Since my new home location only has a Petco and a PetSmart nearby, so I'm looking into purchasing bulk insects online. I know, I'm crazy. But instead of paying 10-13 cents per insect, I'll be paying 3-4. The bugs are tax free and shipping is included, we'll see what the catch is when I order these guys...
The company I have found so far to be the cheapest and the best rated is through the http://www.reptilefood.com/ web site. Here you can purchase as few as 250 crickets at a time (which will only last me a week). I'm in the middle of trying to find out what species of cricket they carry. Why would I care? Well, there was a huge problem recently with a cricket "virus" or sickness that was killing the acheta domesticus (brown/house cricket) by the masses. There would be countless casualties every day, for apparently no reason. While working at Hoffmann's Reptiles in Concord, we began to carry a new species, gryllus assimilis (Jamaican cricket).
The Jamaican cricket has proven to be a million times more hardy! Can't kill the darn things with a hammer (I'm only exaggerating a little)! And they get significantly larger in size too! However, big box stores such as Petco and PetSmart still carry the brown or house cricket (to the extent of my knowledge), and at least half of your purchase is wasted every time in deaths.
I will be making my online purchase a week or so after my move in date, and will notify you when I have a customer rating, and a definite species nailed down!
