Strange worms

[Jaymond]

Hey guys, I recently bought some crickets and found these strange worm things in there, I don't know what they are and was wondering if anyone does and are they harmful to the crickets???

Theres some pics here to investigate....






Any help will be greatly recieved!

Jaymond x

[Moosmoo]

ive seen these before and have always wondered... i thought they were there to clear up all the dead ones and poo... hmmm

[Juzza12]

The beetles they turn into eat the dead crickets, not the poo. My beardie loves the worms

[davieboi]

thyre carpet beetle larvae

[Shayler]

Yep there flesh eating beetles

They eat the dead crickets

[mrhoyo]

They're dermastid beetle larvae, a common pest in livefood colonies. Here's Wikioedia's bit on them-

Dermestidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Jaymond]

Thanks guys for all your help!!

Been annoyin me a for a bit now.. lol

thanks again

Jaymond x

[sarah&andyb]

I have noticed these too in my silent brown crickets, and thought that they were crickets in a nymph stage (especially as some very small crickets appeared in our Kricket Keeper that we had not added ourselves). Thinking about it I have never seen any beetles in the Kricket Keeper, are they really small?

As I thought they were baby crickets I have been keeping them, but perhaps I shouldn't in case they harm my frogs if they get into the tank accidentally. What would you advise?

Many thanks ... Sarah