Feeder Counts?

[Scott85]

Sorry to all, but this post is half rant and half question, please bare with the rant because I really want opinions.

I have run into a problem as of late with a cricket distributor, who shall remain nameless. It seems as though all my small sized cricket orders are extremely short. So today thinking it was REALLY short and having some ambition to I counted every last one of "4000" crickets. Here are the tub counts, mind you each should be 1000, 1-343, 2-278, 3-368, 4-212. That is the counts of living crickets. There was also a total of 59 dead crickets. That makes my order of "4000" to be 1260 with a DOA of ~4.7%.

I guess I'm just looking to see if anyone everyone has noticed a decrease in the numbers? Is it just the company I have been going through or is it a trend in the industry? I know the cricket virus is hurting them, but I would rather they raise their prices than lie about what I will be receiving. It makes it very hard to plan how much food to order. If anyone has a company that they are extremely happy with please share!.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I usually order thru my lps. I save on the shipping charges by going in with them. They use Armstrong, I usually get overcounts. Only issue is they are in Louisiana and your in New York. You may be able to find someone closer to you.

 

[Fidel]

It seems like the small crickets(under 1/4") are always short. I try to avoid ordering anything less than 1/4" for that reason. What size in inches did you order?

 

[facelesdoll]

coldbloods.com ship from 2 locations for 30 shipped per 1000 and they come here healthy as can be

 

[Blue84]

Texas panther man who is that that you order from im hella close to Louisiana maybe the shipping would be cheaper for me if you don't mind telling me?

 

[Scott85]

Not many cricket breeders up in the tundra . I have been looking for one close, but most of the websites look so shady I dont really wanna place an order on them. I did order from armstrong after a mixup with the people I had been dealing with. There was definately atleast a 20-30% overcount, and very health. Its good to hear you have had good product from them as well, makes me more apt order there again. I will also check out coldbloods.com.

I do agree, the less than 1/4'' do always look short, they have been getting shorter for me though. I ordered 1/8", came in at closer to 1/4", but thats another issue. I understand if they measure by volume that would account for the miscounts. All I want is recieve the number I ordered, even if they are twice the size .....

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Maurer3D]

I usually order mine from Ghann's Cricket Farm, I have only had one problem with them . They were very quick about fixing the problem and I am very satisfied with them.

 

[Ekaj13]

I've suspected the same from where I order mine as it seems I am burning through them much faster. Also sometimes half the crickets will just drop dead in a day or two.

 

[Scott85]

I've suspected the same from where I order mine as it seems I am burning through them much faster. Also sometimes half the crickets will just drop dead in a day or two.

NK I was wondering how 23 babies ate 3000 crix from wednesday to saturday morning of last week..... I think I found out why....

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Wow, man at that rate you'll be broke before they hit the three month mark man. I know its nasty and a pain but maybe you should just try and breed cricks til your babies get a little larger and can take 1/4" cricks.

 

[Scott85]

Wow, man at that rate you'll be broke before they hit the three month mark man. I know its nasty and a pain but maybe you should just try and breed cricks til your babies get a little larger and can take 1/4" cricks.

Tell me about it, with the cold weather and troubles with distributor in the last 2 weeks I've dropped just under $375 on crix for the babies alone. Its not about the money though . Thankfully they are just at that point where they can manage 1/4's with the exception of 3 or 4.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Now thats a post everyone should take a look at when they ask why cb chams cost so much. $375.00 for two weeks of food! Now multiply that times about 4-6 and you get a good idea on the costs of feeding a clutch. Sorry you had such issues getting feeders man. Winter really plays hell with everything....

 

[danmar26]

Funny I should see this post. About 2 weeks ago I received 1,000 from an online vendor and sponser of this site also. There was only about 300 in the order. I won't mention the company name although I should. But I will never order from them again, nor will I reccomend them to anyone. If they continue to treat people that way they won't be around long.

 

[kinyonga]

Is it possible that baby crickets are cannibalistic? Is there any food in the containers with them?

 

[danmar26]

just a potato wedge in mine.

 

[Scott85]

There was no food in any of my orders of small crickets, just the larger. There was also very little frass or body parts in the cups. They might be canibalistic but for that much of a loss in less that 24 hours would be insane.

On a side note, the company that I recieved the order from sent me 2 "1000" count cups today to "make me whole" on the last order. They were exactly the same as the previous. One had lil more than 300 the other less than 200. So they sent me "6000" and I end up with less than 2000.

This company is stealing money from its customers. I paid $45 for basically $20 worth of product, and only after complaining about it. They had orignally sent me just over $12 worth of product. That is not acceptable in any way. I only wish I could share who it was I was dealing with.

Anyone interested I will answer PMs, just will not post it publicly.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I just got in 1000 pins yest. The company we order from doesnt inc. food with crix that small. They are afraid the food will crush the crix from what I was told yrs ago.

 

[danmar26]

I go in on a group order of crickets with 2 other guys who are local to save on shipping. I didn't bother to ask where they were ordering from. It turns out it was the same company that shorted a few of us in this post. Again out of the 1,000 that were supposed to be in the box there was only about 300. Between everything I feed a good box of 1,000 usually lasts me about 2 1/2 weeks. This order didn't even last 1 week. I just picked up a box at the White Plains show that had well over 1,000 in it. I no longer see this company listed on the list of sponsers here. That is a good thing. Anyone wanting to know the company pm me and I'll gladly tell you. This is 3 times I have gotten orders from them and they were way short everytime. Kind of hard to give them the benefit of doubt.

 

[Kansascity]

Now thats a post everyone should take a look at when they ask why cb chams cost so much. $375.00 for two weeks of food! Now multiply that times about 4-6 and you get a good idea on the costs of feeding a clutch. Sorry you had such issues getting feeders man. Winter really plays hell with everything....

I agree, I try not to even look at my food costs. That is why I am giving this breeding (pain in the rear, lots of work) a try. I try to always make sure I am not re ordering the Black cricket’s from hell though lol. I try to use the sponsors here as much as possible (you know support the cause).

 

[Hoj]

I agree, I try not to even look at my food costs. That is why I am giving this breeding (pain in the rear, lots of work) a try. I try to always make sure I am not re ordering the Black cricket’s from hell though lol. I try to use the sponsors here as much as possible (you know support the cause).

what r these "black crickets from hell" i just picked up my order of 1000 1/4's and they seem small, but they are black in color and usually they are a lightbrown, they r from the same people i get all my other crickets from but this is the first time i got smaller ones from them and i was thinking they r black because they r young but not sure???