# Crickets or locusts



## bustergrey (Jan 23, 2009)

Just a quick question about feeding. I just wondered which is the best food to feed a leopard gecko and a panther chameleon. Just wondered if one is more nutritious than the other, as locusts are costing me a small fortune at the moment while brown crickets seem much cheaper.

james


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## wallyreptiles (Nov 17, 2008)

crickets are slightly more nutritious but most lizards prefer locusts


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

also , the key to a health diet is variation


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## wallyreptiles (Nov 17, 2008)

NXSmiggy said:


> also , the key to a health diet is variation


 very true


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## stuart89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Doesnt really matter, buy which you prefer and just mix it up now and again. : victory:


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## bustergrey (Jan 23, 2009)

thanks for the advice. I do vary their dieat- meal worms, locusts, wax worms and crickets. just wondered what the best food for their main diest. Having a bit of a problem keeping my crickets alive for long so changed to locusts as they seem more hardy.


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

If it were me id feed a staple of mealworms cause there cheap and are great!!


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## wallyreptiles (Nov 17, 2008)

Tommy123 said:


> If it were me id feed a staple of mealworms cause there cheap and are great!!


 no u cant feed mealies as staple, they are just not nutritional enough, they are mainly hard outer shell/skin (chitin)


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## woodsy (Nov 29, 2007)

i have started (for the last 6 months) to use dubai roaches and they have millions of benefits both for you and you animals. 

* they don't smell at all
* they cant climb smooth surfaces
* they cant injure you animal in any way
* they breed like cockroaches:lol2: a heat mat and a dark container, regular protein rich food and water and your away.
* nutritionally they are far superior to all other feeder insects
* they are very slow moving and are easy to catch


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## 52fender (Aug 1, 2008)

woodsy said:


> i have started (for the last 6 months) to use dubai roaches and they have millions of benefits both for you and you animals.
> 
> * they don't smell at all
> * they cant climb smooth surfaces
> ...


Where do you get these from? Not heard of this before but wouldn't mind getting my hands on some! 

Aaron:2thumb:


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## woodsy (Nov 29, 2007)

52fender said:


> Where do you get these from? Not heard of this before but wouldn't mind getting my hands on some!
> 
> Aaron:2thumb:



the roach shop is the place to go!

you can buy ready setup colanies which are sweet cuz they breed real quick. i bought the small colony with some extra adults and they have been excellent, leave them alone for a few months and use locusts or what ever to get them sessioning then start harvesting the males. six months later and i haven't bought any more (the heat mat is important or they wont breed) almost fed all the adults to my beardie but there are over 5 times the original amount i bought in babies so they will me adult in a month. (im gunna buy another 100 adults to keep it going)


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## 52fender (Aug 1, 2008)

Wow, sounds like your onto a winner there, fella!

Would you mind pm'ing me in a little more detail what to do with them, i.e - how to keep the colony going, gut loading etc??

Would be very much appreciated if you could


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## woodsy (Nov 29, 2007)

52fender said:


> Wow, sounds like your onto a winner there, fella!
> 
> Would you mind pm'ing me in a little more detail what to do with them, i.e - how to keep the colony going, gut loading etc??
> 
> Would be very much appreciated if you could


there are caresheets and things on the site its self as well as a gut load formula made for the roaches.


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## 52fender (Aug 1, 2008)

Sweet, thats awesome! Would save me an absolute fortune! Out of curiosity, how many and what type of lizards are you feeding with your colony? How many roaches do you feed at a time? (obv depending on what your feeding them to)


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## woodsy (Nov 29, 2007)

52fender said:


> Sweet, thats awesome! Would save me an absolute fortune! Out of curiosity, how many and what type of lizards are you feeding with your colony? How many roaches do you feed at a time? (obv depending on what your feeding them to)


two bearded dragons and two leopard geckos! feed them as much as they want.


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## 52fender (Aug 1, 2008)

Much appreciated...thanks dude.

If you get a spare 5 mins, pics of your colony set up would also be greatly recieved. If not, no worries

:2thumb:


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## moody232002 (Jan 5, 2009)

mine will only eat Locusts at the moment no matter what else i try and give him he shows no interest


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