Black crickets.

[Action Jackson]

LOL. I got home last nite and was putting away all the bugs, I dumped the gangster crickets out and started on something else. OUCH! Something bit me on the back of my arm. It was one of those damn crickets. So I popped a cap in his ass.

Hahaha. So we discussed it at the meeting tonight. The reason they're so aggressive is because they're straight outta Compton yo! They're living the thug life and gotta keep it real. lol. Rainbow is located in Compton. It was too funny. I couldn't let it go!

 

[TKR]

Lol wow u would post this as soon as u got home hahaha

Hahaha. So we discussed it at the meeting tonight. The reason they're so aggressive is because they're straight outta Compton yo! They're living the thug life and gotta keep it real. lol. Rainbow is located in Compton. It was too funny. I couldn't let it go!

 

[melric]

No laughs??? I thought it was pretty funny!

Edit: Oops I guess people did laugh. I should have checked before posting. Still pretty funny. lol.

 

[melric]

LOL. I got home last nite and was putting away all the bugs, I dumped the gangster crickets out and started on something else. OUCH! Something bit me on the back of my arm. It was one of those damn crickets. So I popped a cap in his ass.

Lmao! Wow, with a tiny gun? hahaha!

 

[Eltortu]

Well, I did not want to start another thread related so I brought this one back. For awhile the store I go to had the brown crickets, well not this time. So I bought them black crickets, and this things are just huge! I notice one male chasing after some of the other crickets just to bite them. He was going up and dowm the egg crates like a maniac. Anyone also noticed how their hind legs fall out of their bodies as your cham snatches and bites them?...

 

[Eltortu]

...and they eat their food faster than Kristie Alley orders a #1 with a diet coke at In N Out!

 

[Eltortu]

^^ Is it wrong to laugh like a mental patient at your own jokes?

 

[ju5t1n]

Are these the ugly things you're talking about? I bought 2k and about 15 were white like this. The white ones body parts fall off and still stay alive. I think they're weaker than the other ones, because they die eventually.

lol that looks weird. looks like a fail molt! or something...
Alien.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

They look similar to the native species that I used to catch on my families ranch. Except that the ones on the ranch were completely black. If they are a native species that could probably explain why they don't require a permit to breed them here in California.

 

[sarahog]

Okay I got some of these mutant crickets a few times and it's almost as if they have cartoon heads! They have the hugest heads ever! Yuck. One thing I noticed is that when you grab one with the metal tongs they immediately start biting the tongs and you can actually hear the chomping on the metal tongs and feel the vibrations of each bite...one things for sure my hands are NOT going near these things! Yuck. I keep them in one of those hard plastic critter keepers and so far it's held them in well, that picture of the hole chewed in the bottom of the plastic tub has me weirded out though! I hate crickets!! Especially these mutant ones

 

[Digby Rigby]

Not hybrids or USA natives

Hello,

The species of crickets in question are not hybrids. The slightly smaller brown ones are also known as Jamaican field crickets. Their latin name is Gryllus assimilis. They are not as fast moving as regular domestic crickets. They do get larger. The bigger black ones are Gryllus bimaculatus are very voracious. They are often used as clean up crews in European insectiaries. They will put them in cages that have housed other things in order for them to eat anything that may still be in there.

As small nymphs both species look like the black ones (Gryllus bimaculatus). All Gryllus species are legal in California at this time including non native ones. While different states have different laws as to what they will allow no state may legally allow anything that is federally unlawful so if they arent allowed where you are it has to do with state law not federal.

They will not tolerate crowded conditions as the Domestic gray crickets will, figure about half as many in any given area.. Also the big black are very loud and do smell more so than gray crickets. Interestingly it seems they smell more at lower temeratures than they do over 80 degrees as well as "sweat" less at higher temperatures. They can fly very well just like domestic crickets when sufficiently warm.

The domestic crickets proper name is Acheta domesticus not domestica.

Digby Rigby [email protected]
Reptiles, green banana & other roaches and bulk dubia sales include telephone number

 

[Elizadolots]

When I questioned my local cricket farmer he told me they had hybrid crickets. Maybe that's just a convenient thing to say, or maybe they have been letting the brown and black crickets go at it and lo and behold there are babies.

 

[melric]

Someone should ask Rainbow. I wonder if they'll be at the San Diego show.

 

[Digby Rigby]

Both species are commonly used in Europe. Whatever this cricket shortage is, that was the impetus for allowing them to be exported from Europe. If people who have them look up pictures of Gryllus bimaculatus and Gryllus assimilis you will also see that the pictures match what they have. They are more disgusting than grey crickets. Use roaches instead you and the animals will be happier for it.

______________________

Digby Rigby [email protected]
Reptiles, green banana & other roaches and bulk dubia sales include telephone number

 

[Elizadolots]

So, Digby, do you think it's impossible for them to cross breed?

I'm striving to stay with the nice friendly browns, up to having spent twice as much for them as I would the blacks. But if there were a stable hybrid that combined the immunity to the virus with a somewhat less lethal personality, I'd be all over that.

 

[kongchi]

Ya, these guys bite, and they bite hard. They also fight, viciously. I let two free range in Sebastian's cage (two females), they were climbing up the sidewall when they saw eachother and started violently shaking their bodies. One bit the other ones head and suplexed it (okay maybe didn't suplex it but she tossed it behind her). I like how meaty they are but I don't like the fact that they bite - multiple times.

 

[Littlehorn]

We also have a shortage of the brown crickets here in HKG, and all switched to the black crickets. But they are consider to be *way way* more dangerous. They bite very hard and don't die easily.

I have been using them for the past 3 months, and I tried to avoid any problem by feed them one by one to my chameleon. Avoid just throwing a few into the cage coz they give nasty bites.

They do get around 1inch+ of a size, very bulky and very strong. And they have ganged up one of my B. smithi (5inch) biting one of her legs off. So be careful guys, I would just use them as snacks or just use grasshoppers for the time being.

 

[Digby Rigby]

We have talked to California Department of Agriculture officials about them. Gryllus species are now to be brought into California. They told me that the black and brown crickets were imported from Europe. They are 2 seperate species. The Gryllus bimaculatus being the larger and more voracious than the silent brown Gryllus assimilis.

Are hybrids possible? I do not know if its possible with these two species or not. However in this instance it doesnt matter if its possible because its not the case. They havent been imported in the USA long enough for people to attempt it and produce large enough quantities to sell. Also there is no financial or nutritional gain from such an endeavor. Both species have been used for years in Europe and they havent been hybridized so if it hasnt happenned in all the years there it isnt going to happen relatively "overnight" in the USA.

______________________

Digby Rigby [email protected]
Reptiles, green banana & other roaches and bulk dubia sales must include telephone number