I’m quitting crickets!

[Lindasjackson]

I don’t even want to take the chance of Eustis getting coccidia! I have OCD and I’d freak out!

 

[Lindasjackson]

Whole heartedly agree.. that said, I’m trying to figure out how in the hell Beau came down with coccidia in the first place. I have been buying crickets exclusively from Rainbow Mealworms, with the exception of the ONE time I bought pre-packaged crickets from Petco in those plastic containers.

@Lindasjackson, I got a starter colony of pantanal roaches from @jamest0o0 and they’re really easy! I’m not going to lie to you.. They’re big as adults and freaky if you’re not a fan of roaches, but they can be kept in a plastic tote or 10 gal aquarium and you won’t ever have to really even see them. These guys like to burrow in substrate and stay hidden (I‘m currently keeping my colony in coco coir substrate with large hunks of branches for the adults to climb on if they feel like, but they spend a lot of time hiding). They pull food under the substrate like little zombies. You can use a cup or paint scraping spatula to sift out the smaller nymphs If the idea of digging them out with your hand creeps you out. Surinam roaches are also awesome! They stay buried in the same type of substrate. Adult surinams are quite a bit smaller than adult pantanal roaches, and breeding is a girls-only club. They reproduce via parthenogenesis!
**just now seeing you were looking for a diurnal species, I’m not certain that either of the two I mentioned are. Sorry about that!

Needless to say, I am with Linda 100%. As of my and Beau’s recent experience, I am entirely done with crickets. I’ll still be ordering from Rainbow Mealworms, but I’ll only be feeding a variety of roaches, BSFL, fly spikes and silkworms from here on out :/

I’m not necessarily looking for diurnal species of roach, just another kind that can’t climb, fly, or infest my house That would make a good feeder that I can rotate in with the dubia roaches, bsfl, and occasional wax worms and meal worms I give my Guy.

 

[PlanetRemulak]

With some parasites, it's not always binary, i.e. having them or not having them. It's the load—how many of them do they have, and are they in sufficient numbers to make the host ill.

Some host animals can be carrying low loads of parasites their entire lives with no ill effects.
For example...


I can't say it for a fact without further digging, but it wouldn't surprise me if the same applies to reptiles with coccidia.

I definitely don’t meant to stray from the original topic, but thank you for this. I’ve really been beating myself up over the fact that my chameleon got sick at all.

 

[PlanetRemulak]

I don’t even want to take the chance of Eustis getting coccidia! I have OCD and I’d freak out!

No, you don’t. Coming from someone diagnosed with OCD, coccidia is a uniquely awful thing to deal with.

as far as roaches that can’t climb goes, I’m seconding dubia and pantanal roaches!

 

[pantherchamlove36]

Crickets can't "carry" coccidia unless they have eaten or lived in the feces of an infected chameleon. They are not part of the coccidia life cycle. There are many reasons to get rid of crickets but if they are bought from a clean source that doesn't mix loose crickets back in to their bins then coccidia is not a risk.

So what's wrong with crickets from a trusted source like joshs frogs? I ordered crickets from them and none died for weeks all seemed healthy

 

[JacksJill]

Nothing is wrong with them IMO. I'm not crazy about the smell of crickets and I don't believe they should be used as a sole feeder. They are higher in phosphorus but that can be managed with supplements and a variety of other feeder insects. They certainly aren't an essential feeder and roaches are a fine substitute.

 

[Lindasjackson]

So what's wrong with crickets from a trusted source like joshs frogs? I ordered crickets from them and none died for weeks all seemed healthy

Nothing is wrong with crickets from a trusted source and I got mine from rainbow mealworms. I don’t have a problem getting them in the summer but in the winter they can be affected by the cold temps. My last batch arrived with several dead and the rest died within a week because they were affected by the cold. Rainbow mealworms did nothing wrong. I thought someone here said crickets were carriers of coccidia but I guess I just misunderstood.

 

[JacksJill]

You weren't entirely wrong but it needed clarification. It is difficult to breed crickets. Dubia breed like rabbits in the right conditions.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I thought someone here said crickets were carriers of coccidia but I guess I just misunderstood.

Crickets (and other feeder insects) certainly can carry coccidia and other parasites; it's a matter of source, hygiene, and exposure. This is why a clean (trusted) source is so important.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6613697/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccidia
https://en.wikivet.net/Coccidia_Life_Cycle