Feeder costs

How much do you spend on feeders monthly?

  • $.99 - $25.00

    Votes: 172 51.3%
  • $25.00 - $50.00

    Votes: 68 20.3%
  • $50.00 - $100.00

    Votes: 46 13.7%
  • $100.00 - $250

    Votes: 34 10.1%
  • $250 - $500

    Votes: 7 2.1%
  • more than $500

    Votes: 8 2.4%

  • Total voters
    335

yellermelon

Rockin the Suburbs
Messages
4,273
Location
Rock Hill, SC
welp I just started a breeding colony of roaches and meallies...we wil see how that goes. I only spend about...30 bucks a month on gecko bugs.. Only one of my leos rufuses meallies for crix....hard head lol.
 

MichaelJ

CelebrityGeckos.Com
Messages
822
Location
Seminole, FL
Were spending around a 150 or so a month with Mealies, Crix, wax, and occaisonaly pinkies..

the big spending comes when I get a bunch of babies and i my bi-weekly automatic delivery isn't up to what I now need and have to run to a pet shop and buy 2k to get me buy.. that jackup the money buy 80-100 buck sometimes..
 

rubym

New Member
Messages
1,525
Location
indiana
We was spending about 100-150 a month but now that we have a meal worm colony, cricket colony and roach colony, it has cut the cost way down. I only buy the silkies and a small container of wax worms ( we give 1 or 2 week for treats).
 

MSMD

Lake Effect Leos
Messages
1,821
Location
Traverse City, MI
I was at about $75 a month, but now only about $10-$15 a month including gutload, all other supplies, and waxworms for treats since I started my own mealworm colony. :main_yes:
 
A

Alchemy

Guest
I raise my own mealworms/roaches/crickets/waxies so that cuts down on my costs. Most of my costs are in veggies and gutload for the bugs, and supplements for the geckos, with the occasional rush order for bugs if my farms aren't producing enough to support the demand.
 

rhino43grr

HERE WE GO STEELERS
Messages
579
Location
PA
my mealies are self sustaining and then some now. plus i only have one gecko to feed, so that helps. i have a feeling that with starting my petsmart job soon i might be ending up with another mouth to feed soon though.
 
G

gcsreptiles

Guest
I culture most of my feeder insects... blatta lateralis, blaptica dubia, crickets and fruit flies. Supplies run around $40-$60 and labor runs about $100 monthly. Before going to my own feeder program, my bill for insects ran $400-$600+ depending on the time of year (lots of hatchlings vs. not as many hatchlings, over 50 different species of geckos). Rodents, fruits, vegies, supplements and Repashy MRP are another story.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

nicks

New Member
Messages
56
Location
Colorado
Being in Colorado we don't have any insect breeders around here so we spend a ton on shipping. We are currently spending about $900 a month on crickets of which about $250 is shipping. Right now we are going through about 45,000 crickets a month, needless to say we are looking at other feeder alternatives.

Nick
http://www.eereptiles.com
 
R

rcobourn

Guest
nicks said:
Being in Colorado we don't have any insect breeders around here so we spend a ton on shipping. We are currently spending about $900 a month on crickets of which about $250 is shipping. Right now we are going through about 45,000 crickets a month, needless to say we are looking at other feeder alternatives.

Nick
http://www.eereptiles.com
You could probably set up a breeding colony of cricks for less than you are spending on shipping per month.
 

nicks

New Member
Messages
56
Location
Colorado
I have a small cricket set up but to have enough crickets of the right size would take up a fair amount of space. Since it can take 10-12 weeks for the them to reach adult size. We do have a starter colony of dubias and we just bought a bunch of superworms to start breeding. So we are in the process of weaning ourselves off of purchased bugs but at the volume we are using it will take a while.

Nick
 

fallen_angel

Fallen Angel's Geckos
Messages
7,937
Location
Stockton, CA
about $20 a month.. if we buy crickets occasionally (some months we don't), then it's more like $30 or $40. We also raise our own mealies now, but if we had to buy those, it would then be something like $60 some months.
 

mynewturtle

New Member
Messages
559
Location
Canada
Now that I am getting larger snakes, and more cricket eating geckos. I can't keep a colony of crickets going so I'm spending between 100-150$ on insects alone with rodents it would be over 250$.

Oh well at the end of the day it's worth it and hopefully soon I'll have thousands of dubia in my colony.
 

Digby Rigby

Member
Messages
118
Location
California
Spendy Feeders

When we started selling alternative feeders 5 years ago, for most people it was about steady supply and quality control. People wanted superior alternatives to crix and mealworms and they wanted to grow their own. When we first started selling dubia they were going for 3 dollars each. When starting a colony you arent buying feeders you are buying breeders and then feeding what is bred. That is how the costs come down. Not one of the early adopters of dubia feeders has regretted their decision. Now with prices so much lower and available quantities so much higher it is easier than ever to get started.

Crix and mealworms suck. Roaches and other things are so much more superior in everyway than Grandpa's old fishbait. When you have geckos worth 100's of dollars each one can not factually say they want the best for them and then feed crix and mealies. When you have such valuable animals you cant afford not to spend the money and get a colony going.

Digby Rigby [email protected]
 
G

Geck-O

Guest
I only need to spend about $0.35 for 1 and a half months. Mealies here are really cheap. About 500 for $0.35.
 

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