An Evaluation of the Gray Cricket, Acheta domestica, as a Source of Oxyurids for Reptiles
J Herpe Med Surg 15[1]:18-20 Jun'05 Prospective Study 13 Refs

Lay publications and internet forums have anecdotally suggested that commercially-bred gray crickets, Acheta domestica, are a source of oxyurids for insectivorous reptiles. This study was designed to determine if commercially bred crickets harbor oxyurids. Two-thousand five hundred gray crickets purchased from five different commercial insect breeders were evaluated for the presence of oxyurids. Attempts to isolate oxyurid eggs from the crickets were achieved by passage of homogenized crickets through a series of sieves and interpretation by flotation in a sucrose solution. No pinworm eggs were identified. These findings suggest that commercially bred crickets do not serve as a source of oxyurids for captive reptiles. [Abstract]