# Field crickets as a food source. Why are they not sold?



## Tim Benzedrine (Mar 29, 2007)

I recently obtained a albino pacman frog, _C. cranwelli_, and am pondering what I'll feed it as it grows larger. Which led me to wonder-why are field crickets not available? You know the ones I mean, the big black buggers.. It probably takes 3 or four of the domestic crickets used as feeders to make one good sized field cricket. It seems to me that they would make a larger meal, bridging the gap between the standard crickets and roaches. (Roaches, by the way, won't be a feeding option here.) I'll be pretty much stuck with standard domestic crickets, night-crawlers, and very infrequent frozen mice. And maybe the odd guppy once in awhile.

I've been googling both pet food and biological suppliers and I haven't seen them for sale at any of them. Are they difficult to culture, making large scale production impractical? Or is it just a lack of demand?  I did read that the eggs of the northern species require a cool period, maybe that is part of the reason they are not raised commercially. Has anyone ever seen them offered for sale?
 I'd be afraid to feed wild-caught ones here, though the threat of pesticides would actually be pretty minimal. I'd be more concerned about some kind of parasite making a crossover. I did give one to a Rose-Hair tarantula once. It kept him occupied for quite awhile with no ill effects. But I was nervous about it for several days and decided not to try it again.


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## Scott C. (Mar 29, 2007)

If I ever found enough to try out I would, but I have only ever seen one, or two around here..... Never seen them for sale either.....


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## Tim Benzedrine (Mar 29, 2007)

Around here in the fall the adults are pretty easy to find. I don't know if you could find enough to make it a safe, reliable food source, though.  Especially for an eating machine like a pacman frog. Gee, maybe I've discovered an untapped business opportunity!


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## Scott C. (Mar 29, 2007)

I'd buy 'em if they were available.... They are way bigger than the pet shop pests.... and no where near as ugly.


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## AviculariaLover (Mar 29, 2007)

There is a grad student at the insect lab here who said he raised those black field crickets for quite a long time, he said they were super easy, didn't smell, and seemed curious as to why I thought it would be a hassle to try to raise crickets. He scoffed when I mentioned breeding roaches. Sadly he no longer has the crickets but I might try to get more information out of him.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Mar 29, 2007)

It would be interesting to hear about. If you do get more info, find out how long it takes them to reach maturity. Maybe that is a factor in the commercial viability of raising them.
It couldn't take more than a few months at the longest, so I don't see why that would be a problem, but there has to be some reason the resource has remained untapped.


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## Crazyspidergirl (Mar 29, 2007)

i  think u mean c.cRAnwelli not cORnwelli. lol


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## Tim Benzedrine (Mar 29, 2007)

Whoops! You would be correct! I retrieved the name from memory, which obviously was faulty. I'll correct it in my post to avoid confusion. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!


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## P.jasonius (Mar 29, 2007)

I wouldn't mind hearing more about this, as well.  I tried my hand at raising the pet shop crickets, and man do they smell.  I'm fairly certain the field cricks make better song as well, something that some complain about but I enjoy.  
If what your friend says is true, and these don't smell as bad, this may yet prove a lucrative enterprise.  I, too, have always wondered about them not being sold.  They may actually be more dangerous to your pets.  Have you compared their rear legs to those of the brown crickets?  More spines, more mass.


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## nickbachman (Mar 29, 2007)

i dont know about it being a lucrative enterprise.  clearly it's been thought of before, and there has to be a reason they're not being raised for food.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Mar 29, 2007)

I had thought about the spurred legs issue and if I was using those kind of crickets, I'd probably amputate them before feeding. But I don't guess they'd be that big a threat to a full grown pacman, on the other hand.

I wasn't really serious about it being a business opportunity for me, by the way. I'd just thought they'd make a more filling meal than the regular crickets we buy.


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## cacoseraph (Mar 29, 2007)

the domestica sold in petshops have amazingly fast metabolism and short life cycles and have been selectively bred that way on purpose. from the perspective of the large suppliers they could probably get like, higher order exponential growth/production from the fast domestica vs. the natural living black crickets

it would probably be hard to culture the black fellas anywhere near as fast as the domestica... but they might make a nice side culture as snack food or for breeding projects or something


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## P.jasonius (Mar 29, 2007)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> I wasn't really serious about it being a business opportunity for me, by the way.


neither was I.


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## skinheaddave (Mar 29, 2007)

cacoseraph said:


> it would probably be hard to culture the black fellas anywhere near as fast as the domestica...


Bingo.  I've tried and it isn't nearly as easy or fast.  It is something I am going to take a shot at again with better setups, but I don't think there is any commercial merit to it -- just another way to fritter away time in as enjoyable a way as possible.  

Cheers,
Dave


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## bugmankeith (Mar 29, 2007)

They are easy to breed, but do grow slower.


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## Tleilaxu (Mar 29, 2007)

I think you maybe able to make a small income from field crickets, I would love to have the larger crick availible. Alas they will never be mainstream BUT I think they could find secure footing on the more smaller scale ops. The ones up here grow huge at least 1-1/2 inch.


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## ScorpDemon (Apr 1, 2007)

My cricket supplier told me one time why he didnt breed them, it wasn't the growth rate, I can't remember what it was, but I'll email him and ask him, and post here.


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## Bear Foot Inc (Apr 1, 2007)

I think it is because they are native you cant ship them to some states and you might need permits... I"ll look into it too though because I'd like to try breeding/selling them as well.
~Samuel


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## EAD063 (Apr 2, 2007)

I've *heard* the smell worse compared to domestic ones.


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## ScorpDemon (Apr 2, 2007)

It was something about a nutrient in the exoskeleton being toxic to most animals, or a parasite that has to live within them for them to survive if I remember correctly, probably a line of BS to keep me from catching my own feeders. Sounded like BS at the time. Not that I would feed WC feeders anyway.


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## ScorpDemon (Apr 4, 2007)

I just got a reply from my cricket supplier, and he says that field crickets are toxic to reptiles, and that the reason the domestic crickets aren't, is that they don't have as many natural predators in their native country.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Apr 4, 2007)

Hmm. I'm a bit skeptical, but until someone creditably disputes this, I guess it would be foolish to dismiss it out of hand.

For what it's worth, I finally did find a supplier who sells them as feeders. http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=281

Edit: I also found this: (bolding mine)

_Crickets

Crickets are probably the most widely used food animals for raising scorpions and large centipedes. The common grey cricket found in most pet shops belongs to the species Acheta domestica. It is native to the warm parts of Asia, where it is itself often kept as a pet.* Keepers may also raise the closely related field cricket, which is black in color and is native to the United States.* Both species are cared for in the same manner. _
 Source: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/2437/raisingfood.html


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## Alakdan (Apr 7, 2007)

Now everything is cear to me.

We use to get weird comments from U.S. keepers when they see pictures of our inverts eating a cricket.  It was because our crickets are black.  I also wondered why the crickets I commonly see in pictures posted here are light brown.  I thought it was just a natural adaptation to a warmer climate here.

If we are talking about the same field crickets, then YES!  They can be bred and raised like your crickets.  I have been breeding them the same way.  Average lifspan from pinhead to breeding adult is about 6 weeks.  Eggs take around 12-20 days to hatch.  Feeding is the same.  Filipino hobbyists have been using these field crickets as feeders for quite sometime without any ill effects.  Wild caught specimens can be caught in rice fields.  Their songs (chirping) can drive you insane.  They also bite.

EAD063,

They smell the same especially if you dont keep the enclosure clean and well ventilated.

Tleilaxu,
It is commercially viable.  But I don't see the point in doing so.  You already have the better variety.  Same breeding and feeding requirements.  The big ones reach 1-1.5 inch but this depends on how well fed they are while growing.

I will post some pictures tomorrow.  Specimens and set-up.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Apr 7, 2007)

That will be interesting to see. Would you happen to know the scientific classification of those crickets?


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## Alakdan (Apr 8, 2007)

Alakdan said:


> I will post some pictures tomorrow.  Specimens and set-up.


As promised here are some pics.  Sorry for the quality.  I used my old Kodak.

Adult female






Enclosure/Breeding set-up











Pinheads


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## Tim Benzedrine (Apr 8, 2007)

They definitely look meatier than the ones that are commonly used as feeders over here. They aren't identical to our field crickets, but it's pretty close. Thanks for posting the photos! I still might look into catching and raising some of our variety myself. It may be a waste of time, though. I've never had much luck with raising  feeder crickets. The only time I was very successful was an accidental hatching in a _G. rosea_ tank.


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## Tleilaxu (Apr 9, 2007)

@Alakdan impressive. As for having the better variety that up for grabs as I stated earlier the crickets up here are very large.. infact would make an interesting pet in there own right. Though they are much more aggressive than the house cricket and can deliver a nice bite.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Mar 13, 2008)

I started this thread about a year ago and just today found an answer. Since a few folks expressed an interest in the matter, I decided to revive the thread and pass on the link I discovered on another board. Previously, I had found a company that offered black field crickets and linked to them up-thread, but they were based in the U.K. Now it seems that they are being offered in the U.S. by a company in Florida. Unfortunately, they have a rather limited shipping area at the moment because of USDA restrictions. But they say they are working with the department to expand their distribution.
 And at 2.49 a dozen, they are a bit pricey, but that cost does include shipping.

Anyway, you can check them yourselves if you wish at Nativecrickets.com

Oh, and as I said, I just learned of the outfit, so I can't attest to their reputation.


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## pharaoh2653 (Mar 14, 2008)

Around here i can find them by the dozens in the fall. one dorm on my campus has so many of them that its impossible to avoid them. they crawl on you when you sleep and their even in the ceilngs


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## Zelli (Mar 16, 2008)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> And at 2.49 a dozen, they are a bit pricey, but that cost does include shipping.
> 
> Anyway, you can check them yourselves if you wish at Nativecrickets.com


They also offer 100 for $6.49 which is pretty cheap.


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## AneesasMuse (Mar 16, 2008)

...but they don't ship to the West Coast


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## Tim Benzedrine (Mar 16, 2008)

Well, their site says they are working on expanding their services. But the Dept. of Agriculture can be pretty sticky about allowing non-native fauna to other states. You know, what with the dangers of a species getting introduced into the wild and upsetting the natural balance and threatening crops and what-not.

I believe California, for example, is particularly careful about such things.


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## arachnocat (Mar 17, 2008)

That's interesting. I checked the list of insects that are ok to be imported into California without a permit and the Common Black Field Cricket (gryllus sp.) is on there so maybe we will be able to order them one day.


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## Jason Baily (Mar 19, 2008)

the spurred legs are a threat and you never know what wild insect especially ones planned to be used as food may carry in with them. on the other hand if you quarantined them and fed them lets say layen mesh used for laying hen chickens and gave them a water source they would not drown in i.e. water crystals they probaly would be healthy enough then for your frog! I would definately not take no chances with those legs! you would have to tear those off. I have heard a lot of horror stories about them being a digestion nightmare!!!:?


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## Tim Benzedrine (Mar 31, 2008)

I found another source that doesn't seem to have any restrictions as to where they ship.

http://www.cricketsdirect.com/contact.html


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## Anh (Mar 31, 2008)

just a head up i alredy contact them and they only supplied brown house cricket.

but keep this thread alive guys i been looking for these big black one for a long time.


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