foreign objects in crickets/locusts.

[Saedcantas]

Dermestid beetles and their larvae are pest animals in commercial breeding setups, they are not put in deliberately to "clean up".

That said,

They are readily eaten by most species and are particularly good for providing supplements, their fuzzyness means they can hold plenty of powder

[vr6_12v]

so to clear this up are you saying i can feed them to my 10 week old bearded dragons? thanks . stu

[Saedcantas]

Yup! If they like them, then go for it, more variety

[swinder]

Yep my beardie loves them

[bronzeyis200]

Yep, my beardie munches them!!!

[T1NOR3PT1L35]

i've always assumed that they are an earlier evolution form of the crickts. e.g. caterpillar turns into a butterfly. My beardie's love them and they havn't done any harm yet.

[Ssthisto]

Originally Posted by T1NOR3PT1L35

i've always assumed that they are an earlier evolution form of the crickts. e.g. caterpillar turns into a butterfly. My beardie's love them and they havn't done any harm yet.

Nah, baby crickets hatch out looking like very, very small crickets - they don't metamorphose like beetles or butterflies do.

[croc&chewy]

I got told that they also eat the crickets waste and that they carried parasites?

Still can't get it out in time before the buggers chomp 'em!

[Nihlus]

They are similar to mealworms in terms of nutrition except that their chitin is much thicker. The larval stage can be a real problem if they get out as they will eat almost anything including carpet so becareful not to drop them. I found this out the hard way, dropped a couple on a rug and lost sight of them, found them next day and a large hole in the rug :S

[benjo]

those hairy worms breed like hell in a warm tank.. and boy do i know.. like said they eat carpets, fabrics, carboard anything.. very nasty things and you can barley squash them... i let 1 beetle stay in with my bosc and thought he had eaten it.. a week later had around 20 larvae running round in there.. best way is to drown them in cold water. they have been on how clean is your house before and they said they have caused boats to sink, maybe true maybe not.. the hair on them and cause all sorts of problems if they come into contact with eyes humans and pets. people claim there in livefood as a cleanup crew. but infact they will eat live and dead crickets and locusts. kill them when you see them.