A Warning... Plese Read

i just wanted to briefly share a warning with people about the source of your feeders... i won't lie, it's going in general herp in hopes that more people may see it.
we all know not to feed wild insects, generally, because of possible toxins and contaminants in whatever the feeder may be feeding on. well, we recently had a very tragic incident with feeders from a bait and tackle shop.
the bait and tackle shop gets their crickets from the same place the pet stores do... i won't name the name, but it's a very large national supplier. anyway, this shop is much cheaper than any pet store because the crickets are sold for fishing bait instead of the pet industry... it also happens to be right by our house, so price and convenience made it an obvious choice.
we'd been feeding these crickets to our two, year-old veiled chameleons, who were in pefect health, for about two weeks when i noticed that they had both slowed on feeding. there were no noticable changes in husbandry, weather, etc etc. i figured maybe they just weren't as hungry because summers getting over, or maybe it's time to pair them up and try to breed them... i don't know, it hadn't been that long and animals are weird like that.
well one day my wife walks in to feed them and the male is laying dead in the bottom of the cage. when i took him out, he appeared to have a large section of paper thin, blackened looking skin near his abdomen... at first i thought maybe it was a burn, but upon closer inspection, it looked like it was rotting from the inside out or something. very disturbing. we feel terrible...
the female was found laying in her food dish, barely alive, around the same time that i hypothesized the correlation between the new crickets and the sudden changes in behavior and health. she was not fed for a couple days, then given the regular pet-store crickets which she ate with gusto (rather than avoiding eating them like she had been). she has slowly gone back to normal color and seems to be acting more normal... i've noticed her eyes are a little swollen or something, but i'm hoping she pulls out of it.
please note that my wife and i are experienced keepers and very dilligent with our animals... i've poured over the details of every aspect of husbandry and there are literally no errors - not to mention we've had them thriving for a little over a year. i just want people to be aware that even though feeders come from a recognized source, there may be a difference with where you get them from due to methods of keeping/raising those feeders, or from whatever other external factors may have been an issue here...
please learn from our mistakes.

that's just awful. I'm sorry for your loss.

were you able to get a necropsy and toxicology to confirm your suspicions? I'd love to know what exactly the toxic component was in/on the crickets.

so sad and of course chameleons are so sensitive to everything

Damn C-dub, that is really not cool.

Do you think contacting the cricket supplier will get you anywhere?

unfortunately this all happened as we were leaving for vacation so no, no necropsy or toxicology.

pat, because we didn't get a necro, i don't think it'd necessarily be appropriate to contact anyone... but a warning to the general public, i feel, is warranted.

I'm sorry for your loss :( Good info to know though just in case.

Sorry to hear that. Personally I don't even trust pet store crickets so I get mine straight from the distributer but this is just another confirmation to my worries about getting them from a "middle man" Sorry for your loss.

Thanks for posting this info for the benefit of everyone.

I have always bought mine online( cheaper, shipped, and healthy feeders) BUT I have seen how bait stores keep their crickets. Its pretty nasty compared to even petco/pet smart. My bait stores keep them in a tub with a heat lamp and rotten veggies inside to feed them, and they hardly clean at all. If its not feeders for pets, do not buy it. I'm not blaming you or anything, but really id stick with reputable places made for feeding.

Sorry to hear Colin! We are trying to breed all of our feeders (except for the occasional frozen ratsicle/mouseicle). What better way to make sure your pets are getting the best than to know what you feed to it's prey item.

I'm sure most by now know of the mealworm shortage this year, what may or may not have caused it and what kind of toll it exacted on many breeders and their breeding season.

Hang in there man...