"New" Cricket specie on the market - WARNING!!!

[Thorgecko707]

Are those going to be another bug disaster when they multiply outside?

 

[Tony C]

Are those going to be another bug disaster when they multiply outside?

They are already present in the Southern US and have been for some time. They are native to the Caribbean and hitch hiked over years ago. Last I knew they were not allowed to be shipped across state lines, unless the cricket farms have recently secured permits from the USDA they could be looking at some pretty stiff penalties if anyone cares to enforce the rules...

 

[wuukiee]

Looks like Gryllus assimilis. Who is your supplier?

Cricket Factory. They switched over about a month ago, previously just did the common brown house crickets.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Thank you for the information and posting the photos. That's THEM... Gryllus assimilis as I stated in my original post. Bassett's is also marketing these 'Super Crickets', and Rainbow & Sunshine are close behind. I need to talk with my friend Bill from American Cricket Ranch and get more info. These crickets are NOT appropriate for many of the geckos species we are trying to feed, IMO.

They bite HARD.

YES THEY DO!!! Have you been bitten by one? It hurts worse than having my little Jungle Carpet Python tag me on the finger!

By the way, I lost the second N. milii female this afternoon. She died while I was trying to slurry-feed her... she took a couple of licks and then started having convulsions. Truly heartbreaking. This just goes to prove that even after nearly 16 years of breeding geckos, no one is immune to these tragedies and there is always something we can learn. Now, we just need to figure out what to do about it.

 

[TokayKeeper]

chondros and now a JCP?! Next you'll tell me you got burms and retics too Marcia. LOL And to think the amount of persuading you did for the chondro if I remember correctly.

Sorry to go OT. Just seeing that jcp comment got me snickering back to when you were contemplating the chondro(s).

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

chondros and now a JCP?! Next you'll tell me you got burms and retics too Marcia. LOL And to think the amount of persuading you did for the chondro if I remember correctly.

I have 1.2 Chondros and 1.2 Jungle Carpet Pythons. No Burms or Retics... I can't keep anything I cannot pick up myself since my husband is terrified of snakes. He actually bought me one of the GTP's and one of my JCP's! It only took me 5 years to get him to let me have a snake, and now I have six! LOL!

Thank God they don't eat crickets....

 

[Wandering]

Hortible news. Im subscribing for more info.

Sent from my Garminfone using Tapatalk

 

[Wowoklol]

You used to keep crickets in cassette cases?? lol

I should talk...I used to keep toads in my closet with blow up doll furniture,lol.

I'm so sorry about your loss Marcia, thanks for the warning!

Blow up doll furniture? This is a family website!!!

Ty for the info Marcia. Troubling times.

 

[artes]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[wuukiee]

Thank you for the information and posting the photos. That's THEM... Gryllus assimilis as I stated in my original post. Bassett's is also marketing these 'Super Crickets', and Rainbow & Sunshine are close behind. I need to talk with my friend Bill from American Cricket Ranch and get more info. These crickets are NOT appropriate for many of the geckos species we are trying to feed, IMO.

YES THEY DO!!! Have you been bitten by one? It hurts worse than having my little Jungle Carpet Python tag me on the finger!

By the way, I lost the second N. milii female this afternoon. She died while I was trying to slurry-feed her... she took a couple of licks and then started having convulsions. Truly heartbreaking. This just goes to prove that even after nearly 16 years of breeding geckos, no one is immune to these tragedies and there is always something we can learn. Now, we just need to figure out what to do about it.

Yeah, and as I said, Cricket Factory has switched to them as well. Actually no marketing, or warning, just one week we got brown houses, the next week, it was these suckers.

And yeah, I've been bitten a couple times bagging the little %$*!^s up for customers. Haven't had blood drawn, yet, I've learned to move quick around them, but it still hurts like the devil.

I'm so sorry you lost your second girl. That's always rough, but having them die in your hands like that, to me, is the hardest.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Well, I got my second cricket order today, and I ordered smalls. The box clearly states the crickets are A. domesticus, but they are not! I am not only concerned about the impact these aggressive crickets could have on the pet/reptile industry, but the potential environmental ramifications as well. I am ASSuming these cricket growers have done everything that needs done for the Dept. of Agriculture... ?

 

[TokayKeeper]

The box clearly states the crickets are A. domesticus, but they are not!

That is a little concerning, particularly since I almost exclusively feed crickets. I have 2 mealie colonies and attempting a super colony, but I don't know how willing the geckos will take to regular mealies. All but 1 of my adults will take supers.

Forgot to mention last night, sorry on the milli. I'm struggling with my mitratus, but not due to your situation. I think I'm gonna need to contact my vet for some fenbendazole and metronidazole. But yes, even we experienced ones are fallible.

 

[Adinar]

Ugh, I really hope this is not a trend for all suppliers. We have a select few geckos who strictly eat nothing but crickets (by their own choice). I would hate to see them suffer because of these nasty little crickets or worse go off food because of being bitten and such. It's not like they will accept mealies as a meal instead. *sigh*

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

We have a select few geckos who strictly eat nothing but crickets (by their own choice)

The majority of my Aussie geckos will only eat crickets, and they are so easily stressed that a few of them are now afraid of crickets.

 

[Quantumhigh]

Thank you very much for the heads up! We all appreciate the warning so something like this does happen to anyone else. So sorry for your loss.

I am totally with you on the Dubia 110% you cannot go wrong with Dubias. Cleaner, less smell if not zero smell, healthier, easier to breed so on and so forth. I started my colony back in November with about 10 and now have plenty to feed all my new hatchlings and even feed the adult dubias to my Beardies now. I also got a mealie farm started using a 3 levels system. Where the eggs from the top level falls threw a screen into the middle level. Once that is rocking with several hundred baby mealies they go into the 3rd bottom level where they are harvested for my critters.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I sent this inquiry letter out to over a dozen cricket suppliers:

I am contacting you for information on a "new" feeder cricket being marketed as the "Super Cricket", or Black Super Cricket. I have been told that the common house cricket (Acheta domesticus) is soon to be a thing of the past because the so-called cricket virus has essentially wiped them out to near extinction. It this information accurate? I received the new crickets, and they have been identified by several entomologists as the Jamaican Field Cricket (Gryllus assimilis). They are very robust, much bigger and meatier than the former cricket, don't jump as high, and are quieter.

I have some very big concerns about these "Super Crickets". Jamaican Field Crickets are not only big in size, but they have H-U-G-E mandibles (jaws) designed for chomping heavy vegetation. They are vicious. They will chomp your fingers (and can draw blood!), AND eat your geckos. After the first time I fed them, I woke up to a dead, half-eaten N. milii and there we only 2 crickets in the tub. I have lost another one yesterday I had been struggling to rehabilitate. These crickets bit my rare and expensive Australian geckos (N. milii and N. levis) so badly that they were so stressed several haven't eaten since.

Other than ordering a smaller size cricket, and not leaving any in my geckos' enclosures, what can you suggest I do for my cricket-eating geckos? What additional information can you give me on these Jamaican Field Cricket (Gryllus assimilis)?

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

This is the first response I have received from Timberline:

Marcia-

I'm quite sorry to hear about the feeding damage. There has been much conversation regarding this cricket being produced. Many of the domestic growers who previously grew acheta domestica are no longer able to do so and are seeking legal permission to produce and ship this new species. When the virus occurred in Europe those growers largely went to this species and the market suffered for the same reasons you mention. I have noted to many that this truly isn't a good alternative, but most of the affected growers want to proceed full speed ahead even with caution being raised. The good news is that there still are domestic producers growing the acheta domestica so they are still available. We at Timberline continue to be a closed farm wherein all worms and crickets (acheta domestica) we sell are being produced here.

I encourage you to use the forums and blogs within your species segment to pass along the dangers associated with an aggressive cricket. If we can be of assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at 800-423-2248.

Todd Goodman
Timberline

Sooo... apparently it is a KNOWN FACT that these 'Super Crickets' are not appropriate feeders for the reasons I have stated in this thread! Does this mean that the cricket growers that are using these aggressive feeders could care less about the animals we are feeding, and simply want to recover financially from their losses with the original A. domesticus???

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

MORE INFORMATION FROM TIMBERLINE!!!

I sent this in response to Timberline's email:

Thank you so much for your response, Todd! I have posted this information on GeckoForums.net, as well as my Golden Gate Geckos acebook page. With Timberline continuing to produce A. domesticus, does this mean the information I received about this specie being extinct is false? Is it
currently illegal to raise, sell, and ship G. assimilis? I am not only concerned for the animals that eat these, but the potential environmental impact if they were to propagate in the wild.

I truly appreciate your help,
Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

This is Timberline's latest response:

Indeed the A. domesticus is not extinct. It's just not available any longer from some farms. Given your proximity to one of the banner carriers for this new species I'm not surprised that you're being led to believe this is the only choice vailable. It is currently not legal to produce and ship G. assimilis across state lines, but it can be produced in some states and shipped within the state.

How I wish I could get on Fauna's BOI with this information...

 

[Tony C]

I currently order from Ghanns and they are producing A. domestica. They had to shut down for several months to clean out their facilities after being infected (whether you want to believe it or not Cricket Paralysis Virus (AKA Acheta domestica densovirus, AdDNV) is very real and well documented in the scientific literature), but they are now back to full production.

During the time Ghann's was shut down I had to use G. assimilis from a local supplier, the only problem I had was financial since they were nearly 8x the cost that I had been paying from Ghanns. I suspect most of the issues are due to pre-existing health problems, after all there have been tales of killer A. domestica eating herps passed around for years, not to mention mealworms and superworms consuming lizards, frogs, small barnyard animals, etc from the inside out. I'll put my frogs up against commonly kept geckos on a scale of delicacy any day of the week...

While it is a violation to ship them across state lines as I noted earlier, I highly doubt there is any significant risk of invasion beyond their small established range in the South Florida and Texas, they are a subtropical species and have been here since the 1950s according to the University of Florida. If they were capable of spreading out beyond their current range they most likely would have done so years ago on agricultural products.

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/crickets/gassim.html

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Thank for the info, Tony. When I first started research on the G. assimilis I was concerned that they were not a native specie but found the link you posted above and felt better knowing they are also native to Southern Florida and Texas. I'm not sure about California yet... I am waiting to hear back from the Department of Agriculture. Just what we need is another fruit-fly type scenario where helicopters fly over spraying the entire state with malathion.

I now know that my cricket supplier has lied to me about the A. domestica being extinct and the virus being a hoax. Apparently, he doesn't give a crap about our animals eating these dangerous crickets, and is simply trying to make a financial gain.

 

[Tony C]

I have read references to A. domestica being considered "commercially extinct" in Europe, and that is probably what your supplier meant when they referred to them going extinct. I believe they have been almost completely replaced in the European markets with G. assimilis and Gryllodes sigillatus, both of which are not affected by the virus.