Does freezing kill parasites in crickets?

[TheWerewolf]

Hello everybody, I have yet another question. But this time I'll get right to it, well, it's also the subject title. Does freezing kill parasites in crickets? I have this question because mom accidentally bought some probably parasite ridden crickets. From Petco. I had a scare from their crickets many months ago. I told mom not to get live crickets from there anymore, but that was a month ago, she forgot. Since I have a 'vacation' coming up we may not be able to return the crickets. Well, while they're alive. I don't want to throw them away, and I don't have any other insect eating pet I could give them to. So, would freezing kill the parasites they might be carrying?

Just wondering. Thanks in advance to whoever replies.

P.S. I have no idea where this would go. A mod can move it to where it needs to be.

 

[snazzyglasses]

bump! (If a Feeders post is bump-able?)
Posting so I can follow too though. I'm curious as well
Edit: Well shoot. Looks like it's not bump-able. My bad

 

[TheWerewolf]

Thanks for bumping this snazzy. I was going to do it myself. I just hope somebody replies before I leave. I won't be on this forum for 5 days and don't have a smartphone, so if somebody responds I won't be able to answer.

So, anybody who knows about this? Maybe a mod?

 

[snazzyglasses]

I bet cooking would kill any parasites, but who wants to use their oven or saucepan to cook crickets lol :shock:
Plus cooked crickets would probably go bad relatively quickly. And I'm not sure if cooking would decrease nutritional value.
(I can't believe I'm talking about cooking crickets. Before we got our dragons I wouldn't have even dreamed of having this type of conversation, lol!)

 

[TheWerewolf]

I bet cooking would kill any parasites, but who wants to use their oven or saucepan to cook crickets lol :shock:
Plus cooked crickets would probably go bad relatively quickly. And I'm not sure if cooking would decrease nutritional value.
(I can't believe I'm talking about cooking crickets. Before we got our dragons I wouldn't have even dreamed of having this type of conversation, lol!)

I think cooking crickets would ruin whatever you put the crickets on! LOL, disgusting. And imagine the smell. I'd rather toss them outside so they would freeze and just become compost for whatever plant, than cook them.

 

[snazzyglasses]

oh I didn't even think about the smell, good point! Ewww.

 

[esn]

Freezing should kill most, if not all, parasites in your feeders. This is the main reason why snakes are fed frozen/thawed mice, and other herps are fed freeze dried food at times. Crickets are notorious for parasites when coming from dubious locations. After freezing for a day or two they should be safe to feed.

 

[TheWerewolf]

LOL, I meant to reply to this earlier. Oh how silly my mind is. Anyways, thank you esn, for answering my question. We did end up returning the crickets. But now I know that if this happens ever again, I'll just freeze them first. Thanks.

 

[DNADragons]

Yes, it does kill parasites. Freeze between 1-2 weeks to insure all parasites have been killed. Most bacteria on the otherhand will not die.