Cricket Crisis?

[Tom]

I just called my reptile wholesaler to inquire about some Tokay Geckos for hire as guards in my roach prison ward. He told me there there is a huge cricket crisis right now and some disease is wiping them all out. I heard there was something like this a few years ago, but I thought the problem was solved. He sounded very excited at the prospect of some free feeder roaches in trade for some geckos.

Anyone know about this or what the status is on it? My roaches are looking more valuable by the day.

 

[Cameron]

i haven't heard anything about it. i haven't bought crickets in years. like you, i'm a roach guy! by the way, how are those giganteus doing???

 

[jackrat]

Haven't heard anything about it.I live about 45 minutes from Armstrong's.Might stop by on my way in from offshore Wednesday and get the lowdown.I'll let you know if I find out anything.

 

[Tom]

i haven't heard anything about it. i haven't bought crickets in years. like you, i'm a roach guy! by the way, how are those giganteus doing???

Not so good. Can't figure that one out. They are all maturing, finally, but I keep finding dead ones. They all look great, seem fine, then I find them dead. 4 out of 15 so far. I've got five other Blaberus species all around them and the other five are doing great. B. craniifer, discoidalis, fusca, boliviensis and colloseus. Same set up, food, temps, routine, everything... I've heard they are more sensitive and need to be drier, so that's what I'm trying now. My fusca and discoids are getting way overcrowded and I'm going to have to split them soon. I'm overflowing with Archimandrita tesselata too. These are one of my favorites. Big and look like the Blaberus, but totally calm and handleable.

 

[Motara's Mom]

I hadn't heard and when I bought crickets today they didn't say anything about it. I have just started breeding crickets and they aren't enough for my veiled chameleon, and he likes them better than the roaches.

 

[Tom]

Haven't heard anything about it.I live about 45 minutes from Armstrong's.Might stop by on my way in from offshore Wednesday and get the lowdown.I'll let you know if I find out anything.

Thanks Jackrat.

 

[dreadyA]

I've heard of the virus going around. Sounds scary, i hope it does not transmit to whatever theyre being fed to.

Tom, would you happen to know the nutritional stats/value on some of the feeder roaches?

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Oh yeah, Tokays are awesome geckos. I've seen some nasty damage done to some fingers !

 

[Tom]

I've heard of the virus going around. Sounds scary, i hope it does not transmit to whatever theyre being fed to.

Tom, would you happen to know the nutritional stats/value on some of the feeder roaches?

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Oh yeah, Tokays are awesome geckos. I've seen some nasty damage done to some fingers !

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Doesn't seem likely to be able to go from an insect to a reptile, but anything is possible.

I don't know any exact stats, but what I've heard and observed is that they are much more nutritious and have a higher meat to shell ratio.

I've been around a few Tokays. So far I've still got all my fingers and toes.

 

[TylerStewart]

It's a disease that has really been hitting the West coast cricket guys more than the East coast ones. I talked with a major West coast cricket supplier last weekend about it (asked if they had wiped it out) and they said it's a problem with growing the crickets... They can easily hatch eggs, but by about the third week, they start getting a massive die-off. They have torn apart their entire place, started everything over, but still haven't cracked the problem. It is only a cricket problem (worms and roaches aren't bothered by it) and it does not transfer anything to the reptiles eating them. It's been going on for quite a while, actually (almost a year, if I remember right). The East coast suppliers seem to be clear of it, but getting crickets on the West coast has been tricky if you need larger than 1/2" size (in the summer months, West coast guys don't like to buy from the East coast because of shipping costs). Silkworms had a similar problem a few years ago.

 

[latshki]

Its a virus that affects them at about 3 weeks old the causes paralasis (sp??) in them and only effects the common house cricket
it started in europe a few years ago and completely wiped them out but all they had to do is switch to a different species
it can spread pretty quick so i guess its a good time to get a roach colony going

 

[tortoiseguy65]

It is happening here in the Midwest too. Massive die offs. Large crickets are at a premium. The last four boxes of crickets I bought probably had 80 percent die off in a week. It really sucks. Tom, could you send some Roaches my way?

It's a disease that has really been hitting the West coast cricket guys more than the East coast ones. I talked with a major West coast cricket supplier last weekend about it (asked if they had wiped it out) and they said it's a problem with growing the crickets... They can easily hatch eggs, but by about the third week, they start getting a massive die-off. They have torn apart their entire place, started everything over, but still haven't cracked the problem. It is only a cricket problem (worms and roaches aren't bothered by it) and it does not transfer anything to the reptiles eating them. It's been going on for quite a while, actually (almost a year, if I remember right). The East coast suppliers seem to be clear of it, but getting crickets on the West coast has been tricky if you need larger than 1/2" size (in the summer months, West coast guys don't like to buy from the East coast because of shipping costs). Silkworms had a similar problem a few years ago.

 

[Tom]

Jeff, PM me an adress. How many, what size, what species? What are you feeding them to? I've actually been stressing out lately because some of my colonies are just exploding and I can't feed them out any where near fast enough. I've had to split colonies and I'm running out of room and bins.

 

[Yvonne G]

Speaking of roaches, and I'm hoping you don't mind some OT in your cricket thread, Tom...

three years ago I noticed some large red roaches under my pig blankets in only one tortoise shed. Just one or two. Last year there were lots more, and I found them in most of the tortoise sheds. This year I'm over run with them and this a.m. I actually found one in my closet...IN THE HOUSE!!!

I've been using sticky traps cuz I can't use poison around the tortoises, but what can I do to get rid of them? I've been told they are oriental or Japanese roaches.

 

[Tom]

Speaking of roaches, and I'm hoping you don't mind some OT in your cricket thread, Tom...

three years ago I noticed some large red roaches under my pig blankets in only one tortoise shed. Just one or two. Last year there were lots more, and I found them in most of the tortoise sheds. This year I'm over run with them and this a.m. I actually found one in my closet...IN THE HOUSE!!!

I've been using sticky traps cuz I can't use poison around the tortoises, but what can I do to get rid of them? I've been told they are oriental or Japanese roaches.

OOOh! Fun! No seriously, I love this stuff. Can you catch some and post a pic? If they are reddish its likely Blatta lateralis. Blatta orientalis is mostly black, although the males can sometimes show a deep maroon. Are they about an inch long? Both of these species are egg layers and very fast breeders in warm weather.

I don't know how you'd get rid of them with out pesticide of some sort. Glue traps will only catch the occasional straggler. I hate using any kind of pesticide too. You can cut down on any food or water sources and try to introduce natural predators. Geckos are good as they hunt at night, when the roaches are out.

BTW, everyone is welcome to post any off topic info on any thread of mine. These discussions are very enjoyable for me and one can never tell where a new thread will take you.

 

[Yvonne G]

What is their food? I clean up the tortoise poop every day, but there is moisture from the pee under the pig blankets. I moved the young YF tortoises outside yesterday and put a sticky trap on the floor of their tort table in the shed. Here's what's in there this a.m.:

And this was under the Aldabran pig blanket:

I HATE that these bugs are crawling all over my tortoises during the night. And I REALLY hate that they are getting closer to coming into MY house!!!

 

[Yvonne G]

If I buy some cheap geckos will they stay put? There's an open doorway on all my tortoise sheds.

 

[Tom]

That's Blatta lateralis. The lighter colored, smaller winged ones are males and the bigger, fatter looking dark ones, with no wings, are the females.

They are detrivores, so removing their food source outside will be pretty difficult.

You ought to try to catch them. You can build a trap for them and feed them to your box turtles. Very nutritious.

 

[TylerStewart]

We have the exact same ones here in Vegas... They occasionally fall into an empty tub here and there and I find them dead. Fortunately, they can't climb plastic like many roaches can. I used to have a leopard gecko loose in my garage that had escaped and I found 6 months or a year later looking fat and healthy. She was feeding on loose crickets and these roaches, and never left the garage even though the door was open daily.

 

[JenniferinFL]

We're having cricket supply problems too.. Our area pet shops have had signs up about it for a long time.
Unfortunately Florida banned non-native roaches, so those aren't even an option.. Though, I guess B. Craniifer is native to S. Florida. So, if I can find real ones of those I'd love to start a colony..
I can't help but wonder if that cricket disease is transmittable to tarantulas..

 

[Angi]

Roaches can live on anything. They are horrible creepy bullet proff bugs. Yuk! My sister once lived in an apartment that was infested.

About the crickets; I have not seen any wild crickets latley. They used to get in my house or garage and drive me crazy. Could this be because of the virus or is it just affecting captive crickets?