I know this has been asked before but ...

[dank7oo]

Are those black wormy things that come in with crix harmful to herps?

Jason

[HeatherRose]

Haha. I got like 4 of those in the bag of crickets I picked up today....they look like black wax worms. I'd like to know the answer as well :)

[tHeGiNo]

On a few occassions I have accidentally fed them to a couple beardies and they are still alive, but I am not exactly sure.

[dank7oo]

Well I hadnt cleaned my crix in a few days and there were little babies all over the place :S That will teach me :(

Jason

[meow_mix450]

Dont let them get lose in your house youll have problems! they will infest the place

Meow

[dank7oo]

Duh :)

Jason

[damzookeeper]

If you are refering to those little black kind of hairy bugs they actually turn into a flying beetle, kind of look like a smaller version of the darkling beetle. They do fly though and I've heard they also bite but never witnessed this myself. Also I was told not to feed them to any herps because althought they are not deadly they have little hairs on them that can irritate a lizards throat.

So, I've never intentionally fed them to any of my herps but I do believe a dragon or two has got one on occasion by accident and although no harm has come of it, who knows what it feels like in their throat. :(

[dank7oo]

Thanks for the info :D

Jason

[DragnDrop]

Could be larvae of the lesser darkling beetle, or dermistid or grain beetle, all of which are common in cricket and mealworm colonies. None are toxic in themselves, though the hairs on the larvae might be a bit hard to swallow. Some chams will eat the beetles (my jacksons did), but not too many other lizards like them. Of course, Nature's Garbage Cans (a.k.a. Beardies) will eat anything, even them.

[dank7oo]

But will a beardie eat my garbage? Now thats the trick :D

Jason

[DragnDrop]

But will a beardie eat my garbage? Now thats the trick

He just might eat it, mine sure tried.
I had a beardie many years ago and let him roam around the house (closely supervised) every once in a while.
One day he disappeared while I blinked, and found him after about an hour later - sitting in the kitchen garbage can, pigging out on some apple peels. I couldn't figure out how he got there, so next time he was out, I put him down close to the garbage to see if he'd do it again. He immediately went in through the gap in the 'step on' thingee, climbed up inside between the metal can and styrene liner, and into the bag itself.

[Samba]

Haha! What an amusing story! I think some reptiles are more intelligent than we give them credit for!!!

As for the little black bugs I think I was told at one time that they are deliberately placed with crickets to 'clean up'. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but if they get in with my girls they'll be gone. I have had a few of them mature, and they do fly. They look somewhat like small mealworm-beetles. Haven't been bit yet, but I tend to throw those buggers out when I find them!! =)

P.S. Why is the word 'credit' underlined?? I didn't do that!!! LOL

[Cruciform]

Samba,

If the word credit is underlined in you browser, chances are you're either using one of the free toolbars in your browsers that's supported by ad-linking, or you've been infected with ad-ware.

You can scan for ad-ware using either of the following:

Ad-aware: www.lavasoftusa.com
Spybot Seach and Destroy: http://security.kolla.de

[michele.kyle]

we have things like that in scotland we bulk feed them then after a few days or more we squash their heads and feed by wrigling them in front of the beardies etc. the ones they have here can bite into the gut of lizards etc

[Samba]

Cruciform - You're right! After a little poking around I found "Virtual Bouncer" and "Ad-Destroyer" on my hard-drive! I don't know how they got there... I sure as heck didn't download them! I have "Spyware Doctor" on my computer as well... but it doesn't seem to detect these Adware programs... I'll try those sites and see what happens. LOL, I just have to laugh because the words 'breast cancer' are underlined in your post!!! hehe, thanks again, I'll let you know what happens!!! =)