Why are crickets bad for Orchids?

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Mine eat crickets. No problems here. They are not "bad' for them. It may be best to feed them flying insects but I have had no issues using crickets as a PART of their diet.

 
I always "gut load" crickets, as I have reptiles too. Maybe that's why my mantid did ok on the crickets.
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I also have reptiles that eat crickets as part of thier diet. I feed the crickets a good diet because of it.

 
I just lost one adult female orchid mantis today. I fed her a cricket 2 days ago, she didn't look so good yesterday and completely turn black and die today. It looks like she had been poison!! I am pretty sure it is because of cricket. It is just luck that she had a "bad" cricket. But there is always higher chance of mantis being infected by diseases from feeding crickets compared to feeding flies. At least she laid 5 oothecae before her death.

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Oh man, that's sad! :( I'm never going to feed my mantises crickets now... unless they're going to starve to death.
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:roll: Chances of that are low. My mantids eat almost nothing but crickets and always have. I have had very very few issues like that.

 
I've had problems with crickets in the past getting them from a questionable source (PetCo). A large portion of the crickets died in the bag before I got them home. I fed them to my baby bearded dragon anyway (like a fool). My poor lizard started twitching within a few hours and died. I talked it over with a friend of mine (lizard breeder) and he said it was bad crickets. He's had that happen to him.

So, I'm thinking the problem is that crickets are so readily available and it's unknown how the pet store keeps them prior to the consumer purchasing them. I have a friend who owns a pet store and he doesn't feed anything to his crickets - it's not cost effective.

Now when I get crickets I feed and water them for several days before feeding them out. If there's a high death rate or anything odd, I don't feed them to any of my animals. What a pain in the neck. But worth it if it prevents illness in any of my critters.

Invertebrates, I'm assuming, are more sensitive to being food poisoned by their food.

Roz.

 
I've had problems with crickets in the past getting them from a questionable source (PetCo). A large portion of the crickets died in the bag before I got them home. I fed them to my baby bearded dragon anyway (like a fool). My poor lizard started twitching within a few hours and died. I talked it over with a friend of mine (lizard breeder) and he said it was bad crickets. He's had that happen to him. So, I'm thinking the problem is that crickets are so readily available and it's unknown how the pet store keeps them prior to the consumer purchasing them. I have a friend who owns a pet store and he doesn't feed anything to his crickets - it's not cost effective.

Now when I get crickets I feed and water them for several days before feeding them out. If there's a high death rate or anything odd, I don't feed them to any of my animals. What a pain in the neck. But worth it if it prevents illness in any of my critters.

Invertebrates, I'm assuming, are more sensitive to being food poisoned by their food.

Roz.
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Well I think your first mistake is buying them from a chain pet store. Get them from a reputable breeder online and you wil have few problems. My mantids, turtle, and lizard all eat my crickets with no issues.

 
I know. PetCo. Kick me in the head. :oops: I usually don't buy anything from the chain stores other than dog food. That ONE time I was running around and decided that ONE time wouldn't hurt. ERRRR. Wrong!

I usually buy crickets by the box.

 
I got my crickets from PetCo. My mantises who ate the crickets are fine. The only funny thing that I discovered is that crickets eat each other, as also discussed in this forum. Maybe I won't get crickets from PetCo then. My bluebottle fruit flies came from there as well.

 
John, i think Ogiga meant fruit flies (D. Hydei) comes in blue medium.

Well i usually buy crickets from Pet'smart when i need a small quantity as i know they gut-load thier crix. I have the same mistake as you patdbunny thinking that one time at Petco shouldn't harm. So i bought a dozen and gut-load them immediately. Guess there was a "bad apple" among them and i fed it to this orchid female, what a bummer! I hate Petco crix :evil: Cases like this seldom happen to me but i just hate it when it does happen, especially to an adult mantis.

 
that pic you posted was of an uncurable bactrial infection. My giant african had it. RIP Kurt. :cry:

 
Kurt -

What kind of bacterial infection? Was it caused by the cricket? Any signs prior to death? Or does it cause sudden death?

Any thoughts on feeding the feeder insect antibiotics before feeding it out to the mantis?

Roz

 
The weather just turned really bad here so there aren't any flies out. I ordered some fly pupae but it probably won't be here until a few more days. I think my only option for now is crickets from PetCo :? . How can I tell if the crickets are good or bad? (is it possible to tell?)

 
Hold on to the crickets for 24 hours. During that time feed them really well and water them. If there's a high death rate during that 24 hours (more than 1 or 2), be safe and don't feed them to your critters.

Roz.

 

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