Crickets + moldy food

[bluesoda025]

Okay, so I just got my online order of crickets today. When I opened up the box, I found that the potatoes inside were already moldy. Obviously, the crickets have very likely been feeding on the mold as well. There were many dead ones at the bottom. Even with the live and active ones, I don't know if it is safe to feed those to my dragon right now? Is it possible that a lively cricket has eaten moldy food? Or would moldy food kill them? Does it make sense to let the crickets "clear out" the moldy food from their bodies for a few days, before feeding them to my dragon? Urk, I hate crickets! Can't wait til I have my silkworm colony going..

 

[hammerhead]

I wouldn't worry about it. Good luck with the silkworms, you will find your tiny masters are difficult.

 

[bluesoda025]

Hm, I was just worried because I read on their site (ironically) that some deaths in otherwise healthy animals have been linked to causes by feeders eating moldy food.
As for the silkworms, thanks and hopefully I won't run into too many problems.

 

[hammerhead]

Oh, I'm sorry, I never heard that it may be an issue. Hopefully others will add some imput on this topic. Here is a good site for silkies: http://www.wormspit.com/bombyxsilkworms.htm
I raised them this spring and summer, got to the 4th generation.

 

[bluesoda025]

Thanks for the link.. So no one else has any input on the main subject?

 

[hammerhead]

Which website said this? I did some searching and didn't have much luck.

 

[hammerhead]

You are right BLUESODA. Just found something. Thanks for the question and the knowledge. David http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=illness+from+crickets+mold&d=5043391158946436&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=25c675b2,257fe960

 

[DragonMomSandy]

Blue soda, Don't feed those crickets. They won't expell enough of the fungus/ick to be safe to feed and they will probably die in a couple days anyway. And, if your dragon eats them it can make him/her sick.

Who was the vendor you got the crickets from? Was it Ghann's Crickets? I got a Horrible order from them a little over a week ago! The box of 1,000 crickets arrived with almost all of the crickets alive, however, 2 days later I had mass die off! Over 300 deads! I removed the remaining live crickets, and a couple days pass, I come home from work and another mass die off of over 200 more! At this point I got rid of all the remaining live ones as well. The potatos in the box were fine, not moldy. And, I have a 10 gal viv with a screen lid. I put the crickets into the clean viv with a small,shallow bowl of water crystals, some carrot pieces (carrots don't rot like potatoes do, they shrivel) and a small bowl of cricket chow. By the way, this was my first, and only order from Ghann's and I've have never had a problem before with any other vendor I've ordered from. I sent Ghanns an email about the mass die off. The response I got back, of course was that it wasn't their fault, but due to shipping, weather, exhaust from the delivery vehicles, etc... and a copy of the guarantee, which is limited to live delivery, nothing else. I sent them another email stating that I was not expecting a refund or replacement, (but an apology, at the very least, would have been appreciated) and that I felt their crickets were unhealthy and would not risk feeding them to my dragons. I also let them know that, since they felt they were in NO WAY responsible for the mass die off, that this order was not only my first from them but would be my last and that I would not be recommending their website to any reptile owner that I know! I haven't received any other response from them, SO, apparently they are such a big company they feel they can afford to lose the business of 1 customer. Hate to remind them, but it's proven fact that 1 unhappy customer will tell an average of 12 other people about their bad experience where as 1 happy customer will tell an average of 5 others about a good experience! I figure I've told AT LEAST A DOZEN PEOPLE! So, basically I'm a little ticked (to say the least) and out almost $25.

 

[bluesoda025]

@hammerhead, the site where I read this was http://www.canadianfeeders.com/products/crickets.html

@DragonMomSandy, I ordered my crickets from the site that I linked above. I actually found a lot of dead crickets in the box. I tried to get rid of most of the dead ones, although of the live ones that I'd transferred to the sterlite container, it appears that most are still alive. No mass die offs or anything, but then I haven't examined very closely. I am guessing that the potatoes got mouldy because they might have been sitting in there for a few days before the package was even shipped. I mean, it was mouldy to the point where most of the fleshy areas of the potatoes were covered in a blue-ish grey layer of fuzz. That could not have formed in merely a few days. Either way, I am still disappointed, especially since they emphasize the high quality of their feeders on their site. Well, maybe the feeders themselves are of high quality, but something like this that could have been prevented easily should not have happened. I did email the owner, and I will see what he says.. And believe me, I was a bit ticked off too.. They aren't cheap, especially their shipping costs! >=(

 

[DragonMomSandy]

Your right, they aren't cheap. It costs almost as much for shipping as for the bugs themselves. Yeah, I would say they have boxes prepacked and sitting (maybe in anticipation of sending mass orders right before the holiday) that would explain the blue fuzz. Or, their potatos they have stocked for putting in the boxes is starting to go, but here again, I think it's the prepacks with sliced potatos sitting. I would still dispose of the crickets though, any fungus they ingest can be transferred to your dragon just like pesticides in bugs caught in the yard, they carry that stuff in their bodies and it transfers to the animal who eats it. The biggest worry is that if they eat enough of them over time (even a short time like a few days or weeks) it can affect a dragons liver as that is where toxins begin to build up. I hope that you get better response from that vendor than I did from Ghanns. I was truly disappointed, especially since this was the first time I had ordered from them. I'll go back to one of the other vendors I've used even though their prices are slightly higher. I'm also starting a dubia roach colony, so, once I have it built up I can get a much smaller quantity of crickets.

 

[bluesoda025]

Well, I am not satisfied with the response I got. He asked for a photograph of the moldy potatoes. Well, I threw them out right away, so I of course wouldn't have one. He also said that the only food in there should have been potatoes, and that they rarely go moldy during transit, and hoped it was a misunderstanding. Well, I am 99.999% sure it was mold! I mean, what else could a grey fuzzy layer be on the fleshy parts of a potato. The crickets sure didn't put it there. Anyways, he also said that assuming I "threw them away right away and are feeding them fresh food currently, if the crickets haven't expired they should be fine." :?

 

[DragonMomSandy]

Sound like he's not taking responsibility either. Just couldn't be his fault, right? B.S.!!! And of course he wants a pic which is standard practice for a vendor to honor a guarantee, but something like this, from a customer service stand point he should have offered to replace the entire order, pic or not. Too bad you didn't take one before tossing the potatos, but, I can just imagine how gross and smelly that was. And, I'm sure you are correct, if it was fuzzy and grey or kinda blue, it was MOLD, we all now what fungus looks like on a rotten vegetable. I like the "rarely go moldy" part, Tell him thats true, which means he had the boxes of crickets sitting for a couple days, loaded with the bugs and potatos before he shipped! Sounds like he's trying to remain blameless. I wouldn't order from him again, and I'd let him know that. So much for his "quality crickets!"

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Some people!!

 

[DragonMomSandy]

Yeah, I'm still pi$$ed at Ghann's!

 

[bluesoda025]

I agree that he should have at least offered a refund, or half price off on something! >:I He also seems to think that it is okay to feed my dragon crickets that have eaten moldy food. Well, I just can't believe how ironic that is, when it is stated on his site that feeders that have been feeding on moldy food may have caused some deaths in healthy animals.
I did send him another reply; I'm not just going to let this go. Especially when he didn't even offer so much as an apology for what I'd received. I will see if he replies.. On the bright side, at least their silkworm eggs are good. Some of them have already hatched after only 4 days in the incubator.
And it is a good thing that I still have enough crickets from my first batch to last for several more days or even a bit over a week.