Feeder insects

[NonVenomous]

I'm thinking of breeding feeder crickets, mealworms and waxworms to cut down on the costs of them at the pet store. The only problem I have, is that I would be overwhelmed with more insects then I need. I have a few friends that are willing to take some off my hands, but not nearly as many as the insects would reproduce.

So, I'm wondering, if I were to start breeding would any of you want free feeder insects? I'd ship a whatever you'd ask for (mealies, crickets, waxies, a mix/container of each all depending on who you are trying to feed, in big quantities in case some die during shipping) completely free except for the cost of shipping to you, and cost of shipping containers.

If I get a good enough response, I'll start up the breeding, but I need to know if anyone would be interested as I'm not going to start breeding to have to let thousands of bugs go in my yard, or wait for them to die. So please let me know if you are interested.

I figure it's cheaper then the pet store at $.10 a live bug, and definitely cheaper than buying them on line with overnight shipping, as you'll only pay shipping.

[Eriathiel]

I would love to get some meal worms and crickets! I have two anoles and I will be getting a couple cresties so... yeah!!! I'd be totally in for it!

[Cat_Eyed_Lady]

any ideas what the shipping would be?? I might also be interested because I use about 4000 crickets month :)

[Hawkin']

Do yourself a favor and breed roaches.You can feed them to anything that eats what you listed.They are very easy to mantain and breed.You can gut load them on just about anything edible.You'll also have a good size range between the nymphs and adults.I had colonies of lobster and hissing roaches and fed them to my cresteds,beardies,water bugs and chameleons.Lobsters breed like crazy if you keep them around 90 degrees.I'm starting a colony of discoids now.The best part is I'm in CT. also,so you can just give your extras to me! LOL!!!

[NonVenomous]

I'm not entirely sure. I think overnighting starts at $14. I don't know if I would trust shipping them priority. But to make up for it, it's not going to be small amounts of bugs, it'll be 300 or so insects at a time.

Hawkin' - Hey! Where are you from? I'm in Bristol so I'm pretty much in the middle. Roaches. Hmm... Never thought of those. Where would I get them?

[Hawkin']

I'm from Seymour. sammygreggreptiles.com is a good source for roaches.

[Nanci]

Waldo breeds roaches, too. She swears by them. (shiver) She just recommended a website for getting started- bug chick or something.

Nanci

[BezilsGirl]

check out arachnoboards.com - they are major bug freaks there! But often times on the classified boards someone is selling a roach set-up or two. Get the blasida dubia (sp?) orange head roach if you can. I loved those for my tarantulas! They don't fly, climb, or bite- or smell! I swore off crickets forever. Easy to keep too.
Now I have a beardie- so if you ever do silkworms i would buy from you. They are too bloody hard to keep for me to keep more than 1000 at a time myself. But if you get a colony let me know, I'll pay good for any of those! Thanks!
-Heather

[celtic dragons]

I would be interested in some bugs periodically. I have several dragons and it seems like I never have enough. Email me at celticdragons@hotmail.com. Mike

[NonVenomous]

Ok, I'll check out those links, thanks!

The thought of roaches kinda bothers me. I have no idea why though. lol. I'll try them though.

I'll start putting together supplies and breeding soon. :)

[dizzl]

Sounds good I can use some crix and some wax worms for treats for my Beardie.

[Shade]

I'll order some supers from you when you got 'em.

[dizzl]

Oh' yeah, I'll get some supers too in a few months when Bud is big enough.

[laceyjane260]

I'm interested! Put me down for some mealies and crickets. :cool:

[Nanci]

Can you breed waxies without a beehive? How?

Nanci

[Jay@PJCReptiles]

Waldo breeds roaches, too. She swears by them. (shiver) She just recommended a website for getting started- bug chick or something.

Nanci
We breed roaches as well Nanci. We started a colony of Guyanan Orange Spotted Roaches. A friend of ours gave us a few adults to start with and they reproduce very quickly. They are super easy to take care of. They can't fly, climb glass and they don't stink. They eat chicken mash and some vegetable matter, we use yellow squash, cucumbers, tomatoes...etc. We have them in a 10 gallon tank. We put a small ZooMed UTH under one end, as they like it very hot. We provide them places to hide by stacking egg cartons inside. We wrapped the tank in paper shopping bag to keep it dark for them, as this promotes them to breed. We keep the tank in a dark spot and let them do their thing. It didn't take very long to establish a good size community. It has been a little over 4 months and I am ready to start a second colony if needed as there are enough adults to do so already. Compared to crickets, roaches have a 65% more meat to shell ratio. We feed them to our Beardie, Tegu and my Scorpion eats them too. I will get some pictures for you so you can see the set-up and what they look like. We did this so we wouldn't have to deal with crickets and worms and it has worked out great. I haven't had to buy any feeder bugs in quite some time now. This is a very good thread and it is very thoughtful of you to do this for other members of CS.com. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Jay :cool:

[Jay@PJCReptiles]

vBulletin Message You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to NonVenomous again.
:cool:

[NonVenomous]

Nanci, there's loads of information of wax, mealie, and cricket breading here. It's basically where I'm getting my advice from:

http://www.thegeckospot.com/forum/index.php?topic=6656.0

And thanks PJC. :) I'm going to PM you as well, but if at all possible, would you mind sending me some roaches to make a colony for myself if I paid you for them and shipping?

To update everyone waiting for bugs - I've started a cricket colony and a "maggot" colony. I'm not entirely sure what they are. We get them from a bait shop here, the guy recommended them for geckos and beardies since they wiggle much more after being warmed up and taken out of the fridge. He said they are identical to wax worms but wax worms turn into one fly, they turn into another type of fly.

It's still going to be a few months until I get them ready to be sent out. The colonies need to be well established and have gone through at least 2 life cycles. I'll keep you updated though!

[reptile_jones]

I'm from Seymour. sammygreggreptiles.com is a good source for roaches.

I did not see any roaches, just ball pythons :shrugs:

[mommyof2]

My cousin buys crickets online, but from a different person every time. She's looking for a steady source for crickets for her beardie. Let me know whenever you get them ready and I can put you in touch with her!