good place to purchase crickets and silkworms

[Tara]

Hey everybody...I am getting ready to make a couple of purchases online and I would like some advice.
I want to purchase some crickets and some silkworms.
I am leaning toward the silkworm pod at coastalsilkworms. Any thoughts?
If I do this should I gets some silkworm food as well?

I'm going to get a Reptisun 5.0 UVB from Big apple herp and am thinking about getting my crickets there as well.
Is this a good place to purchase crickets?
I've had some recommendations on gutload for crickets. Do you have to add the gutload to something or just put some of it in with the crickets?
Tara

 

[Heika]

Where are you at, Tara? I try to order crickets from places that are fairly close to me, because the shipping seems to do a number on them. My favorite seller is an ebay guy who is on the west coast. His ebay seller name is, "crktman6ami". He is awesome, the crix look great, and he guarantees his shipments. I had a problem with a shipment freezing because of an error on the post office's part, and he didn't even question it. He just sent out another box.

Gut load should be fed to your crickets.. no need to do anything to it but put it in the container with them.

Heika

 

[Tara]

I'm in West Virginia

Good to know about the gutload. At least on thing is simple. Looks like I'm going to have to wait at tleast a week before ordering anything
I have been neglecting everything else and I just balanced the checkbook
I have to figure out how to make a hugh payment to the gas company and keep my gas on and after that is squared away, I'll be good to go.
My hubby is home with the flu, so no paycheck on Thursday....
I noticed all of the crickets places do the 1-2 day shipping, but this is still to hard on the crickets?

 

[Heika]

I noticed all of the crickets places do the 1-2 day shipping, but this is still to hard on the crickets?

Well, where I live priority mail is never 2 days. It is usually 3 or 4 if it is coming from out of state. I hate shipping charges, and won't pay for overnight unless its a critter. So, it may be that I am just cheap!

Heika

 

[Tara]

no..you are NOT cheap

When I first noticed that everyone was buying their crickets throught the mail, I wondered how they arrived alive.
you are not cheap...shipping is expensive. The shipping for a cham is almost the same as a price for a veiled.
It's probably good that I have to wait at least a week. I can think it through and look for somewhere close to me. I wish I had taken more time with the chams to. Even then I looked for 2 weeks, just looked in the wrong places..and missed important messages about who to and not to buy from. Nite! Tara

 

[Shelby]

I get my silkies from Coastal Silkworms as well. They're great. I also order the wet food with my orders as well since it's easier to just get the food with the silkies.

I tried ordering crickets online but received them half dead so I'm not doing that anymore. I'm just buying small ones locally now and throwing them in a large rubbermaid container with food and oranges.

 

[Prism Chameleons]

I get silkworms from Coastal Silkworms (yes, you must purchase the food - silkworms eat A LOT) and you can get crickets with guaranteed live arrival from www.reptilefood.com and I have had good luck with them. But the shipping is costly....

 

[Drake]

I order my crickets from www.cricketfactory.com. When they arrive, they are all jumping around, and look healthy. I deffinetly reccomend them.

 

[Brad]

silkworms:
You may want to look at buying some eggs and powdered food. This would be the cheapest way to provide silkworms to your cham over a longer period of time. I usually purchase from mulberryfarms, but hear good things about coastal too.

crickets:
I purchase crickets locally so I don't have any recommendations

 

[zero742]

I've had really good luck lately with a lady on eBay recently. Her username is whirlingwoman. <a href = "http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZwhirlingwomanQQhtZ-1QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQrdZ0?" >Here is a link to here eBay items</a>. She ships on Monday-Wednesday only, so usually there is no problem with the postal service not delivering them over the weekend. She is located in Detroit, Michigan, but she has fixed shipping at 6.99 which isn't bad at all. Anyway, good luck!

P.S.: Apparently html doesn't work....so the link once again is http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZwhirlingwomanQQhtZ-1QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQrdZ0?

 

[Heika]

I've had really good luck lately with a lady on eBay recently. Her username is whirlingwoman. <a href = "http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZwhirlingwomanQQhtZ-1QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQrdZ0?" >Here is a link to here eBay items</a>. She ships on Monday-Wednesday only, so usually there is no problem with the postal service not delivering them over the weekend. She is located in Detroit, Michigan, but she has fixed shipping at 6.99 which isn't bad at all. Anyway, good luck!

P.S.: Apparently html doesn't work....so the link once again is http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZwhirlingwomanQQhtZ-1QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQrdZ0?

Hey, I just bought some heat packs from that seller. I saw that she sells silkworms also, is that what you are buying from her? I thought about buying some, but I still have eggs in the fridge. I really, really don't like hatching out silkworms! They are a pain in the butt! If her silkworms are good quality, I will start ordering from her.

Heika

 

[Tara]

Wow...thanks so much....

Oh my gosh! Somehow all of my crickets are gone already. I posted earlier that they only gave me 71 live ones...and I know I fed them 20 one day adn I could only find like 10 or so alive to feed them today....and the one cham cam charging over and ate them all before the other one. I think the other cham MIGHT have gotten one! Oh the drama! And of course the pet store is closed today!

I am going to try and make my cricket container today....and I am wondering...will the crickets reproduce in the container as well?
Also, what size crickets should I order for them?

My only choice for today is to grab some mealworms from one of the stores close to me that sell bait. They are usually just one size though...not giant, but not small either. Would my chams be able to eat these.
And what color are healthy mealworms. I always though the darker color mean they were new and the lighter color meant they were getting old? Am I backwards on this? Thanks! Tara

 

[zero742]

Backwards on the mealworm thing I believe, at least thats the way it is with waxy's. Unless you are talking about when they actually become pupa's. But if they are black and not in what looks like a pupa, I'd say they are dead as a doornail.

 

[Tara]

yeah LOL..the black ones are dead

LOL..ok, I didn't say it right ..I was tired.
I have no idea about pulpa....

You know how they are an orange color...

I have only seen them in 2 different colors....there is the light orange color and then there is this rich, deep, darker color...Almost like someone added a smidge of purple to the orange.


I had always thought the one with the smidge of purple looked healthier...like they hade more moisture in them...and the light orange always looke like they were drying out. DOes that make more sense? Now which ones are the older mealworms? Tara

 

[cholly1]

Crickets /dying

well i tried a bunch of techniques. I feel the Biggest culprit is excess moisture/bacteria when feed veggies/fruit. I place 2 dozen into a critter cont. w/guy load foods nite be 4.from my main holdin bin a 20gal H w screen top. In the 20 I feed ONLY Flukers gut load & Monster crix diet. Water on a damp papertowel in a shallow lid . I use papertowell rolls save them & hop paper rolls . Stand on one end & they get up on it & in it away from one another . Cant build wider go higher . ive found this to help with crowding. mites & virus Ive read hit the legs and ull see hi jumpin crickets/then spinners. to avoid this I find DRY conditions is trick. g luck. chas

 

[pssh]

Old thread...

 

[ChameleonsByVanGogh]

i have a friend

i have a guy that i met off line that has everything and he is a straight shooter with top quality feeders all sizing all kinds message me and i will give you his info