My Chamelon
Member
Hello,
So recently I bought some crickets from Petco. My area has no other reptile or pet company around that I can buy crickets from, so Petco is my only option. This batch of crickets really worried me though, they were dying rapidly and appeared to be having seizures. I found four dead, and six twitching on their backs in two days. They were on their back, like they normally do when about to die, but they were twitching. I tried to lift them back on their legs, but they hobbled and twitched (similar to trying to relearn how to walk) and then they all would flop back onto their backs. They only rapidly died from there, and I decided not to feed them to my veiled cham. Normally I have some die from overcrowding (there isn't a lot of air flow for them), but this was strange. I released them all into the wild and did some research. The biggest thing I saw was the possibility of cricket paralysis virus. Though the virus is said to have no real symptoms. I'm at a loss, and I am unsure of what to do from here. I plan to call Petco and tell them about my situation, but until then: What is this that is happening to these crickets? Are they still safe for my chameleon? What should I do if this happens again? (Is it common?)
So recently I bought some crickets from Petco. My area has no other reptile or pet company around that I can buy crickets from, so Petco is my only option. This batch of crickets really worried me though, they were dying rapidly and appeared to be having seizures. I found four dead, and six twitching on their backs in two days. They were on their back, like they normally do when about to die, but they were twitching. I tried to lift them back on their legs, but they hobbled and twitched (similar to trying to relearn how to walk) and then they all would flop back onto their backs. They only rapidly died from there, and I decided not to feed them to my veiled cham. Normally I have some die from overcrowding (there isn't a lot of air flow for them), but this was strange. I released them all into the wild and did some research. The biggest thing I saw was the possibility of cricket paralysis virus. Though the virus is said to have no real symptoms. I'm at a loss, and I am unsure of what to do from here. I plan to call Petco and tell them about my situation, but until then: What is this that is happening to these crickets? Are they still safe for my chameleon? What should I do if this happens again? (Is it common?)