FAQ

Answers about our feeders, how to choose a size, and how to keep each species after it arrives. Anything that needs more room is covered in the Care & Storage guides.

General

What is Reptile Feeder Insects?

A live feeder insect operation based in Marion County, Florida. We raise feeder insects for reptiles with an emphasis on consistent sizing, careful handling and straightforward information about what you are buying.

We began by raising feeders for the reptiles in our own care. As the collection grew, so did the need for dependable live food, and we ended up building the kind of feeder operation we wanted to buy from ourselves.

Where are your feeder insects raised?

In Marion County, Florida. See Our Colony.

Do you raise your own feeder insects?

Yes. Our core feeders are raised in our own colony operation rather than bought in and resold.

What feeder insects do you sell?

Crickets, discoid roaches, mealworms, hornworms and superworms. A focused range rather than a catalog of everything.

Available sizes and quantities vary, because feeder insects are living animals with natural growth and breeding cycles.

Are your feeders raised in the United States?

Yes. Our operation is in Marion County, Florida.

How do I choose the right feeder for my reptile?

It depends on your reptile's species, age, size and overall diet.

Crickets and discoid roaches are commonly used as the base of an insect-feeding diet. Mealworms add convenience and variety. Hornworms are soft-bodied and high in moisture, which makes them useful as a supplement rather than a staple.

No single feeder suits every reptile at every stage. Our Feeder Size Guide and the individual feeding guides go into more detail.

What size feeder should I order?

Choose by the size of the animal eating it rather than by age.

A widely used starting point is prey no wider than the space between your reptile's eyes, though appropriate size varies by species. If you are between two sizes, take the smaller one.

How do I know if a feeder is too large?

If your reptile struggles to catch, swallow or manage it, it is too large. Oversized prey is associated with impaction in species such as bearded dragons, which is why the conservative choice is the right one when you are unsure.

How many feeders should I order?

Order what your animals will get through while the insects are still in good condition. That is a shorter window for crickets and hornworms than for discoid roaches or mealworms, which hold longer.

How often should I feed live insects?

Feeding frequency depends on species, age and diet. A growing juvenile bearded dragon eats very differently from an adult, a leopard gecko or a monitor.

See the guides for bearded dragons, leopard geckos, crested geckos and chameleons.

Should feeder insects be gut-loaded?

Where it suits your routine, yes. Gut-loading means feeding an insect a nutritious diet shortly before it is offered, so what the feeder has eaten passes to your reptile. Whatever a feeder ate last goes into your animal, which is why holding conditions matter as much as what you ordered.

Should I dust feeder insects with calcium?

Most insect-eating reptiles need calcium supplementation, because feeder insects are low in calcium relative to phosphorus.

How much and how often depends on the species, its age, its diet and whether it has UVB. Follow a schedule appropriate for the animal you keep.

Can I order more than one type of feeder at a time?

Yes. Different feeder species can go in the same order when they are available.

Do you sell feeders in bulk?

Yes. Larger counts are shown on each product page, and our Bulk & Standing Orders page covers quantities beyond what the website lists.

Do you supply zoos, breeders, rescues, schools or other organizations?

Yes. We work with professional and institutional customers throughout Florida that need larger quantities or recurring feeder orders. Availability depends on the species, size, quantity and frequency you need.

We plan to expand our shipping area beyond Florida as our live-shipping program grows. If you're in Florida, visit our Bulk & Standing Orders page to tell us what you need.

Why is a feeder or size sometimes unavailable?

Our feeders are living animals, so availability moves with breeding cycles, growth rates and demand. We would rather mark a size unavailable than send something substantially different from what you ordered.

Can animals other than reptiles eat your feeders?

Feeder insects are also used for amphibians, arachnids, birds and other insectivores. Whether a particular feeder suits a particular animal depends on the species, so confirm its dietary requirements before introducing anything new.

How do I contact you?

Through the contact form. If your message is about an order, include the order number.

Shipping

Where do you ship?

Florida only, for now. We raise our feeders in Marion County and are starting close to home, where orders spend less time in transit and we can build our shipping program carefully. We plan to expand beyond Florida as our shipping program grows. Until then, orders can only be placed for delivery within Florida.

Why don't you ship outside Florida yet?

We are starting with Florida so we can keep transit times short and build our live-shipping program carefully before expanding. Shipping live feeder insects also means accounting for species restrictions and requirements that can vary by destination. We would rather expand deliberately than promise service somewhere before we are ready to do it well.

What days do you ship live insects?

Monday through Wednesday. The schedule is deliberately limited so orders move continuously through the carrier network instead of sitting over a weekend. Orders placed later in the week may be held until the next shipping window.

Why might my order be held because of weather?

Live insects are affected by temperature, and conditions can differ considerably between Florida and your destination. During extreme heat or cold we may hold an order rather than send it into conditions that put the insects at unnecessary risk.

What should I do when my order arrives?

Bring the package indoors promptly and open it. Move the insects into a suitable container and follow the Care & Storage guide for the species you ordered.

Can feeders be left in a mailbox or on a porch?

Please avoid it. A mailbox, a porch, a doorstep in full sun or a parked car can all reach temperatures live insects will not survive. If you will not be home, arrange for someone to bring the box inside.

Do I need to be home when my order is delivered?

Plan on it. Live feeders should be opened as soon as they arrive, and our claim window is one hour from the carrier's recorded delivery time. If you cannot be there, arrange with the carrier to hold the package for same-day pickup, or have someone bring it inside for you.

Live Arrival & Claims

Do you guarantee live arrival?

Yes. We pack live insects with safe arrival in mind, and orders that arrive with significant loss are covered by our Live Arrival Guarantee. Because these are living animals, a small amount of loss can occasionally occur in transit and does not by itself mean the shipment failed.

My feeders arrived dead. What do I do?

Open the box as soon as it arrives and contact us within one hour of the carrier's recorded delivery time. If your feeders are cold and sluggish rather than clearly dead, say so when you contact us — temperature-stressed insects often look dead and are not, and we would rather you open a claim inside the window and let us work out the right outcome afterwards than wait and miss it.

How long do I have to make a claim?

One hour from the delivery time recorded by the carrier. Claims made after that window may not qualify.

Why is the claim window only one hour?

Because live insects do not keep in a sealed box. Temperature is part of it, but so is confinement — feeders held in a closed shipping container, without ventilation, food or room to spread out, begin dying within about an hour of arrival whatever the weather is doing. A short window means the condition we are asked to evaluate is the condition your order actually arrived in, rather than the result of a box left sitting. Plan to be available on the delivery day, or ask the carrier to hold the package for same-day pickup.

What do you need from me?

Your order number and clear photographs showing the affected insects along with the condition of the shipment and its packaging. We may ask for more photographs or information to evaluate the claim.

Can I call instead of emailing?

You are welcome to call with questions, but a claim has to come by email so the photographs can be included with it. A phone call on its own does not submit a claim.

Should I send the dead feeders back?

No. Never mail live or dead feeder insects back to us. Keep the affected feeders and the packaging until we have reviewed the claim, in case further photographs are needed.

What happens once a claim is approved?

Claims are reviewed individually. Depending on the circumstances we may send replacement insects, issue store credit, refund the affected insects, or find another appropriate resolution. Submitting a claim does not automatically qualify an order for a replacement or refund.

What if the carrier delayed my package?

An unexpected carrier delay does not automatically cancel an otherwise qualifying claim. We cannot guarantee delivery times, but we do not think you should lose live-arrival protection because the carrier ran late after accepting the shipment.

Can I return live feeder insects?

No. All live feeder insect sales are final. Live insects cannot be returned or exchanged — it protects animal welfare and keeps insects that have left our care from being introduced back into our colonies. If there is a problem, use the claim process rather than returning the order.

I ordered the wrong size or species. Is that a claim?

No, that falls outside the Live Arrival Guarantee. Check the Feeder Size Guide and the Feeding Guides before ordering if you are unsure which feeder or size suits your animal.

My feeders are not all the same size. Is something wrong?

No. Live insects vary naturally in size, color, appearance and activity, even within one commercial size category. We sort to published size ranges, and normal variation within a range is expected rather than a defect.

Tracking says delivered but the package is not here.

Check around the delivery location, with other people in the household, with neighbors, and with building staff if that applies. Contact the carrier promptly and let us know as well. A carrier-confirmed delivery that cannot then be located is handled differently from a live-arrival claim and is looked at case by case.

Where are the full terms?

In our Live Arrival Guarantee & Returns Policy, alongside our Shipping Policy.

Discoid Roaches

What are discoid roaches?

A tropical cockroach raised as a live feeder for reptiles and other insectivores. They are relatively large-bodied, cannot climb clean smooth surfaces, and do not chirp.

What is the scientific name?

Blaberus discoidalis. Also called the discoid cockroach or false death's head cockroach.

Are discoid roaches good reptile feeders?

They make an excellent base for many insect-eating reptiles. They are soft-bodied relative to their size, low in shell, and slow enough that an animal can catch one without a chase. Because they are available across a wide size range, the same species suits a hatchling and an adult.

Are discoid roaches legal in Florida?

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services includes the discoid cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis) on its list of commonly permitted feeder arthropods suitable for culture as pet feeders. FDACS notes that the list is not comprehensive and recommends contacting its permit staff with specific questions.

That listing is the reason discoid roaches matter so much to Florida keepers. Full detail on our Florida-Legal Feeders page.

Why do you sell discoid roaches instead of dubia roaches?

Florida regulates live cockroach species differently from most states. Current FDACS guidance identifies non-native pet-trade feeder cockroaches including the dubia roach (Blaptica dubia) among prohibited organisms, while the discoid appears on the commonly permitted list.

So for Florida keepers the discoid is not a substitute for dubia. It is the feeder roach available to them.

What is the difference between discoid and dubia roaches?

They are different species. Discoids are Blaberus discoidalis; dubia are Blaptica dubia. They differ in appearance, adult size, development and regulatory status. Neither is another name for the other.

In practice they do a similar job as feeders. For Florida keepers, the regulatory difference is the one that decides it. More in Are Dubia Roaches Legal in Florida?

What reptiles can eat discoid roaches?

Appropriately sized discoids suit most insect-eating reptiles, including bearded dragons, leopard geckos, monitors and many other lizards. Size and quantity depend on the animal.

Can bearded dragons eat discoid roaches?

Yes, and they make a good staple. Soft-bodied, low in shell, and easy for a dragon to catch. Choose a size appropriate for the dragon's age and follow the supplementation routine for its life stage.

Can leopard geckos eat discoid roaches?

Yes, using nymphs rather than adults. An adult discoid is far too large for most leopard geckos, so size selection matters more here than with a larger lizard.

Can monitors eat discoid roaches?

Yes. Larger monitors can take adult discoids, which is one of the few feeders that scales up far enough to be practical for them.

What size discoid should I feed?

Match the size to the animal. Prey width relative to your reptile's head is a useful starting point, with species-specific guidance taking priority. When in doubt, size down. See the Feeder Size Guide.

How large do discoid roaches get?

Adults reach roughly one and a quarter to two inches, with natural variation. The range of growth stages between pinhead and adult is one reason discoids work for a collection holding animals of different sizes.

Why are my discoids different sizes?

Roaches grow through a series of molts rather than sitting at a fixed measurement, so a size category is a range rather than an exact figure. Some variation within an order is normal.

Why are some discoid roaches darker than others?

Color varies with age, sex, individual variation and where an insect is in its molt cycle.

Why did one of my discoids turn almost white?

It just molted. A freshly shed roach is very pale, sometimes nearly white, until its new exoskeleton hardens and darkens over the following hours. This is normal.

How long do discoid roaches live?

Adults commonly live a year or more under suitable conditions, which is considerably longer than crickets. Nothing is wasted in a week when your animals eat less than usual.

Can discoid roaches climb smooth plastic?

Generally no. Clean, smooth plastic or glass defeats them. Textured surfaces, silicone seams, residue or anything leaning against the wall of a container can give them a foothold, so a secure lid is still sensible.

Can discoid roaches fly?

No. Adults have wings but do not fly. A startled adult male may glide a short distance if it falls from height. Keep containers covered regardless.

Why do adult males have wings?

Wings are part of normal adult anatomy and appear at the final molt. Nymphs do not have them, which is why an adult looks so different from the nymphs it grew up with.

How can I tell males from females?

Adults are easiest to sex. Males are narrower with longer wings that reach the end of the abdomen; females are broader with shorter wings. Nymphs are harder and become clearer as they approach adulthood.

Do discoid roaches bite?

They are not aggressive and biting is not normal defensive behavior. As with any live prey, do not leave uneaten feeders in an enclosure indefinitely.

Do discoid roaches smell?

A well-kept colony should not. A strong odor usually means excess moisture, spoiled food, accumulated waste or dead insects, and is a signal to check conditions.

Are discoid roaches noisy?

No. They do not chirp. You may hear movement in a container at night, but nothing like a tub of adult male crickets.

What happens if one escapes?

Retrieve it if you can. Discoids seek warm, dark, protected places, so an escapee tends to head under furniture or appliances. Smooth-sided containers with lids prevent most escapes in the first place.

Can discoid roaches infest my home?

One escapee is not an infestation. Discoids are tropical insects that depend on warm colony conditions and do not establish in a house the way pest species do. They are still live cockroaches, so keep them contained and never release them.

Should discoid roaches be gut-loaded?

Yes, where it fits your routine. A well-fed roach is a better feeder than a neglected one.

Should I dust discoid roaches with calcium?

Usually yes, on a schedule appropriate for the animal you are feeding.

Can I start my own colony with roaches I buy?

Yes, if you buy suitable animals and keep them in suitable conditions. Starting with sexually mature adults of both sexes is dramatically faster than starting with small nymphs and waiting for them to mature.

Crickets

What kind of crickets do you sell?

Banded crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus, also known as the tropical house cricket. A tropical species raised commercially as a feeder insect, and the cricket we raise here.

Why do you raise banded crickets?

They are a tropical species, which suits the conditions we raise in, and they are a well-established commercial feeder cricket. We chose to focus on one cricket species and raise it consistently, with careful attention to size, condition and handling.

Adult banded crickets are light yellowish-brown with two dark bands across the body, one across the lower thorax and one across the upper abdomen, and a dark band between the eyes. Males have short wings that cover about half the abdomen; females are nearly wingless and have a long ovipositor at the rear.

Are crickets good reptile feeders?

Yes, and their movement is the reason. It triggers a feeding response in almost every insectivore, which makes crickets the answer for a reluctant eater and for animals that hunt by sight.

What reptiles eat crickets?

Bearded dragons, geckos, anoles, chameleons and most other insect-eating reptiles, along with many amphibians and arachnids.

What size cricket should I buy?

Match it to your animal. Juveniles and small species need small crickets; larger animals can take adults. Between two sizes, take the smaller.

How quickly do crickets grow?

Continuously, molting repeatedly on the way to adulthood. Growth is strongly affected by temperature and food, which means crickets keep growing after they reach you.

Why are my crickets bigger than when I ordered them?

They are still growing. Feeder crickets are live juveniles and warm conditions speed them up. If you need a specific size, order closer to when you will use them.

How long do feeder crickets live?

It depends on the size you bought and how you hold them. Larger crickets are closer to the end of their natural life than small ones, so a tub of Large will not last as long as a tub of Small. Crowding, excess moisture and poor ventilation can shorten their lifespan.

What container should I use?

A secure, smooth-sided container with plenty of ventilation and enough room to avoid crowding. Structures inside, such as egg flats, add surface area and let crickets spread out instead of piling up.

How should I give crickets water?

Not in an open dish, which they drown in. Use moisture-rich food or a watering method designed for feeder insects, and avoid making the container damp.

Should crickets be gut-loaded?

Yes. Crickets take gut-loading readily and it is a straightforward way to improve what your reptile actually receives.

Should crickets be dusted with calcium?

Usually yes. Crickets dust well, which is part of why they remain popular.

Why are my crickets chirping?

You have adult males. Only adult male crickets chirp; females do not, and juveniles are not mature enough to.

Do all crickets chirp?

No. Only adult males.

Do crickets bite?

They have chewing mouthparts and will nibble. Never leave uneaten crickets loose overnight with a sleeping, ill or otherwise immobile animal.

Why do feeder crickets sometimes die quickly?

Crickets are the most demanding feeder to keep alive. Crowding, poor ventilation, damp, dehydration, spoiled food, waste and temperature extremes all contribute, as does simply reaching the end of a short natural life.

How can I reduce die-off?

Give them more room than looks necessary, keep the container dry and well ventilated, remove dead insects and spoiled food, and buy what you will use in a couple of weeks rather than the largest tub available.

Should I remove dead crickets?

Yes, promptly. Dead insects and spoiled food accelerate losses among the rest.

Can crickets escape?

Yes. They jump well and climb many textured surfaces. Use a secure, smooth-sided container with a lid that seats properly, and be careful opening it — banded crickets are quick and will use any gap.

Can escaped crickets breed in my house?

A single escapee cannot start a population on its own — that would take adults of both sexes and suitable conditions. Containment still matters, though: banded crickets are a subtropical species that does well in warm indoor spaces, and they are already established outdoors in Florida.

Keep them in a closed container, recover escapees when you can, and never release feeder insects outdoors.

Mealworms

What are mealworms?

The larval stage of the darkling beetle, Tenebrio molitor. The familiar worm eventually becomes a pupa and then a beetle.

Are mealworms good reptile feeders?

They are convenient and easy to portion, with no colony to maintain. They are higher in chitin than roaches or hornworms, so they work best as part of a varied diet rather than as the only thing on the menu.

What reptiles can eat mealworms?

Leopard geckos, bearded dragons and many other insectivores. How often they should appear depends on the species.

Can bearded dragons eat mealworms?

Yes, as part of a varied diet rather than as the staple.

What size mealworm should I buy?

Match it to the animal, sizing down when uncertain.

How large do mealworms get?

Larvae typically reach around an inch before pupating, varying with genetics and conditions.

Should mealworms be gut-loaded?

Yes, and it is easy, because they live in their food.

Should I dust mealworms with calcium?

Usually yes. Their shell makes calcium supplementation more important rather than less.

Why are some of my mealworms white?

They just molted. The new exoskeleton is soft and pale and darkens as it hardens. This is normal and happens repeatedly as they grow.

Why are my mealworms turning into pupae?

They have reached the end of the larval stage. A pupa is creamy, curled and largely motionless. It is a normal part of the life cycle, and warmth speeds it up.

What are the beetles in my container?

Adult darkling beetles. Any pupa left long enough becomes one.

Can the beetles be fed to reptiles?

Some reptiles take them, many refuse. They are harder-shelled than the larvae and less readily accepted, so most keepers use them to start a breeding colony instead.

Can I breed the mealworms I buy?

Yes. Let some pupate, keep the beetles, and they will produce the next generation. It is one of the simplest feeder colonies to run.

Are mealworms and superworms the same thing?

No. Superworms are a different and much larger species, Zophobas morio. They are not interchangeable. We sell both — see our superworms.

Why should mealworms not be the only feeder?

Their chitin content is higher than that of roaches or hornworms, and a single-feeder diet is a poor idea regardless of species. Use them as one part of a rotation.

Hornworms

What are hornworms?

The larval stage of a hawk moth, bright green with white diagonal stripes and a soft spike on the tail end. Almost no shell, high in moisture, and very soft-bodied.

What species do you sell?

Manduca sexta, the tobacco hornworm, captive-bred rather than collected.

Are hornworms good reptile feeders?

As a supplement, yes, and few feeders do their particular job as well. Soft, almost free of chitin, and mostly water.

Can hornworms be a staple feeder?

No. The moisture content that makes them useful for a dehydrated or recovering animal makes them a poor everyday diet. Once or twice a week rather than daily.

Why are hornworms such a good hydration feeder?

They are largely water, so they deliver moisture in a form an animal will readily take. That makes them the first thing many experienced keepers reach for when a reptile is dehydrated, recovering from illness, or refusing food.

What reptiles can eat hornworms?

Bearded dragons, chameleons, larger geckos and many other insectivores, at a size appropriate to the animal.

Are hornworms appropriate for bearded dragons?

Yes, as a weekly treat rather than a staple, and particularly useful for a dragon that is off its food or needs the moisture.

How large do hornworms get?

From well under an inch as smalls to three inches or more at the top end. That is a substantial range, which is why the size you order matters.

How quickly do hornworms grow?

Faster than any other feeder we sell. The size you receive can change noticeably within days, so buy close to when you intend to use them rather than stocking up.

Why did my hornworms grow so quickly?

Because that is what they do, and warmth accelerates it. Growth is the defining fact about this feeder and the thing that surprises new customers most.

What size hornworm should I feed?

Choose for the animal, and account for growth between arrival and feeding. If your reptile needs small prey, order small and use them promptly.

Do hornworms need extra water?

No. They take moisture from their food, and added water in a container causes more problems than it solves.

What happens if a hornworm gets too large?

It becomes unsuitable for smaller reptiles. Check size regularly rather than assuming what arrived is what you still have, and feed them while they are still appropriate.

What happens when hornworms pupate?

They stop feeding, darken, and form a hard reddish-brown pupa. A hornworm that has begun this process is no longer a useful feeder.

Can I feed a pupa to my reptile?

It is not recommended. The pupa is hard-shelled and a very different proposition from the soft larva your animal was offered before.

Can I feed the moth to my reptile?

Some keepers do, but a hawk moth is large, powerful and not what most reptiles are equipped to handle. It is not the reason to buy hornworms.

Why should I not feed wild hornworms to my reptile?

Because of what they have been eating. Hornworms found on tomato and tobacco plants take up compounds from those plants that can be toxic to reptiles. Captive-bred hornworms raised on a controlled diet do not carry that risk.

Never collect hornworms from a garden to feed an animal.

Are wild hornworms safe?

No. Treat any hornworm you did not buy from a feeder supplier as unsafe.

Do hornworms bite?

No. The spike on the tail is soft and harmless, despite its appearance.

Can hornworms hurt my reptile?

Not directly. The risks are size and diet: one too large for the animal, or too many too often.

Should hornworms be dusted or gut-loaded?

Dusting is less critical here than with harder-shelled feeders, and hornworms arrive already feeding on a prepared diet. Follow a supplementation routine appropriate for your animal.

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Feeding & care note: The information here is general feeder-insect guidance. Reptile dietary needs vary by species, age, size and health. Follow husbandry and feeding recommendations appropriate for your individual animal.