Live food is where reptile keeping usually goes wrong. This rating gathers reptile feeder insect suppliers that ship crickets, roaches and worms, and get them there alive. It is for keepers with one gecko, for breeders with a rack room, and for shops that reorder every week.
Selection was simple and stubborn. The supplier had to breed or hold insects itself, not just resell a box. Shipping had to be real: heat packs in winter, cold packs in summer, a live arrival guarantee in writing. Size choice mattered too, from pinhead crickets to adult roaches, because a hatchling chameleon and an adult bearded dragon do not eat the same thing. Price per thousand, minimum order, cutoff time for same day dispatch, gut loading before packing, all of it was checked. Farms with a long record of steady counts scored higher than new shops with pretty websites.
Places here are not sold or handed out by the editors. Readers vote, and the order moves with those votes. So read the cards, not just the numbers: the pros show what a supplier does well, the cons show where it stings, and the reviews below each card come from people who opened the box on their own kitchen table.
Josh's Frogs started in 2004 in Owosso, Michigan, as a dart frog hobby that got out of hand. The farm now breeds its own feeders: fruit fly cultures of melanogaster and hydei, bean beetles, springtails, isopods, crickets, mealworms, hornworms and waxworms. Orders ship with a live arrival guarantee, live shipments go overnight for a flat rate, and an AutoDelivery option repeats the same feeder order on a set schedule. Support answers on weekdays by phone and email, which is rarer in this trade than it should be.
Best fit for dart frog, gecko and small lizard keepers who need tiny feeders and clean cultures every two weeks. Big colony owners buying roaches by the pound will find the per insect price high. Overnight shipping is the real cost here, so pooling feeders, supplements and substrate into one box is the sensible way to order.
Owosso, Michigan, USA
Fluker Farms has been raising crickets in Port Allen, Louisiana, since the 1950s, and the family still runs it. The farm ships live crickets, mealworms, superworms and waxworms straight to the door, and it also makes the shelf goods most keepers already know: cricket quencher gel, orange cubes, calcium supplements, lamps and freeze dried insects sold in pet stores across the country.
Good pick for anyone who wants one supplier for live feeders and dry goods at the same time. Orders are packed for standard courier transit, so summer heat and winter cold both need attention when picking a delivery day. Keepers of very small hatchlings sometimes complain that pinhead sizing runs bigger than expected, so ordering one size down is a safe habit.
1333 Plantation Ave, Port Allen, Louisiana 70767, USA
Ghann's has been hatching crickets in Augusta, Georgia, since 1952, and crickets are still the main business. Sizes run from pinhead through six week adults, sold by the thousand, with mealworms, superworms and waxworms alongside. The farm also sells its own cricket feed and water gel, plus egg crate flats, so a keeper can set up a holding bin without shopping anywhere else.
Sensible choice for reptile shops, breeders and anyone feeding several animals who is tired of paying pet store prices per dozen. Not the place for a single leopard gecko owner, since a thousand crickets is a lot of insects to keep alive in a spare bin. Small orders carry the same shipping cost as large ones, so the price per cricket only makes sense in bulk.
125 Cedar Ln, Augusta, Georgia 30907, USA
Dubia.com is built around one insect. Dubia roaches are sold by count and by weight, in every size from pinheads for baby geckos to adult breeders for a colony starter, and the stock arrives ready to eat or ready to breed. Hornworms, superworms and isopods round out the catalogue. Roaches do not chirp, do not climb smooth walls and last for months in a bin, which is why so many keepers switch away from crickets.
Right choice for bearded dragon, monitor and tegu keepers who want to stop reordering crickets every week. Wrong choice where dubia roaches are restricted, notably in Florida, and wrong for anyone squeamish about keeping a live roach bin in the garage. Starting a colony takes patience, since nymphs need several months before they are worth feeding out.
Timberline works out of Marion, Illinois, and supplies live food to pet shops and zoos worldwide as much as to home keepers. The name most people know is Vita-Bugs, crickets raised on a diet that raises their vitamin and carotenoid load before they leave the farm, which cuts down on dusting at feeding time. The range also covers standard brown crickets, mealworms, superworms, waxworms and other soft bodied feeders.
Strong option for shops that reorder weekly and for keepers who care about what the insect ate before it was eaten. The wholesale side is the core of the business, so retail buyers see fewer small pack options than at hobby focused stores. Volume pricing rewards regular standing orders more than one off purchases.
201 E Timberline Rd, Marion, Illinois 62959, USA
Symton sells black soldier fly larvae and little else, which is the point. The larvae ship live in cups, sized from small to large, and are used as a staple by keepers who want a feeder with a naturally high calcium level and no dusting routine. They need no gut loading, they will not escape a smooth sided dish quickly, and they keep for weeks in a cool room without feeding, which suits people who travel.
Handy for bearded dragons, leopard geckos and small monitors, and for anyone whose animals are heading toward metabolic bone disease from a plain cricket diet. Some reptiles refuse them at first because the larvae move slowly, and a few keepers find them too soft. Kept warm they pupate into flies faster than expected, so the fridge shelf or a cool cupboard matters.
Top Hat is a family run insect farm in Portage, Michigan, shipping across the United States. Crickets come in graded sizes by the hundred or the thousand, and the worm side covers giant mealworms, superworms, waxworms and hornworms. Orders are packed in ventilated boxes with feed and moisture inside, and the farm has kept the same phone number and address for years, which says something about how it is run.
Suits keepers with a few animals who want mid size counts without a wholesale account, and small shops that need a second source when the main one runs short. The website is plain and slow to change, and stock notes are not always live, so a phone call before a big order saves trouble. Weather holds in deep winter can push a shipment back several days.
1919 Forest Dr, Portage, Michigan 49002, USA
Rainbow Mealworms has been packing worms in Compton, California, for decades and it remains one of the older insect farms on the west coast. Mealworms and superworms are the backbone, with crickets, dubia roaches, waxworms, hornworms and butterworms filling out the list. Counts are sold from small tubs up to bulk quantities, and the same stock feeds reptile keepers, wild bird feeders and bait users.
West coast buyers gain the most, since ground transit stays short and losses in the box stay low. Buyers on the east coast pay more for speed and see more casualties in heat waves. The site is functional rather than pretty, and product photos tell you little, so read the size chart carefully before choosing between regular and giant mealworms.
Compton, California, USA
Mulberry Farms in Fallbrook, California, is known first for silkworms, which are fussy insects that most farms will not touch. It sells live silkworms by size, prepared silkworm chow by the pound, mulberry leaf products, hornworms in cups, butterworms and dubia roaches. Silkworms carry plenty of calcium and moisture and are soft enough for animals recovering from illness or refusing harder shelled feeders.
A good source for chameleon, tree frog and picky lizard keepers who need soft treats rather than a staple. Silkworms grow fast and need fresh chow, so the box has to be dealt with the day it lands. Prices per insect are high next to crickets, and cold weather delays hit silkworm shipments harder than most.
Fallbrook, California, USA
Livefoods Direct ships live insects across the United Kingdom from Sheffield. The list covers black and brown crickets, locusts in graded sizes, morio worms, mealworms, waxworms and calci worms, plus bulk sacks for keepers running collections. Orders placed early on a working day usually go out the same day on a next day courier, and bulk tubs cost far less per insect than the small tubs sold in high street pet shops.
Set up for British keepers and small breeders who cannot use American farms because of transit times and customs. Locusts in particular are easy to buy here and hard to find elsewhere. Weekend and bank holiday gaps in the courier network mean orders late in the week can sit, and summer heat waves still cost some losses in transit.
Sheffield, United Kingdom