Nematodes

Stroked

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
3
So I have recently moved from Texas to another state. I use to have an exotic pet shop in Austin that I would buy my feeders from, well now I am dependent on Petco. I was checking over all my T's just now and found my Minatrix sling curled and on the bottom of her cube. Her abdomen had exploded open with 7 to 8 worms and more still inside. I know these are Nematodes and I know they came from Petco.
Now the horrible bart is my other 48 T's have had the same damn crickets from Petco as well.......I just dont know what to do.....since there isnt anything I can do but wait and hope no one else gets sick.

If all my T's die from this I will try legal action against Petco. The way they keep the animal here are a joke. I should have know something was wrong when half my crickets were dead before I even fed them off, sometimes just hours after I bought them......

I'm so sick feeling right now :mad:
 

Anastasia

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
1,846
I really doubt those are nematodes, if you see worms most likely its a fly larvae and it found you spider after death
Nematodes invisible to 'naked' eye, but you will see them under sum magnification
also they dont burst trough abdomen, usually you will see them around tarantulas fangs 'mouth' its like a creamy off white mess
under microscope that mass is moving millions of very small worms 'nematodes'

here is nematode infested tarantula
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYF40l88nP8
 

Moltar

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 11, 2007
Messages
5,438
Like Anastasia said, it's likely not nematodes but some sort of flies. They very well may have still come in with your Petco crix though. Phorid flies lay eggs in freshly dead invertebrates and other mushy, nasty material so I'd put them at the top of your suspect list. They are often found in commercial crickets because of their high mortality rate.

The most likely scenario is that your sling died from some other cause and the phorids found her carcass fairly quickly. There's also the less likely possibility (but still possible) these are some other type of larvae that actually did infect and eat her, it's hard to say now.

In any case, if it were my collection I'd immediately order up a decent colony of roaches from somebody here on AB and kill off the crickets. Remove them completely from the house. You could also put your effort into starting a good, clean cricket colony but I think that's more trouble than it's worth.

Click this and read. It has a whole section of links on the pro's and con's of keeping different species of roaches or crickets as feeders. My preference is B. dubia but many prefer B. lateralis. Crickets suck.


Edit, more: When I was using cricket oh so many years ago (like, 2) I still had a colony I'd keep them in, feeding water gel and fresh veggies to gut-load them a bit before tossing them to their fangey doom. This also gave me a chance to separate out the dead and dying to keep the others healthy. You may want to try this in the interim.
 

Stroked

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
3
Ok I have been reading up on phorids and I will agree with everyone. My only concern still is what it looked like when I got to my minatrix this morning. She has been refusing food and acting strange for 2 weeks. She is a tiny sling, maybe half an inch. She was alive lastnight and I figured her slow movements were because of a coming molt (I've had her about 6 months and she has only molted twice). This morning however I saw those little white larva all coming out of her abdomen and body where her legs attach. Not one of the larva seemed to want to stay in her, it was like they were all coming out at once. But if she died lastnight while I slept, maybe these nasty things got to her overnight. Can these phorids act that fast? We're talking about maybe 5 hours. Anyway maybe this was just "sudden avic death" and these larva were just doing their job.
I'm just horrified of a possible parasitic infestation.

DUBIAS HAVE BEEN ORDERD. I have always hated crickets. I've been in the hobby long enough to know better
 

Moltar

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 11, 2007
Messages
5,438
Nice work. You may never know what actually killed your Avic sling. That's just the way it goes in this thing of ours.
 

aquaArachnid

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 12, 2008
Messages
280
Crickets do suck. When one dies, they all die and the smell is horrible. I have the same issue as far as only relying on petco but i've found theres no need for a roach colony when i only have 2 T's.. But a cricket colony isn't the answer either.. so i guess i'm stuck with petco :(
 

Anastasia

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
1,846
.... Can these phorids act that fast? We're talking about maybe 5 hours....
even faster then that, that is how they stay alive, and very very hard to get rid of, just a couple flies will multiply in thousands in no time at all
and in right conditions you get infestation pretty quick
just google phorid flies you get all information
 

AbraCadaver

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 6, 2009
Messages
296
That sucks mate.. I had a juvie a.bicegoi die of nematodes, and as mentioned, she had a pusslike substance coming from her mouth, no "visible" worms.

I agree on chuckig out the crickets, and moving on to other feeders. Far less hassle.

I do hope this was an isolated case, I really do, and I wish you luck!
 

ZergFront

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 2, 2009
Messages
1,956
I'm guessing by the first post you can't provide a pic or video?

Did it look like this? (horsehair worms out of cricket)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvdrX4xVOTA

I'm leaning on a worm because of the time span and number. Usually only one humpback fly larva occupies a tarantula's body because of their size. I think phorid fly eggs take longer than 5 hours to hatch.

If you're sure they're a larval stage, keep them somewhere secure and see what they become. Then destroy them. If you had a good pic, you could send it to a specialist.

Doubt it's this but it is a spider parasite.

Acroceridae (adult) - parasite of arachnids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XBBaSyzaHg

I feel stupid but I don't need another thread violation; is it ok to post a thread of another board? I can't remember. :8o I have one related to this.
 
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