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Extra Large Crickets
SKU
XL-Cricket
$16.99
When your pet has a big appetite, extra large crickets deliver a full meal in every bite. At Top Hat Cricket Farm, our extra-large crickets are fully grown adults raised on our family-owned farm and shipped live, healthy, and ready to eat. As an excellent source of protein and fat, they are a satisfying everyday food for larger reptiles, amphibians, and birds.
Adult Crickets: Our Biggest Feeder Size
Adult crickets are the largest size we offer, one step above our large crickets. Because each cricket carries more protein and fat, you can feed fewer insects per meal and spend less time on feeding day. As always, choose a cricket no wider than the space between your pet's eyes.
Extra large crickets are a great fit for:
- Adult bearded dragons
- Monitor lizards, tegus, and blue tongue skinks
- Pacman frogs and other large frogs
- Backyard chickens and pet birds
- Anglers fishing for panfish and trout
Big Crickets for Big Appetites
Big crickets keep larger pets engaged. Their size and movement trigger a strong hunting response, which encourages natural activity and helps picky eaters stay interested at mealtime. For the best nutrition, gut-load your crickets for 24 hours before feeding and dust them with a calcium supplement. Many keepers call these jumbo crickets; whatever you call them, they are the heartiest feeders on our farm.
Crickets for Fishing: Where Top Hat Began
Top Hat opened in the early 1950s, supplying crickets to the fish bait industry, and anglers still rely on us today. Crickets for fishing work best when they are large, lively, and easy to hook, which makes our adult crickets a natural choice. Live crickets for fishing are a proven bait for bluegill, crappie, sunfish, and trout, especially in warm weather when fish are feeding near the surface.
Why Customers Choose Top Hat Extra Large Crickets
- Gryllodes sigillatus: our tropical house cricket is resilient to the virus that wiped out Acheta crickets
- Less odor and less noise than other common feeder crickets
- Guaranteed virus-free, alive, and healthy on arrival
- Raised by the same family for more than 70 years
- Competitive prices and outstanding service
Extra Large Crickets for Sale: Shop Now
Ready to feed a big appetite or fill your bait bucket? Choose your container size above, add to cart, and select optional Subscribe and Save for regular deliveries. Looking for another option? Browse all of our live crickets or try our superworms.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big are extra large crickets?
Our extra large crickets are fully grown adults, the biggest size we raise. They are one step up from our large crickets and best suited to adult reptiles, birds, and fishing.
How long do adult crickets live?
Adult crickets typically live a few weeks after reaching full size. For the freshest feeders, order an amount your pet will eat within about two weeks, or use Subscribe and Save for regular deliveries.
How do I hook a cricket for fishing?
Thread a small, light wire hook through the collar just behind the head. This keeps the cricket secure and lively, so it keeps moving and attracting fish.
Your crickets may look different from what you’ve been used to seeing because of the many different species out there. See some of the many species that are common in today’s market on our species page.
The smallest amount of bulk crickets we sell is a 250 count. The next smallest is 500, and you can purchase amounts above that in increments of 500.
This largely depends on the animal.
Moisture: 71.37
Protein: 16.89
Fiber: 2.32
Ash: 1.27
Fat: 7.37
Phosphorus: 0.24
Calcium: 0.04
This species of cricket has the best shelf life of any cricket species on the market. The better you care for them, the longer they will live. We recommend ordering enough to get you through two weeks at a time. If you are experienced with taking care of crickets, you could expect a little more life out of them than that.
For a general rule of thumb, choose a cricket size that is smaller in width than your pet’s mouth. If it is too large, your pet won’t eat it, but a little bit too small is okay. Make sure when you are ordering that you do not order more than your pet can eat before the crickets grow too large.
Primarily you should know that, like most things, the better you take care of them, the longer
they will last. Make sure they always have access to fresh water either through a sponge or in a
shallow dish (for larger crickets). Smaller crickets may drown in standing water. A clean,
healthy environment promotes longer life and less odor. Wipe down the inside of your cricket
container with a damp paper towel and rinse all parts of the watering device in clean water
several times a week.
Frequently clean cricket care supplies with a mild bleach solution, soak for five minutes. This
will ensure that everything is kept as clean as possible. Make sure to rinse more than you feel
necessary to be sure that all of the bleaching solution is gone.
Room temperature, approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Make sure that your crickets always have access to fresh water. For smaller crickets, keep a wet sponge in with the crickets, or for larger crickets you can use a shallow dish. For nutrients, you can feed them potato, lettuce, apple, oranges, or pumpkin seeds.
Yes! With special packaging, our crickets can be packaged up year-round and will survive lower temperatures. You don’t have to worry about opening up a box of dead crickets in January; your crickets will arrive alive and healthy. For more information, visit our shipping page.
The acheta domesticus species of cricket is extremely susceptible to the AdDNV cricket virus, which kills them. We used to sell the acheta, but have now switched to the Gryllodes sigillatus to ensure that you are always receiving crickets that are alive and healthy.
How We Ship Your Crickets
Top Hat Cricket Farm ships Monday through Thursday. Orders placed before 12:00 PM noon Eastern time ship same day, Monday through Wednesday. On Thursday, same-day shipping is available only for Priority Overnight orders and Ground orders shipping to a Michigan address — all other Thursday orders ship the following Monday.
Because your crickets and worms are coming to you alive, we don't ship anything that would be in transit over the weekend. Orders placed after noon on Wednesday (or any time Friday through Sunday) will ship the following Monday.
Once your order ships, you'll receive a confirmation email with tracking so you can see exactly when to expect delivery.
Live Delivery Guarantee
Our goal is to deliver crickets and worms to you that are always both alive and healthy. We guarantee live delivery when shipping by FedEx Priority Overnight and when the outside temperature is below 90 F and above 25 F. Live delivery can not be guaranteed when using FedEx Ground or FedEx 2Day Delivery service. Sometimes this may mean adjusting shipping days due to cold weather, and it's often situational. However, we will make sure that you are satisfied and should an unfortunate problem arise, we will do our best to fix it. Depending on the situation, this could mean a credit on your account for future orders or a reshipment at no charge in some cases. In all cases, loss must be reported within 48 hours of receiving your shipment.
Refunds for Dead on Arrival Crickets
An unfortunate reality of shipping live crickets is that losses are sometimes unavoidable through the delivery process. Refunds are issued based on our 'Live Delivery Guarantee' policy conditions and available for the following shipping methods:
- FedEx Priority Overnight: Eligible for 100% refund
- FedEx 2Day Delivery: Eligible for 50% refund
- FedEx Ground Delivery: Eligible for refund of shipping costs
Regionally-Based Small Orders
If you're looking for a smaller order for individual use, we can ship within two days through Fed-Ex from Michigan throughout the Midwest, extending our reach to parts of Kansas, some of the southern states, and part of the East. During winter, if you are in the further reaches of that area, you may be forced to upgrade to an overnight shipping service to ensure that your crickets and worms will stay alive and safe during the journey.
Large Orders Throughout the United States
For orders more than 20K of an item, we can ship to anywhere in the country through Southwest Air Cargo. We don't currently extend our reach in Canada but do have the capability. If you're in Canada and would like to place a large order, please contact us for more details.
Safe Shipping in both Summer and Winter
Based upon the temperatures outside, we will package your bulk crickets and worms differently. In the warmer months, we ship using a vented box. Once it gets colder, we will use blind boxes. Colder yet, and we will add heat packs, and finally once it is snowing, we add a sleeve box. We look at both the overnight extreme low temperature and the next day's high temperature to determine our packing strategy. Winter packaging is taken into consideration when the overnight low is below 50 to 55 degrees and the next day's high not over 55 to 60 degrees.
To ensure the safety of the crickets and worms, we may adjust when your package is shipped so that it goes out on the warmest night of the week. In almost every case, you will receive your order the same week it is ordered. Occasionally, we may have to force a shipping upgrade to overnight shipping if your package normally would take only 2 days.
At Top Hat Cricket Farm, we grow and sell the Gryllodes Sigillatus.
Just about every reptile enjoys live crickets. Crickets are a great protein source for their diets and are full of natural appeal. Crickets have a lifespan of about 8 to 10 weeks.
Also known as the tropical house cricket or the banded cricket, we sell this species because of the many pros and because it is very resilient to the AdDNV cricket virus that has wiped out our supply and growth in the past. By selling the Gryllodes sigillatus species, we can ensure that you always receive crickets that are both alive and healthy.
Pros
- not aggressive toward animals or humans
- all sizes very digestible (less chitin)
- more active, making a lively feeding experience for animals
- resistant to AdDNV cricket virus
- hearty, lives well (longer lifespan than Acheta)
- less odor vs. other cricket
- less noise vs. other crickets
Cons
- adults not quite as large as adults of other species
