Discoid Roaches vs. Crickets vs. Grasshoppers: The Honest Feeder Guide
I've run feeder colonies for years across a mixed collection, and the question I get most is some version of "which feeder should I actually use?" The three that come up are discoid roaches (Blaberus discoidalis), crickets, and grasshoppers (and their close cousins, locusts). They are genuinely different tools. Here's the honest comparison — nutrition, care, cost, and the practical stuff care sheets skip, like smell and escapes — so you can match the feeder to your animal and your tolerance for hassle.
Meet the three
Discoid roaches are a tropical, non-climbing, non-flying roach reaching about 1.5-2 inches. Meaty, soft-shelled, quiet, and nearly odorless. The classic staple.
Crickets are the default feeder of the hobby — cheap, widely available, active. They jump, they chirp, they smell, and they're short-lived, but their movement is a powerful hunting trigger.
Grasshoppers (and locusts) are lean, nutritious, and large, with movement that drives visual hunters wild. They're also the hardest of the three to source and keep.
Nutrition: the numbers that matter
Here's the realistic picture. Treat these as approximate, as-fed figures — they swing with diet, life stage, and source — but the relationships are what should drive your choice:
| Feeder | Protein | Fat | Moisture | Shell / digestibility | Best role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discoid roach | High (~20-23%) | Moderate (~7-9%) | ~65% | Soft, low chitin, easy | Staple |
| Cricket | Moderate (~17-21%) | Low (~5-6%) | ~70-75% | Higher chitin | Staple / variety |
| Grasshopper / locust | High, lean | Very low (under ~3%) | High (~75%+) | Tougher shell, more fiber | Variety / large hunters |
A note on a claim you'll see everywhere: that discoids have a "favorable calcium-to-phosphorus ratio." That's a myth worth killing. All three of these feeders are phosphorus-heavy, like nearly every feeder insect. None of them is a calcium source on its own. The fix is the same regardless of which you pick: dust with calcium and gut-load before feeding. (You'll also see grasshopper protein quoted at "60-70%" — that's a dry-matter figure being compared against as-fed numbers for the others. Apples to oranges; ignore it.)
So nutritionally, discoids and crickets are close, with discoids slightly meatier and softer; grasshoppers are the leanest. The real differences between these three are in care, containment, and convenience.
Care and containment: where they really differ
Discoid roaches. Warm (mid-80s °F to breed), humid (60-70%), dark bin with vertical egg flats. They cannot climb smooth walls and can't fly, so a smooth bin contains them with no escapees (you only need fine mesh on vents for the pinhead nymphs). Nearly odorless, silent, low-maintenance, and they breed into a self-sustaining colony. The downside: they need genuine heat to reproduce and they ramp up slowly.
Crickets. Room temperature works, they're everywhere, and they're cheap. But they are fragile and high-maintenance: they die fast under crowding or stress, they smell (dead crickets plus waste), they jump and escape, and they'll cannibalize when underfed. Use gel water, not open dishes, and remove dead ones daily. Great movement for hunting response, real hassle to keep alive.
Grasshoppers / locusts. The most demanding. They need vertical space, strong ventilation, and a constant supply of fresh, pesticide-free foliage. Breeding requires egg-laying substrate and managed light cycles. Sourcing is inconsistent in many regions. The payoff is a large, lean, highly visible feeder that big visual hunters love.
Smell, noise, and escapes — the stuff that actually bugs you
This is where discoids win decisively for anyone keeping feeders in a home:
- Smell: Discoids ≈ odorless. Crickets ≈ notorious. Grasshoppers ≈ low if kept clean.
- Noise: Discoids ≈ silent. Crickets ≈ chirping all night. Grasshoppers ≈ quiet.
- Escapes: Discoids can't climb smooth surfaces; crickets and grasshoppers are escape artists.
Cost: cheap per insect vs. cheap over time
Crickets are the cheapest per insect up front — but their short lifespan and die-off mean waste, so the real cost is higher than the sticker. Discoids cost more up front but live for months and breed, so a colony pays for itself and becomes nearly free over time. Grasshoppers sit in the premium tier and are priced accordingly.
Which feeder for which animal
- Bearded dragons: Discoids as the staple (meaty, soft, easy), crickets for variety and hunting stimulation. Grasshoppers as an occasional treat for adults.
- Leopard geckos and other small geckos: Appropriately sized discoid nymphs or crickets; size the feeder no longer than the space between the eyes.
- Chameleons: All three work; the movement of crickets and grasshoppers is a strong feeding trigger. Discoid nymphs for clean staple protein.
- Larger reptiles, monitors, large frogs: Adult discoids and grasshoppers for substantial, lean meals.
- Tiny amphibians and slings: Crickets (small) win on availability at tiny sizes.
Breeding and self-supply: the long game
If you keep insectivores year-round, the ability to produce your own feeders changes the math entirely.
- Discoids breed into a self-sustaining colony with almost no effort: a warm bin (mid-80s °F), egg flats, food, and patience. They're live-bearers, so there's nothing fragile to incubate. The catch is a slow ramp — nymphs take 3-5 months to mature — so start bigger than you think and leave the founders alone. Once established, a colony is a near-free, always-ready supply.
- Crickets can be bred but it's fiddly and unpleasant: they need a moist laying medium, they smell, they die in waves, and hatch rates are inconsistent. Most keepers buy crickets rather than breed them.
- Grasshoppers/locusts are the hardest to breed at home — egg-laying substrate, managed light cycles, constant fresh foliage, and lots of space. Realistically a buy-as-needed feeder for most.
The takeaway: if you want to stop buying feeders forever, discoids are the only one of the three that pays off as a colony for the average keeper.
Gut-loading and dusting — non-negotiable for all three
Whichever you pick, two habits do more for your animal's health than the choice of feeder itself:
- Gut-load for 24-48 hours before feeding off. Give the feeders rich produce and a quality dry diet so they're packed with nutrients at the moment your animal eats them. What the feeder ate becomes what your pet eats.
- Dust with calcium (and calcium-plus-D3 or a multivitamin on schedule). Every one of these feeders is phosphorus-heavy, so dusting closes the calcium gap and prevents metabolic bone disease — a preventable but serious disorder the Merck Veterinary Manual ranks among the most common nutritional problems in captive reptiles.
A well-gut-loaded, dusted cricket beats a neglected discoid. The husbandry matters as much as the species.
A quick decision framework
- You want the easiest clean staple and might breed your own: discoids.
- You want cheap, available, and movement to trigger a reluctant hunter: crickets.
- You have a large visual hunter and can source good ones: grasshoppers as a treat.
- You keep feeders in a bedroom or small apartment: discoids, every time — no smell, no noise, no escapes.
- You feed tiny animals or slings: crickets win on availability at pinhead sizes.
What I actually do
I build the diet on discoid roaches — they're clean, quiet, contained, and self-sustaining — and I rotate in crickets for movement and variety, plus grasshoppers as an occasional treat when I can get good ones. Whatever you feed, gut-load 24-48 hours ahead and dust with calcium. No single feeder is complete; the rotation is the point.
If you want a staple that doesn't smell, doesn't escape, and breeds itself into a free supply, All Angles Creatures stocks healthy discoid roaches in every size from nymph to adult.
Sizing feeders to your animal
Whichever feeder you choose, size is a safety issue, not just a preference. The standard rule: a feeder should be no longer than the space between your animal's eyes (for most lizards). Too large risks choking and impaction, especially with the tougher-shelled feeders.
- Discoids come in a full size range from pinhead nymphs to 2-inch adults, so you can match almost any animal from a juvenile gecko to a monitor — one of their underrated advantages.
- Crickets also span sizes (pinhead to adult), which is why they win for the very smallest animals and slings.
- Grasshoppers skew large, so they suit bigger reptiles and birds rather than small geckos.
Match the size, dust with calcium, gut-load first, and the feeder choice becomes about convenience rather than risk.
The bottom line
Crickets are cheap and stimulating but a smelly, fragile hassle. Grasshoppers are nutritious and exciting but hard to source and keep. Discoid roaches are the staple that wins on the boring stuff that actually matters day to day — quiet, odorless, contained, durable, and self-breeding. Pick discoids as your base, rotate the others in for variety, and dust everything with calcium.
Ready to keep discoids long-term? See my complete playbook for keeping and breeding discoid roaches, or browse the full feeder insect care library.