New cricket strain at Mulberry? Customer Svc?

[DawnsNova]

So far I have been ordering my crickets from Flukers, with absolutely no complaints.
Wanting to add some nutritional variety, I decided to order some phoenix and small super worms for Ellie. Mulberry Farms came recommended and carries all the varieties I wanted to try in addition to the staple crickets. I tried to place an order today, and the cricket size I need wasn't listed as an available option. I called their customer service number during normal business hours and got the message to email them instead, which I found odd. Even though Mulberry had over five business hours to respond to my email, they didn't. And, with regard to the crickets, their website says they have a "new strain of hardy, wingless cricket they are excited about", and will only have the standard brown house cricket available minimally.
So, anyone out there regularly get their dragon goodies from Mulberry? Anyone familiar with their new cricket species? If so, are the new crix comparable, better, worse? Is this new type the ones I have read about on here that are very aggressive?
Any suggestions/comments are greatly appreciated.
Thanks again.
Dawn

 

[Buckmaster299]

I have heard about these. Some guy in Atlanta, GA supplies a local petstore up my way with all kinds of crickets. If it is the type I am thinking about they are not TOTALLY wingless they are nearly though. As for the nutritional value, I would think they would be a little better since there would be less waste out of the larger crickets becasue of not having the wings which i do not think beardies can digest. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here. I hope this helps a little bit.

 

[hammerhead]

Maybe they are those crazy Jamaician Field crickets. A local pet store has them but I'm not interested.
http://www.geckotime.com/jamaican-field-cricket-gryllus-assimili/

 

[DawnsNova]

Immediately upon reading this, I emailed Mulberry and specifically asked what species of cricket, including scientific name, do they now carry.
In the interim, I am hoping that it isn't the bad assimilus Jamaican field cricket because Mulberry described them as wingless, the description of the Jamaican versions says both male and female have wings.
Now I have to figure out what I am going to do if 500 dangerous crickets are on their way from CA to here.

 

[DawnsNova]

Despite emailing a very clear, direct question to Mulberry Farms, after several hours, the only response from them stated only that they now carry the "banded cricket". I sent a rapid response asking for more clarification and information about their new strain. So far, no response, and I am getting increasingly concerned.
Anybody have any suggestions as to now what????

 

[hammerhead]

I see ghanns has banded crickets: (Gryllodes sigillatus)
http://www.ghann.com/new_crickets.cfm

 

[JMDaniels]

Despite emailing a very clear, direct question to Mulberry Farms, after several hours, the only response from them stated only that they now carry the "banded cricket". I sent a rapid response asking for more clarification and information about their new strain. So far, no response, and I am getting increasingly concerned.
Anybody have any suggestions as to now what????

The banded cricket is also known as "Gryllodes sigillatus". They have been a popular feeder in Europe for a number of years. This summer, Ghann's cricket farm became the first U.S commercial breeder of this species. It is largely a response to the cricket virus wipe out that reached North America last year. At first, farmers tried to breed Gryllus assimilis. There was some confusion because many farms got a non-USDA approved variant that was NOT authentic Gryllus assimilis. The article that someone posted above (from GeckoTime) is not actually pertaining to the real Gryllus assimilis, but an unknown variant that was later found out to have been falsely sold as Jamaican Field Cricket.

Anyway, the reason that the farms are switching is mainly because of the densovirus (that infected the house crickets) and the fact that the Jamaican crickets do not breed fast enough to be as profitable for the industry. The banded crickets are most likely going to become the new standard. Thus far, I have not purchased them. However, most people I've spoken to are satisfied with this species. They are slightly smaller than other species and a bit better at climbing (which can be both good and bad).

 

[charlie476]

I received banded crickets over the summer as well from a closed source. They are not wingless. They are short winged crickets.

When i thought about raising the Gryllus assimilis I ordered them from ghann. They were supposed to be non biting non aggressive crickets. Which i personally witnessed was not the case. I placed my hand on top of the egg crates to see what they would do in no time they were munching on my hand. I was like no biggie they were in transit for a day and hungry. After a week of feeding the Gryllus assimilis i place a few on my hand and within a minute or two they began to chew on my skin. Not an OMG bite but they just sat there chewing away until you could see a red raised mark and trace of blood. So I'm very glad to see Gryllus assimilis are out the window for a feeder cricket.

The Gryllodes sigillatus will be a great replacement cricket I feel. I have had a colony going since summer and they are very close to the house cricket. I haven't been able to get one to bite me yet. They do not get quite as big as the Acheta's aka house cricket. When i applied for my shipping permits for them a got great results and approved for all but a few states. A few states decided they did not want to approve the shipment of Gryllodes sigillatus to their states. Off the top of my head Nevada was one but I cant remember the other.

Where as with the Gryllus assimilis i believe there was somewhere around 7 states that didnt allow them shipped into their state.

 

[ReptileAddiction]

In my opinion a lot of the stuff about the jamaican field cricket is NOT true. Some of it is but it seems like it got blown way out of proportion. I have been using them a long time and never had a problem because I am careful with them. A lot of people think they are dangerous and I disagree. I am curious to try the new species though. I will have to place an order.