Feeder alternatives during quarantine

[ToadilyNuts4Nature]

Ive been feeding all my animals freeze dried insects. I only have about 100 mealworms left and i want to use them sparingly, only for my picky baby dragon. I was suprised by how well my toads took the change

You might want to consider breeding mealies, it's super easy and a lot cheaper than buying! There are a lot of videos on how to breed mealworms. Takes very little space & time! Just need to let some of your mealworms pupate into beetles and they'll begin breeding within days but it will take at least a month before you actually have new mealies that you can use for feeding. I started mine under $10! Just needed to buy a plastic 3 drawer storage container/box & oatmeal, which serves as substrate & food, along with adding veggie scraps like carrots & potato peels! Check it out cause you'll eventually have more than you know what to do with!

[Axqu]

I've been feeding earthworms sourced from my backyard, as well as cave crickets that I catch from my grandma's storage room. Her storage room is absolutely infested and since the crickets don't get in the house she doesn't bother bug bombing, so it works out perfectly. You can make a bug trap out of a 2 liter bottle; cut the top "cone" off, rinse both out really well, put a potato or fruit slice in the main body of the bottle, then invert the "cone" into the main body of the bottle to create a funnel shape into the chamber. Put it in the right area and you'll have more bugs than you know what to do with trapped in the bottle!

[Frogman1031]

I've been feeding earthworms sourced from my backyard, as well as cave crickets that I catch from my grandma's storage room. Her storage room is absolutely infested and since the crickets don't get in the house she doesn't bother bug bombing, so it works out perfectly. You can make a bug trap out of a 2 liter bottle; cut the top "cone" off, rinse both out really well, put a potato or fruit slice in the main body of the bottle, then invert the "cone" into the main body of the bottle to create a funnel shape into the chamber. Put it in the right area and you'll have more bugs than you know what to do with trapped in the bottle!

it’s important to remember though that any wild caught insects or feeders poses a high risk of transmitting parasites to your pets. They also may have been exposed to pesticides, which can quickly kill your frog. Personally I’m ordering banded crickets from Josh’s Frog. You can get 1000 crickets for like 20 bucks, and they last much longer than regular crickets as long as you keep them fed and hydrated

[MuchoTaco]

Earthworms are very filling just add a bit of calcium dust. If your corner store has them

[Herpin Man]

My advice is to order crickets in bulk. It's usually not cost effective to order less than 500 at a time, and for only one frog, many crickets may die before being fed.
However- I have recently started using banded crickets. I really like them. They are said to be more nutritious and have less chitin than the standard house crickets. But here's the best part- they are durable and long lived. I have found that the adults live for several weeks in their bins, with very, very little mortality. There aren't many suppliers yet, but Josh's Frogs has them.
I think you should look into it.

[DanDrobates]

@herpin man, I was able to score a big order of banded crix from Josh’s. Things started to get ugly fast here in NY a few weeks ago due to COVID 19 and almost every online vendor was having issues with stock. Even Repashy products were hard to find online. I’ve fed banded crickets before and they are amazing. Josh’s was limiting large quantities though and they only offered orders of 250 so I had to order two at a higher price.

[Herpin Man]

So you bought 500 crickets, at twice the price of 250? That's one of my complaints about Josh's- they're quite stingy about giving good customers a break. I like the banded crickets quite a bit, but if I had another source for them besides Josh's, I'd switch.
I did just receive a box of 1000 adults from there, so supply must have improved.