REPTIZOO Cricket Keeper and Mixer Review: Dusting Made Less Awful

Two small acrylic boxes that solve the two least pleasant parts of feeding live insects.

The verdict: A ventilated acrylic cricket keeper paired with a shaker that meters calcium powder through an adjustable opening, which turns dusting from a mess into a routine. Buy it if you feed live crickets and currently dust them in a sandwich bag. Skip it if you buy crickets by the hundred, because this is a holding box for a few days of feeders rather than a colony enclosure.

Specifications

Specifications above come from REPTIZOO's published product information. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.

What it does well

• The adjustable dosing opening is the good idea here. Most keepers over-dust because a shaken bag gives no control, and over-dusted insects get refused.
• A clear keeper lets you see how many feeders you actually have left, which is how you avoid the Sunday evening discovery that there are three crickets.
• The hide tube gives crickets somewhere to sit, which cuts the pile-up and the die-off that makes cricket keepers smell.
• Both parts come apart for cleaning, and a feeder container that cannot be cleaned properly becomes unusable quickly.
• It is one purchase instead of two, and the two products are the ones people actually improvise badly.

Where it falls short

• Capacity is modest. This is a holding container for a few days of feeders, not a breeding or bulk storage setup. Buyers of bulk crickets need a larger bin with proper ventilation.
• Crickets are noisy and they smell, and no container changes that. Acrylic muffles very little.
• Dusting is the least important half of feeder nutrition. Gut loading the insects for a day or two beforehand does more, and this kit does not address it.
• Acrylic scratches and hazes, so it will not stay clear for years if it is scrubbed with anything abrasive.
• It will not stop escapes if the lid is left off, and loose crickets in a house are a longer running problem than the feeding was.

What owners report

Owner reports on feeder keepers converge on the same points regardless of brand: ventilation and a hide determine how many crickets survive the week, and cleanability determines whether you keep using it. This kit covers both. The dusting shaker draws the more enthusiastic comments, mostly from people who had been using a plastic bag and describe the difference as immediate.

The husbandry point worth adding is that dusting and gut loading are different jobs and the second is the more valuable. Feeder insects are only as nutritious as what they have eaten, and a cricket fed on cardboard for a week is close to empty regardless of what you dust it with. Our gut loading versus dusting comparison covers the distinction, and the gut loading guide covers what to feed them.

If crickets themselves are the problem rather than the container, dubia roaches are quieter, cleaner and easier to keep. Our dubia versus crickets comparison is the honest version of that argument, including where crickets still win.

Who it suits

• Keepers feeding live crickets who buy small quantities weekly.
• Anyone currently dusting insects in a bag or a takeaway tub.
• Households where the feeder container lives somewhere visible and needs to be tidy.

Who should skip it

• Keepers buying bulk feeders, who need a larger ventilated bin.
• Anyone breeding feeders, which needs a different setup entirely.
• Keepers who have moved to dubia roaches, which want a warmer, darker container.

Alternatives worth considering

Keep reading

• Gut loading vs dusting feeder insects
• Dubia roaches vs crickets
• Gut loading feeder insects
• Best feeder insects
• Feeder insect nutrition chart
• Repashy Grassland Grazer review
• Best feeder insect keepers

This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.