This last time I asked if I could sample some Horn worms and they through some in for free... even came in a container with chow.

From my understanding Mulberry doesn't breed their own crickets.... but this last time I was there I was told they do breed them now. I am not 100%. I do know for a fact that Rainbow Mealworms has a location not more than 15 minutes from Mulberry. I always figured they just purchased from them instead of dealing with the fuss of breeding their own. I will ask next time I am there.
 
reyesjoshuacruz said:
1k is too many. go with 500 to start, then if you need 1k do that ( you wont )

The gutload is the most important part. one well gutloaded cricket is better than several not properly gutloaded.

@ 1k it will be costly to properly gut load that many and keep them all alive long enough to use. most likely they will die because you arent using them, and pollute the rest of the crix population with dead bodies
Click to expand...

This is the reason why superworms are in my opinion superior in every way to crickets. I swear you don't have to do anything for superworms but give them bedding and they live forever. Of course, if your chameleon is too small and can't eat them that's another story. But I bought 1,000 superworms and my veiled loves them. I just put them in a cup with some romaine lettuce and he eats the entire thing. And they dont' escape (or die) like crickets. I haven't bought crickets for months.
 
arent superworms a little high in chitin to be used as a staple? and how are you supplementing? dust dont stick to supers much.
 
1. About what age (or probably more appropriately what size) is a chameleon typically ready for superworms?

2. I've ordered 1000 crickets from LLL before and the price was excellent but the problem was that the box they ship them in makes it impossible to easily remove them and get them into their gutloading container. I ended up losing and killing a decent portion of them. Is there anybody who uses superior shipping methods? I'd pay extra for a convenience like that.
 
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