If you keep a tarantula, a bearded dragon, a dart frog, an insectivorous fish, or an insect-eating bird, the living half of their diet is as important as any bottle of powder — and the sad little cup of half-dead crickets from a big-box pet store is not it. Fresh, healthy, well-fed feeders shipped direct from a real insect farm are gut-loaded (meaning they've eaten well, so your pet does too), sized right, and actually alive on arrival. The specialists below are the ones the reptile, amphibian, and invertebrate community trusts to feed their animals right.
Published July 2026 · Updated 4 Jul 2026 · Sourcing verified 4 Jul 2026
Josh's Frogs raises and ships a genuinely complete range of feeder insects — crickets, dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae, mealworms, silkworms, superworms, waxworms, hornworms, springtails, and bean beetles — plus the cultures to breed your own. Their reputation is built on feeders arriving alive, well-packaged, and on time, which is the whole ballgame with live insects. For anyone keeping reptiles, amphibians, or inverts, this is the one-stop feeder source. The community standard.
Why buy from a feeder farmLive feeders are perishable and must be gut-loaded and shipped fast — a big-box cup of stale crickets is the opposite. A dedicated farm ships them healthy, varied, and actually alive.
See it at Josh's Frogs →Dubia.com specializes in premium live feeders — dubia roaches above all, plus hornworms, black soldier fly larvae, superworms, mealworms, and waxworms — for reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, fish, and birds. Dubia roaches are the connoisseur's feeder (meaty, quiet, escape-proof), and buying them from a dedicated dubia farm means healthy, size-sorted colonies rather than a random handful. A go-to for keepers who've standardized on roaches as their staple feeder.
Why buy from a feeder farmSize-sorted, well-raised dubia are a specialist product. A farm that focuses on them delivers the consistency and health a generic pet-store bin never will.
See it at Dubia.com →Rainbow Mealworms is one of the oldest and largest feeder-insect farms in the world, selling live crickets, mealworms, superworms, and more direct from the farm at wholesale prices. When you feed a lot of insects — a bearded dragon, a group of dart frogs, a bird collection — buying in bulk from a massive, long-established farm keeps the feeders fresh and the cost down. A workhorse source for high-volume keepers who need reliable feeders on a schedule.
Why buy from a feeder farmBuying feeders wholesale-direct from the farm that raises them means fresher insects at lower cost than a marked-up retail cup — especially when you feed a lot of mouths.
See it at Rainbow Mealworms →TC Insects supplies live feeders alongside isopods and springtails — the cleanup-crew invertebrates that keep a bioactive terrarium healthy — making them a great source for the modern keeper running a naturalistic, self-sustaining enclosure. Beyond feeding your animal, isopods and springtails are how you build a living substrate that handles waste and mold on its own. A smart pick for anyone going bioactive as well as feeding insectivores. Two needs, one source.
Why buy from a feeder farmLive feeders and bioactive cleanup crews are living cultures that must ship fast and healthy. A specialist that raises both delivers what a general pet store can't stock alive.
See it at TC Insects →If you raise and ship healthy, gut-loaded feeder insects — crickets, roaches, worms, or specialty feeders — direct to keepers, this spot could be yours. Tell us who you are; no fee, ever.
Add your brand →Live insects — appropriately sized crickets or dubia roaches are the staple, with prey no bigger than the tarantula's body length (smaller for slings). Most tarantulas eat once a week or less; remove uneaten prey so it doesn't stress or harm the spider.
Dubia roaches are meatier, higher in protein, quiet, don't smell, and can't climb glass or escape easily — which makes them the preferred feeder for many keepers. Crickets are cheaper and more available, but noisier and shorter-lived. Many keepers use both for variety.
A rotation of dubia roaches, crickets, hornworms, and black soldier fly larvae (naturally calcium-rich) works well, dusted with a calcium supplement. Variety matters — no single feeder is nutritionally complete on its own.
Gut-load them — feed the insects a nutritious diet for 24 to 48 hours before feeding them to your pet, so the nutrition passes on. Keep them at the right temperature with ventilation and a little moisture, and order fresh from a real feeder farm rather than a stale pet-store cup.
Raise real feeder insects and think you belong here? Tell us → — features are on merit, never for sale.
Some links on this page earn us a commission. It never affects who makes a list or what order they're in — placement is not for sale, and no maker has ever been asked for money.
Some "see it at…" links are affiliate links — if you buy through one, 5best2buy may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never costs the maker anything, and it never decides who makes the list. The list is the list.
© 2026 5best2buy.com · No.089