Crickets vs Discoid Roaches: A Complete Feeder Comparison
I've run both crickets and discoid roaches as staples, and the honest answer to "which is better" is "it depends on how much you feed and how much aggravation you'll tolerate." Crickets are the feeder almost everyone starts with because every pet store has them. Discoids are the feeder most keepers end up on after a year of dead crickets, chirping at 2 a.m., and chasing escapees across the kitchen. This guide lays both out side by side so you can pick on purpose instead of by default.
Side-by-side nutrition
Both are moderate-protein, moderate-fat staples that virtually every insectivorous reptile will eat. The numbers below are approximate dry-weight figures — they shift with what the insects are fed, so treat them as ballpark, not gospel.
| Metric | Crickets | Discoid roaches |
|---|---|---|
| Protein (dry weight) | ~60–65% | ~55–60% |
| Fat | ~20–22% | ~24–28% |
| Calcium : Phosphorus | roughly 1:8 | roughly 1:3 |
| Moisture | ~70% | ~60–65% |
| Chitin (exoskeleton) | moderate | slightly higher |
The one number worth circling is the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio. Reptiles want roughly 2:1 calcium to phosphorus in the diet. Crickets sit far on the wrong side of that line; discoids are closer but still phosphorus-heavy. That's the key correction to make to a lot of feeder marketing: neither feeder has a "favorable" ratio. Discoids are simply less bad. You still dust both with a calcium supplement before feeding — discoids just leave your supplement less work to do.
Where crickets win
Strong feeding response
Crickets jump and chirp. That movement fires the strike instinct in almost every insectivore, which makes them the right tool for an animal that's off food, newly moved into an enclosure, or generally reluctant. A discoid sitting flat in a dish often gets ignored by a fussy eater. If I'm breaking a feeding strike, I reach for crickets.
Wider availability
Every pet store on earth sells crickets. Discoids are easy to get online from feeder breeders but less common on the local shelf, so if you need feeders today and don't keep a colony, crickets are the realistic option.
Lower up-front cost
Per gram, crickets run cheaper than discoids — often 30–50% less at typical retail. For a high-volume collection, that gap is real money.
Where discoids win
No noise
Male crickets chirp loudly, especially in breeding mood. A bin of a few hundred in a bedroom is a genuine sleep problem. Discoids are silent.
No smell
Cricket bins develop a sharp musky odor within days. A well-kept discoid bin is nearly odorless.
Far lower storage mortality
This is the quiet killer of the cricket value argument. Crickets die fast — a 500-count bag routinely loses a third to half in a week. Discoids hold for weeks to months in proper conditions. Once you price by usable feeders rather than by feeders ordered, discoids often come out ahead despite the higher per-gram cost.
Better (not good) calcium ratio
Covered above: roughly 1:3 versus 1:8. For animals prone to metabolic bone disease, that head start matters — but it's a head start, not a free pass on supplementation.
Florida-legal and non-pest
Discoid roaches (Blaberus discoidalis — not Blaptica dubia, which is a different, restricted species often confused with them) are the roach permitted as feeders across most of Florida and other regions that restrict roach feeders. They can't establish wild populations because they need sustained warmth (roughly 78°F and up) and humidity to reproduce. An escaped discoid dies; an escaped cricket can survive and breed in many climates.
No climbing
Discoids can't climb smooth surfaces — they lack the adhesive foot pads pest roaches use. An open-top tub holds them. Crickets climb and jump, so they need a lid every time.
Where they're roughly equivalent
- Species accepted: virtually all insectivorous reptiles eat both.
- Sizing flexibility: both come in a full range from tiny nymphs/pinheads through adults.
- Gut-loading: both take gut-load well — feed them calcium-rich, nutrient-dense food 24–48 hours before feeding off.
- Fat content: similar moderate-fat staples; neither is a "lean" feeder the way silkworms or BSFL are.
The keeper-experience reality
For most established keepers, discoids replace crickets as the staple after about a year, and the reasons are practical, not nutritional:
- You stop dealing with chirping.
- You stop dealing with the smell.
- You stop scooping out dead crickets every few days.
- You stop chasing escapees.
The honest exception is the low-volume keeper — one small lizard eating once or twice a week. At that scale a 100-count cricket order gets used before mortality bites, and the cricket price advantage holds. If that's you, crickets are a perfectly reasonable staple.
Hybrid approach (what most experienced keepers actually do)
The best practice isn't picking a side — it's running both:
- Discoids as the staple, most feedings, for storage convenience and the calmer calcium ratio.
- Crickets occasionally, for variety, strike-response practice, or to break a feeding strike.
This isn't a compromise; it's better than either alone. Prey variety broadly improves reptile nutrition, and the two species cover complementary jobs — discoids for the daily grind, crickets for the days you need movement and drama in the dish.
Common keeper mistakes
- Cricket-only diet: the skewed calcium ratio causes long-term problems even with diligent dusting.
- Discoid-only diet: nutritionally fine, but underexposes the animal to varied prey behavior.
- Over-ordering crickets: 100 is usually the right order; 500 means you're paying to throw away dead crickets.
- Storing discoids too cool: below about 75°F reproduction stalls; cold snaps kill them.
- Skipping calcium dusting on either: the better discoid ratio still isn't a substitute for the supplement.
Bottom line
Discoids are quieter, cleaner, longer-lived in storage, and start from a less punishing calcium ratio. Crickets are cheaper, everywhere, and trigger a stronger strike. For most keepers the right answer is discoids as the staple with crickets in the rotation for variety and feeding-strike duty. If you want to make the switch, you can browse discoid roaches at All Angles Creatures. For the supplementation logic behind the calcium numbers here, the Merck Veterinary Manual's reptile nutrition section is a solid non-commercial reference.
Want to go deeper on either feeder? See how to care for discoid roaches and 5 fascinating facts about the discoid roach.