What type of crickets are best?

[GeckoNub]

When i first got my gecko i was given some black crickets with him.

He only had a few and then wouldnt eat them and seemed annoyed by them but will eat mealworms.

Well they died off and i ordered some more crickets but got brown ones this time.

I got small/medium to give them a bit of room to grow incase he is picky about them and omg they are so fast and hard to catch :main_angry:

On top of that i had them in my kitchen yesterday to change their food and give them water gel and tonight while i was making dinner i found one at the top of one of the kitchen walls, boyfriend was kinda freaked out and not very happy hehe

So i was wondering if there is a difference in nutritional value between them and which are easier to keep and catch.

I would love to only feed my gecko mealworms but i worry cos his poop is soft....not runny but soft....and when i gave him a few crickets a few nights ago he went crazy for em, i never seen him get so excited whipping his tail around b4

So please can you tell me which is best and why

 

[rhino43grr]

i've only ever seen brown crickets commercially available as feeder insects.

 

[TheYear2011]

yeah, i've never heard of using black crickets, i'd think they'd get too big. i'm not entirely sure though.

 

[fascinator]

do you mean Gryllus Bimaculatus and Achetus Domesticus?
they are both available in my city
I compare them as below;
for the black one:
-they are bigger
-a bit more expensive in my city than the brown one
-chirping sound is louder
-more easy to die off than the brown one
-jump poorer than the brown one, that mean it is more easy to catch
-In my hand feeling, the body of the black cricket is more crispy than the brown
-for the smell, they are the same; both are bad

I am not sure about their difference in nutritional contents but most of my geckos like the black one more than the brown

 

[AloneAsAlways]

Well, i feed both, but i find black soo much better. They don't jump as high, they are the same price, they are fatter (more meat on 'em) and for me they last longer and smell less and they don't make any noise atall, they're silent.

 

[loulovespat]

I use brown... ive never used black, they look huge and ugly lol

 

[fascinator]

Well, i feed both, but i find black soo much better. They don't jump as high, they are the same price, they are fatter (more meat on 'em) and for me they last longer and smell less and they don't make any noise atall, they're silent.

I feel frustrated about the death rate of the black cricket; Do you have any clue to keep the black one for longer? I feed both too and I find that the death rate of the brown cricket is less than 10% but for the black one; death rate is near to 50%

they are silent??? I don't think so... May be related to temperature...

 

[AloneAsAlways]

Haha, i spoke to soon, they're not silent, they were just too young to make any noise. Now that they're big they like to chirp. Lolz. Tbh i don't mind the noise its kinda nice.

Also, i guess they do die pretty quickly but i have a massive naturalistic set up with a breeding coloney in it and very few have died. I think its just giving them the right amount of space because they're slightly bigger than brown ones.