Collection: Live Crickets For Sale | Acheta and Banded Crickets Available Shipped From Our Family Farm Direct to Your Door

One Farm. One Standard. One Legacy.

At Carolina Crickets, we believe that quality should never be a trade-off. We are proudly carrying on the Warren Cricket Farm tradition, since 1957, by serving two worlds with the same level of excellence.

Whether you are a fisherman headed to the water or a reptile, bird, or amphibian enthusiast caring for a prized pet, our farm delivers exactly what you need.

Live Crickets for Feeding or Fishing

We are raising the standard for crickets for the care of your reptiles, leopard geckos, bearded dragons, lizards, amphibians, and fish or birds.  We specialize in healthy Acheta crickets and Banded crickets bred for maximum nutrition, longevity, and consistent supply for your pet's nutrition and bait shops.

  • From Our Family Farm Direct to Your Door
  • Centrally located for fast, 1-2 shipping; offering the best shipping rates  
  • Proudly shipping healthy, robust crickets daily across NC, SC, VA, GA, FL, and the entire USA

Which Cricket is Right For You?

Choosing the right cricket is about matching the insect's biological traits to your specific needs — whether you're fueling a growing reptile, bird, amphibian, or going to the river, this chart displays a side-by-side comparison focusing on the Small to Medium life stages and the specific use cases for each.

Feature Acheta domesticus
(House Cricket)
Gryllodes sigillatus
(Banded Cricket)
Exoskeleton (Shell) The Acheta "House" CricketSofter & Pliable: Easiest for small pets to puncture. Banded CricketRigid & Tough: Contains more robust chitin. Better for surviving rough handling.
Digestibility The Acheta "House" CricketHigh digestibility (84–92%). Banded Cricket80% (moderate).
Movement Style The Acheta "House" CricketSteady and predictable. Less likely to startle timid feeders. Banded CricketHigh Activity: Very fast and prone to jumping. Triggers intense hunting instincts.
Survival Rate The Acheta "House" CricketStandard; requires a consistent environment. Banded CricketSuperior Resilience: High tolerance for heat and varying humidity. Longer shelf life.
Best For (Sm–Med) The Acheta "House" CricketBaby dragons, geckos, and chameleons (safety first). Banded CricketJuvenile monitors, frogs, and "high-drive" predators.

What's in the Food?

PURE QUALITY

At Carolina Cricket Farm, we believe that premium nutrition starts from the inside out.

Our large, robust crickets are raised in a pristine, strictly monitored bio-secure environment to ensure a 100% virus-free facility.

We feed our live crickets a high-quality, nutrient-dense organic diet that is heavily fortified with calcium. This specialized feed formula ensures every insect is completely gut-loaded and packed with the essential vitamins and minerals required for proper reptile skeletal health, avian vitality, and critical metabolic function.

Because our family farm handles the entire process from breeding to packaging, we can guarantee that our healthy, active crickets are ready to ship directly to your door at peak nutritional value.

Whether you are stocking up on premium feeder crickets for your beloved pets or sourcing the hardiest live bait for your next fishing trip, Carolina Cricket Farm delivers the gold standard in insect nutrition with rapid 1–2 day shipping.

79+ Years of Virus-Free Excellence

Our multi-generational cricket farm holds an unmatched industry record: we have remained 100% virus-free for over 79 years. To guarantee your inventory is always healthy, safe, and resilient, we maintain a strictly controlled, closed-environment biosecure facility. If you run a pet storefront, reptile supply shop, or bait business and want to offer your customers the best of both worlds, Carolina Crickets is your premier wholesale partner.

By sourcing from us, you can confidently stock both Acheta domesticus (brown crickets) and Banded crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus) from a single, certified virus-free breeding facility. Protect your supply chain and partner with a legacy farm that prioritizes biosecurity.

Cricket Care Guide

Bulk Cricket Care Guide: How to Unpack and Care for Live Crickets Upon Arrival

Just got your bulk cricket shipment? Don't panic! Unpacking thousands of live insects doesn't have to be a chaotic mess.

  • To ensure the highest survival rate and get your feeder insects safely transitioned into their new habitat, follow the simple 4-step process outlined in our infographic above.
  • Keeping your enclosure between 75°F–80°F with a humidity level of 85% RH is key to their comfort.

Want a deep dive on gut-loading tips and avoiding common unpacking mistakes?

Read our Full Step-by-Step Bulk Cricket Care Guide HERE

The Roots of Our Industry: From Acheta to the Banded Cricket

Did you know that the U.S. live cricket industry was built on a completely different species than what most farms raise today? For decades, the standard was the Acheta Cricket (Acheta domesticus), the traditional brown house cricket. However, around 2009–2010, a devastating nationwide outbreak of the Acheta domesticus densovirus (AdDNV) nearly wiped out the entire North American commercial cricket supply.

To survive, the industry had to adapt, leading to the rise of the hardy, virus-resistant Banded Cricket (Gryllodes sigillatus).

Want to dive deeper into the fascinating 70-year history of American cricket farming, the great virus crash, and how the industry evolved?