What is this cricket doing?

[Syngyne]

Sort of related to tarantulas since I'm trying to feed it to my T.

Tonka hasn't been eating lately, so I've been waiting every couple of days to offer her a cricket to see if she's hungry again. Well, I put a cricket in her cage today, and I notice the cricket is sitting still on the substrate, and it's abdomen is sort of pulsing. Like, once a second or so it looks like its abdomen is contracting, with an occasional contraction that it holds for a second or so. Other than that, it's just sitting still. I don't see anything coming out of it at all, and nothing on the back end looks like it's inserted into the substrate. Any ideas what's going on here?

Also, through some circumstance this cricket is missing both its hind legs. I didn't pull them off, so one of the other crickets may have chewed on them.

 

[P. Novak]

Maybe it's in labor and preparing to lay some eggs.

 

[JungleGuts]

perhaps its trying to move its legs that arnt there? lol i really have no clue i just throw in the cricket and if i dont see it hunted i come back later to see if theres a feast going on, so i dont watch em much to know the answer. Could be laying eggs in the substrait tho, in which case you will probably have lots of tiny crickets running around the enclosure.

 

[WyvernsLair]

if the cricket has an ovipositor on it (long stinger looking thingy), then it is a female and she was laying eggs in the substrate.

 

[Syngyne]

aiiiie it did have an ovipositor, but it was cut short for some reason. Does it matter if the ovipositor wasn't inserted into the substrate while it was contracting?

If it did lay eggs, Ima punch me a cricket now...

 

[Midnightrdr456]

im not sure about that part, but for crickets laying eggs its usually not a big deal. I keep most of my T's dry (only my M. Robustum stays more moist). Therefore all the little babies work their way to the water dish and effectively drown themselves. Helpful little buggers (no pun intended......well maybe a little)

 

[Syngyne]

Well, my T's a G.aureostriata, so it's pretty dry in there. If I do end up with baby crickets hopefully the problem will take care of itself.

Here's a question, though... Tonka hasn't been eating in a couple of weeks so I don't know if she's getting ready to molt or not. If she does molt, and the baby crickets are around, will the crickety horde descend on her and eat her?

 

[Yuki]

Well, my T's a G.aureostriata, so it's pretty dry in there. If I do end up with baby crickets hopefully the problem will take care of itself.

Here's a question, though... Tonka hasn't been eating in a couple of weeks so I don't know if she's getting ready to molt or not. If she does molt, and the baby crickets are around, will the crickety horde descend on her and eat her?

Don't worry too much about it, even if i does lay eggs not all ways sure that they will hatch.... If your T is eating a lot it does not sound like it will molt, if it does soon and you have baby crickets, just try and move them out.