New cricket species as feeders?

H

hemingway155

New member
Hi there folks. I have been seeing some threads on other forums about the possible introduction of a new species of crickets into the hobby as a feeder in the wake of the cricket virus that swept through in the last couple of years. For a representative sample thread, see:

Super Crickets? - Arachnoboards

My basic question -- has anybody here had experience with this new species and tokays? I'm a little worried because I still feel the need to feed some of my tokays (especially new ones) crickets rather than dubia since they seem to respond to the more mobile crickets and want them left in overnight when they hunt. My concern is that I end up with some of the new breed of aggressive cricks, leave some in overnight, and they harm my geckos. I have noticed that the crickets I've been getting from my usual store (I don't go through enough to justify buying in bulk) seem to be getting bigger, and I plan to ask them about it this week. So I'm hoping this thread serves a few purposes:

1) Heads-up, there may be new crickets out there

2) Anybody have pictures to authoritatively distinguish between the species?

3) I'd love to hear if anybody has experience and safety advice about feeding the new species.

Thanks in advance.

Kris
 
panthergecko

panthergecko

Active member
yes these super crickets are better for bigger reptiles like 10+ inches
smaller reptiles will be prey not predator. look up Jamaican Field Crickets and deaths.
These crickets are like super worms
meal worms have small jaws and super worms have big ones
so yeah if you get the simile lol
 
LLDG

LLDG

New member
Thank you for keeping us updated and please don't hesitate to provide any new (accurate) information about feeder crickets.
 
Hilde

Hilde

Administrator
Staff member
I've used them for the 'real predator' type geckos - Teratoscincus, leachianus and the like. They can handle these crickets, and generally devour them on sight. There's no way I'd give them to smaller or timid geckos, or picky eaters, there's just too much risk associated with them.
On the plus side though, these crickets have more 'meat', so you don't need to feed as many.
 
Will3

Will3

New member
Would never use those unless i was feeding some Varanus sp. or maybe a fullgrown Pogona vittceps, in fact i never use ANY crickets, ive got 5 species of roaches instead.
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
hemingway155 said:
I still feel the need to feed some of my tokays (especially new ones) crickets rather than dubia since they seem to respond to the more mobile crickets and want them left in overnight when they hunt.

Kris
Click to expand...


Kris, if you want something more along the lines of crickets (yet far superior), try B. lateralis roaches. They're about the size of a normal cricket, and fast and mobile like a cricket. They don't play dead or bury themselves in substrate like dubia. And they won't try to eat your geckos if they're left overnight with them. They're easy to keep and breed like dubia are and actually much cheaper. Drop me a PM if you want info on a good place to get them. I think that if you try some, you'll be happy.

PS I'm moving this thread to the "feeder" forum because it applies more to feeders than to tokay and will likely interest a lot of other people.
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
@ Roy, sorry, I had to edit out your link that you posted. Marty does not allow posting of links to other reptile forums. However, people can feel free to PM you for the link if wanted. Needless to say, it seems as though these are pretty aggressive crickets that can/will kill your geckos if given the chance. Sticking to various species of tropical roaches seems the best idea IMHO.
 
Ozymandias

Ozymandias

New member
Will3 said:
Blaptica dubia
Nauphoeta cinerea
Gromphadorhina grandidieri
Pycnoscelus nigra (parthenogenetic)
Shelfordella lateralis
Click to expand...

i use a similar list and have a few other i'm going to be using soon


Currently use:

Blaptica dubia
Shelfordella/Blatta lateralis
Nauphoeta cinerea (Lobster Roach)
Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Surinam Roach) *Parthenogenic*

waiting for colonies to get big enough:

Eublaberus posticus (Orangehead Roach)
Byrsotria sp. "Cuba" (Brown Burrowing Roach)
Blaberus fusca
Pycnoscelus femapterus



Riverside Reptiles said:
@ Roy, sorry, I had to edit out your link that you posted. Marty does not allow posting of links to other reptile forums. However, people can feel free to PM you for the link if wanted. Needless to say, it seems as though these are pretty aggressive crickets that can/will kill your geckos if given the chance. Sticking to various species of tropical roaches seems the best idea IMHO.
Click to expand...

not a problem and i understand
 
Ozymandias

Ozymandias

New member
no you can still find them but thay are getting harder to find, also i don't think thay will be completely wiped out
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
They'll not likely be completely wiped out. But, commercially they will become very hard to find in the relatively near future. Plus, who wants to risk feeding sick feeders to their animals? Not me, that's for sure.
 
badkelpie

badkelpie

New member
I use the new crickets. A pet store FINALLY opened up in my town, and I'm gonna do everything I can to support them. They only stock the new crickets. I buy the baby crickets. They're not that much bigger than the brown ones, just meatier, and I have never seen any aggression from them. I feed the little ones to my fire bellied toads and leopard gecko. My sister gets the big ones for her bearded dragon. Eventually, I'll have enough dubias to feed everyone and won't have to deal with crickets at all.
 
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