Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's an interesting excerpt from The Michigan Messenger Newspaper.

Alyn Kiel, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the import of any insect that might prove a threat to U.S. agriculture or the environment is prohibited. Any proposal to import insects is scrutinized through a permitting process.

“Our scientists here have been exploring domestic alternatives (to the brown house cricket) that might fit the needs of the industry,” Kiel said.

http://michiganmessenger.com/40966/deadly-cricket-virus-decimating-north-american-captive-bred-cricket-population-impacting-pet-industry-zoos

More here:

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/08/insect_virus_creeps_into_north.html

I went to the LA pet fair week or so ago and purchased crickets from Ranibow, one of the breeders hit by the virus. These are the best crickets they have ever produced. Just incredible. Not sure if it is a new strain or they have changed their husbandry, but I could not believe how healthy they were. Good job Rainbow. Now you just have to start shipping again.

I tried Premium Crickets this week. Looking forward to my "stress free" crickets.
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www.moonstonedragons.com

We'll have to see how this all pans out. Although I really hope it's true, I'm a little skeptical of the Rainbow miracle. They could be just buy/selling or maybe they had other issues besides the virus, who knows.