Can Tarantulas Actually Get Parasites from Crickets?

[Royalty]

There are rumours going around that tarantulas can get parasites (possibly nematodes) from Pet stores.

Most of my slings are too small for crickets so I usually get meal worms. I have a few that are larger so I get some of the "small" crickets from popular chain store on occasion. Well, I suspected my bigger ones were going into premolt so I had the crickets aside in a container in my cabinet to keep them on hand if they weren't. (one is fossorial so it can be hard to tell)

It had been about a week since they came out so I decided I would put them with my cricket terrarium but at some point it turns out the ones in the container all died. I had added some food - some dried brine shrimp I mixed with water so it makes like a paste, I give it to my isopods sometimes - and there was moisture from the food so I know they did not starve.

I opened the container to look inside and was shocked to see a couple maggoty things crawling around. The cricket's bodies also looked pretty deflated. I closed the container again and threw it in the trash, tho I could get pics if needed. It is very possible that flies got in and laid eggs in the brine shrimp food or ate the crickets after dying. It has been really hot and sometimes crickets from the pet store just die easily.

I am a little concerned because I fed a couple of those crickets to my t's before they went into premolt. Is this a case where they could get infected with parasites?

I am from Canada and the chain store's cricket tubs are visible. They are not overly dirty, just standard egg cartons.

 

[viper69]

Anything is possible with nature.

However it’s not likely generally speaking.

Not sure why, but there’s been an uptick of relatively new owners, looking for new food prey, coming here and claiming store bought crickets pass on parasites.

I don’t believe this is likely.

I’ve been here a long time- never saw this before, nor is it a concern of mine, just keep buying crix here

 

[Gurantula]

@Royalty I'm sure your tarantulas are fine. Someone will chime in and describe how the mouth of a T liquifies everything. I don't know the correct way to describe that.

...Not sure why, but there’s been an uptick of relatively new owners, looking for new food prey, coming here and claiming store bought crickets pass on parasites...

I think a youtube guy is responsible for a lot of those, but I wont say names lol.

 

[viper69]

@Royalty I'm sure your tarantulas are fine. Someone will chime in and describe how the mouth of a T liquifies everything. I don't know the correct way to describe that.



I think a youtube guy is responsible for a lot of those, but I wont say names lol.

Let me get this straight, you won’t educate the hobby about a person who provides questionable information? That’s not helpful.

 

[Gurantula]

Let me get this straight, you won’t educate the hobby about a person who provides questionable information? That’s not helpful.

Oh people have been talking about him quite a bit recently. I think he is even on the forums. But for the sake of the hobby, Exotics Lair put out a video claiming parasites from crickets killed his tarantula. And he says to never feed them to your Ts. He also says he is just a fan of Ts and making youtube video and does not really know that much about them.

 

[fatalgecko]

Anything is possible with nature.

However it’s not likely generally speaking.

Not sure why, but there’s been an uptick of relatively new owners, looking for new food prey, coming here and claiming store bought crickets pass on parasites.

I don’t believe this is likely.

I’ve been here a long time- never saw this before, nor is it a concern of mine, just keep buying crix here

I believe one of the YOUTUBERs posted recently a long video of them holding one of their dead tarantulas claiming that he has suffered a bunch of losses due to crickets and doing a PSA not to use them.

 

[Vanessa]

The likelihood of getting nematodes from crickets is extremely slim, despite that being the 'go to' explanation for a high number of unexplained deaths that might not even be nematode related at all. I am in Canada also, I have fed my tarantulas for 20+ years on primarily crickets, and I have never seen any evidence of them. Nematode deaths are very, very, uncommon in the hobby, but they are blamed for far more deaths than they are actually responsible for. Finding an already dead tarantula with parasite activity doesn't automatically mean that the parasites killed them. Parasites arrive on the scene of death extremely quickly and you can potentially find all sorts of predation happening on a dead tarantula after a very short time.
Keeping crushed, wet, brine shrimp - even for a few hours - inside an enclosure is going to attract the attention of insects. Who knows what those small maggot things were - fungus gnat larvae, phorid fly larvae - who knows. I sometimes find them in the water crystal dish of my crickets and they are likely fungus gnat larvae who like moist conditions. Without a proper photograph, it is not possible to identify what they were.

But for the sake of the hobby, Exotics Lair put out a video claiming parasites from crickets killed his tarantula.

His information is mostly garbage and I certainly would not be taking any of his advice at face value without a far more reputable source backing it up.

 

[Royalty]

The likelihood of getting nematodes from crickets is extremely slim, despite that being the 'go to' explanation for a high number of unexplained deaths that might not even be nematode related at all. I am in Canada also, I have fed my tarantulas for 20+ years on primarily crickets, and I have never seen any evidence of them. Nematode deaths are very, very, uncommon in the hobby, but they are blamed for far more deaths than they are actually responsible for. Finding an already dead tarantula with parasite activity doesn't automatically mean that the parasites killed them. Parasites arrive on the scene of death extremely quickly and you can potentially find all sorts of predation happening on a dead tarantula after a very short time.
Keeping crushed, wet, brine shrimp - even for a few hours - inside an enclosure is going to attract the attention of insects. Who knows what those small maggot things were - fungus gnat larvae, phorid fly larvae - who knows. I sometimes find them in the water crystal dish of my crickets and they are likely fungus gnat larvae who like moist conditions. Without a proper photograph, it is not possible to identify what they were.


His information is mostly garbage and I certainly would not be taking any of his advice at face value without a far more reputable source backing it up.

I saw that video and I found it unlikely that was the cause of that particular death.

I have seen causes of nematodes on here that were visible in the t's mouth but those were wild caught.

It is highly likely it was fly larvae as I occasionally get flies in the house and had not checked on the crickets for a few days. Bit sad they passed but there has been a heat wave and they seem sensitive to it. I lost a few in the ones I have been trying to colonize after a heatwave. That being said a lot have been living in there for about 3-4 months now bought from the same store.

 

[Royalty]

Okay- I decided I will do an experiment. I took the container back out, sealed it so the maggoty things can not get out and made tinier holes. I will see what they hatch into, then I can know for sure. If they are flies it would be useful to keep them to feed to my wild caught spiders.

 

[Poonjab]

Exotic nimrod loses a lot of T’s. Always has an excuse or blame for how they died. Takes zero accountability for his crappy husbandry. I feed crix regularly. Never had an issue. Long story short, don’t watch nimrod talking hands guy on YouTube. Your T’s will thank you.

 

[Rhino1]

Do store bought crickets carry parasites?
Is it feasible? Yes.
Is it likely? No, not all.
I'm going to assume the mystery parasites are nematodes or fly larvae, unless the cricket breeder is sweeping the feeders up, off a dirty concrete floor in the garage or keeps them in very unsanitary conditions, then it's highly unlikely, crickets are bred in controlled and sanitary conditions.

Wild caught Ts may be carrying nematodes, prey items such as wild caught moths, locusts, gecko's and small garden skinks/lizards, frogs are like the number one carriers of nematodes, have you been feeding WC prey?
Is your T captive bred?
Why not breed your own feeders to be sure.
I have fed crickets to everything I own since 2001 with absolutely zero concern.

Dude ignore Exotics videos, they are there for entertainment purposes, not educational.
Even he admits he is a noob and not sure what he is doing in some of his vids.

 

[viper69]

I believe one of the YOUTUBERs posted recently a long video of them holding one of their dead tarantulas claiming that he has suffered a bunch of losses due to crickets and doing a PSA not to use them.

People have been using farm raised crickets for decades from some of the same companies for decades.

I would need read a report from a vet that examined these Ts to believe it.

They eat many prey items in the wild, insects being one of them.

This is all nonsense

 

[Rhino1]

Oh and for the record a T can carry nematodes for at least 12 months + before it actually even shows signs or kills them.

 

[Coradams]

I saw that video and it left me with a some questions so as long as we are talking about it:
1. As I understand it, ts liquefy their food so they can drink it. Doesn't that mean that they would also liquefy the parasites as well? And if they don't actually eat solids, how do they become infected in the wild?
2. In the video, the enclosure of the deceased t (as I remember) appeared to have only one air hole in each side. I am not familiar with that species but could poor ventilation have contributed to its death?

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Exotics Lair is not a reliable source of information. I'll leave it at that.

The larvae you found are likely from flies that have laid eggs either in the wet food (one of the reasons I only use separate dishes of dry food and water crystals for my feeder colonies), or on/around a recently deceased cricket, unless your using banded/silent crickets (or some other relatively hardy species of cricket) then their life expectancy is shorter than my patience for conspiracy nutters trying to tell me that vaccines cause Autism.

Doesn't that mean that they would also liquefy the parasites as well?

Yes, they digest food externally by regurgitating digestive fluid onto the prey and mashing it up with their chelicerae so any parasites inside the prey would also be digested externally.

And if they don't actually eat solids, how do they become infected in the wild?

Via other, ahem, openings. For example, tarantula nematodes enter the tarantula via the anus, whereas parasitic fungi (e.g. Cordyceps) most likely get in via the book lungs.

 

[fatalgecko]

People have been using farm raised crickets for decades from some of the same companies for decades.

I would need read a report from a vet that examined these Ts to believe it.

They eat many prey items in the wild, insects being one of them.

This is all nonsense

I agree it is nonsense. Just guessing where this whole thing was created from

 

[RezonantVoid]

Almost guarantee some flies just got in there and layed eggs, unclean feeder bins and petshop containers are haven for them to reproduce in a humid environment.


As for the stories of petshop crickets commonly carrying nematodes? Seriously! This shouldn't even be up for debate! Roaches are kept almost identically to crickets and i dont hear anybody making these claims about them, so what sense is there in blaming crickets for being common parasitic hosts when countless thousands of keepers have been using them issue free for decades? A tarantula mashes up its meal into a liquid mush, im unsure if it would even be possible for a parasite to enter a T while it feeds.

I do apologize for my abruptness, but i feel like this a recurring topic lately.

 

[Royalty]

I have been trying to get my own cricket colony started. I have some breeding age adults yet, but I do not have quite enough to harvest my own yet.

Tbh, I follow a few tarantula YouTubers so various things get recommended for me. I don’t really watch that particular one, the way he keeps some of his t’s makes me sad.

 

[Rhino1]

1. As I understand it, ts liquefy their food so they can drink it. Doesn't that mean that they would also liquefy the parasites as well? And if they don't actually eat solids, how do they become infected in the wild?

Nematode eggs are microscopic and darn near bullet proof, they are designed to be ingested and then there's certain nematodes that will burrow into the mouth/anus of the tarantula and there are also fly and small wasp species that will lay eggs of parasitic larvae on the surface or inject them into the soft abdomen.

 

[viper69]

Phorid flies are never fun.

Brine shrimp- sure sounds like an issue to me, but I'm not an expert on luring foreign invaders to my Ts, I'm an expert on the opposite