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Answer
May 05, 2019 - 04:30 AM
I am so glad you asked us this question!! We are quite familiar with it.
When crickets are found to have the eggs of parasites that infect Bearded Dragons in their digestive tract, it is because they have ingested the eggs from the fecal matter of an infected dragon or other animals. The GI tract of a cricket is much too small to provide and host the complete life cycle of pinworms, for example. When your insects are raised on a farm, they are in solitary confinement and not around any reptiles (or other vertebrate animals) at all, and therefore are not exposed to the fecal matter of parasite-carrying animals. We have had our insects tested frequently at Universities by the proper laboratories with doctorate entomologists (not by lay-people with a microscope from Facebook, but that is another story), and every single time they come up negative. The parasitologists assure me every single time that since our insects are not a part of the fecal-oral route of reptiles that they cannot harbor the parasites that vertebrate animals carry. Though insects absolutely can carry their own type of parasites that are transmittable to other invertebrate organisms, ours consistently test negative for them. Even though the laboratories do question me when I request the tests because they say it's impossible for our insects to harbor vertebrate parasites, I still have them tested and pay the steep fee for not only the peace of mind for our customers but to protect us from being accused wrongfully. Thanks so much!! Please let us know if you have absolutely any questions at all, we are here to answer your questions and bring you peace of mind when ordering from us!
When crickets are found to have the eggs of parasites that infect Bearded Dragons in their digestive tract, it is because they have ingested the eggs from the fecal matter of an infected dragon or other animals. The GI tract of a cricket is much too small to provide and host the complete life cycle of pinworms, for example. When your insects are raised on a farm, they are in solitary confinement and not around any reptiles (or other vertebrate animals) at all, and therefore are not exposed to the fecal matter of parasite-carrying animals. We have had our insects tested frequently at Universities by the proper laboratories with doctorate entomologists (not by lay-people with a microscope from Facebook, but that is another story), and every single time they come up negative. The parasitologists assure me every single time that since our insects are not a part of the fecal-oral route of reptiles that they cannot harbor the parasites that vertebrate animals carry. Though insects absolutely can carry their own type of parasites that are transmittable to other invertebrate organisms, ours consistently test negative for them. Even though the laboratories do question me when I request the tests because they say it's impossible for our insects to harbor vertebrate parasites, I still have them tested and pay the steep fee for not only the peace of mind for our customers but to protect us from being accused wrongfully. Thanks so much!! Please let us know if you have absolutely any questions at all, we are here to answer your questions and bring you peace of mind when ordering from us!
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