Banded Crickets, a review

Lathis

Chameleon Enthusiast
I made my first purchase of Banded Crickets from Ghann's Cricket Farm. Previously, I have always purchased smaller batches of house crickets locally, but I thought now I could justify needing/purchasing/using a larger cricket supply. I try to make crickets no more than 25% of my cham's diet, but always like to have them on hand. Ghann's is a sponsor for CF, so I ordered there.

I ordered 250 large banded crickets, and here are my thoughts (trying carefully to adhere to forum guidelines about reviews, so please let me know if I break any rules here.)

1. Cost with shipping was about $0.06-0.07 per cricket, less than half local costs. Obviously, the more you order, the cheapest it gets.

2. Shipping and packaging was done very nicely in vented boxes and clearly marked as insects.

3. Zero crickets dead on arrival. Zero! Couldn't count them perfectly, but my gut feel is that I got somewhere around 5-10% over count?

4. Open the box outside(!) to transfer them to the cricket tub. Learned that the hard way, hehe.

5. Banded crickets are a bit smaller than house crickets with very cool striping and loooooong antennae. High jumpers!

After using them for a few weeks:

6. They are pretty lively crickets. The long antennae catch my cham's attention and they climb screens really well.

7. They just *seem* smarter than house crickets... like they are more clever or something... very good at avoiding being caught when loose.

8. I can't quantify this, but I really believe that they smell much less than the house crickets. 250 in the same cage as 30, and they don't smell nearly as strongly.

9. They are voracious and really seem to eat more than the house crickets. I have also found them to be aggressively cannibalistic to their dead.

10. Being smaller doesn't really seem to affect my cham's interest. Maybe when he's bigger, he will stop wanting them, but for now, they still work.

11. They aren't quieter than house crickets but their chirping is less abrasive. More like a metallic hum than loud single chirps.

12. (Edit) The die-off rate is much, much, much lower than my past experience with house crickets. Not sure if they are just healthier or if it is because they do live longer.

TL;DR: I really like the banded crickets. Perky and less smelly. Ghann's was a good deal for bulk purchase. I'll keep buying them as long as Bucky eats them.
 
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I love banded crickets I order a thousand at a time for $23 including shipping from a supplier on eBay
 
I too have switched to banded crickets for some time now and will never go back to brown crickets. I had a package that was sent to the wrong address and did not receive it for 1 whole week. I was certain that all my crickets had die, but to my surprise, only 2 out of the 100 were deceased! They are much more hardier and overall more active than your house cricket.
 
I've got them before by mistake from rainbow mealworms when I ordered regular crickets now I prefer to use them as well. Completely agree with you about die off and smell.
 
I've been getting them from LLL reptile and I've been having a ton die on me. Normal crickets live but these die fast. I think they are just shit quality from there because I've read they are very hardy. My bin has lots of airflow and I clean constantly especially with the die offs happening frequently

I may have to order from a different source from now on. I rarely have bought crickets the last 3 years but my new boy is eating a lot so I'm back at them
 
I think the cricket stink occurs when the crickets get old and start to die. I still use Acheta domestica, but I buy young adults, which don't start dying off for a couple of weeks, and don't stink until then. The crickets bought at the pet stores are older and start to die off as soon as you bring them home. Also, maybe the banded crickets being more aggressively canniblistic eat the dead ones before they stink.
 
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