PRODUCT UPDATE | Crickets

A suspected outbreak of an unidentified cricket virus over recent months, has affected the growth, reproduction, and longevity of crickets across many states of Australia, with common symptoms reported by various commercial live insect suppliers. 

We understand many of our customers are interested to know when Crazy Critters will have live feeder crickets available for purchase again. 

There are a few important considerations:

Firstly, the only known species of cricket being reared on a commercial scale, in Australia, is Acheta domesticus.  Unfortunately, this species is particularly susceptible to a range of cricket viruses, including: 

• Acheta domesticus Densovirus (AdDNV)
  
  
• Cricket Paralysis Virus (CPV)

Also, Australian biosecurity laws restrict breeding of insects to native species only, which limits our options in respect of restarting our colonies. 

Lastly, with so many suppliers impacted by the recent outbreak of suspected viruses buying in stock to restart colonies presents a quarantine risk for our insect farm. 

Status of Cricket Production at Crazy Critters

At this stage, we are conducting small scale field trials to determine the health of the stock currently available on the market.

Once we have confidence the available stock is suitable for breeding, we will gradually begin working on re-building our cricket colonies.

next planned update:  March 2024