Which is better to culture??

[Murray of the Deep]

Crickets or grasshoppers??

[JeffreH]

What are you feeding?

I'd assume by 'better' you mean easier to culture... Nutrionally speaking both are in the order orthoptera and shouldn't vary significantly if fed the same diet; a trend we see with Blattodea in the cockroaches being cultured for food. I believe most of the crickets available as feeders tend to be a little less "wingy" and scleritized (hardened) as adults...meaning crickets should be more palatable and, at least by observation, may have a better meat : shell ratio.

That being said, crickets also tend to be a little easier and cheaper to culture than locusts and grasshoppers. They are also more readily available in the states...not sure about the Philippines. Both make fine feeders regardless of which route you choose and you should still always offer as much variety as possible to your herp = )

Let us know if you have any specific questions about either and we'll be happy to assist you on your culturing efforts!

[Murray of the Deep]

What are you feeding?

I'd assume by 'better' you mean easier to culture... Nutrionally speaking both are in the order orthoptera and shouldn't vary significantly if fed the same diet; a trend we see with Blattodea in the cockroaches being cultured for food. I believe most of the crickets available as feeders tend to be a little less "wingy" and scleritized (hardened) as adults...meaning crickets should be more palatable and, at least by observation, may have a better meat : shell ratio.


That being said, crickets also tend to be a little easier and cheaper to culture than locusts and grasshoppers. They are also more readily available in the states...not sure about the Philippines. Both make fine feeders regardless of which route you choose and you should still always offer as much variety as possible to your herp = )

Let us know if you have any specific questions about either and we'll be happy to assist you on your culturing efforts!

yes i can buy lots of crickets in the Philippines which they sell cheap prices and why are they eating each other i feed them lots of fruits and veggies.

[JeffreH]

They eat each other because they are crickets ; )

How are you housing them? Cannibalism in insects is often the result of overcrowding and intraspecific competition for resources. If you are providing plenty of dry gutload and moisture in the form of fruits and veggies as you have been, you may consider increasing the size of the cricket bin or increasing surface area using structures like egg flats or fast food drink carriers. Be sure to stack them vertically to provide optimal surface area and to allow frass (poo) and shed skins to fall to the bottom.

Sometimes cannibalism in crickets is inevitable, and if you are only suffering minor losses I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Do you happen to know what species of cricket you are culturing?

[Murray of the Deep]

im culturing field crickets those little crickets to feed my toads and adfs and also i keep them all in one medium sized picnic can with soil and lots of fruits and veggies and also why wont my toad accept the crickets he only wants mealworms and also since i got him he wont eat my crickets it only minds the mealworms. and also can you tell me how to avoid ants eating mealworms and crickets?

[JMDaniels]

im culturing field crickets those little crickets to feed my toads and adfs and also i keep them all in one medium sized picnic can with soil and lots of fruits and veggies and also why wont my toad accept the crickets he only wants mealworms and also since i got him he wont eat my crickets it only minds the mealworms. and also can you tell me how to avoid ants eating mealworms and crickets?

Well, I've never tried to raise grasshoppers, but I do know based on personal research, that their reproduction cycle is not as quick as crickets. The fact that they do not produce as fast or as much offspring as crickets and roaches do, makes them more costly to raise. Ultimately you invest the same amount of money to care for them, but then you don't reap the same harvest. If you are just concerned with providing a little variety to your frogs, then it probably does not matter. But if you are thinking of doing it as a business or as a staple food for lots of frogs, you might wanna stick with crickets, mealworms, and roaches.

To prevent ants from getting to your crickets, you can smear petroleum jelly around the container they are in (ants will get stuck and wont be able to crawl further.) For mealworms, you can do the same thing or just keep them in the refrigerator.

[Sunshine]

Mealworms baaad!