Cricket pets.

[Jace]

I have been ordering in 500 2 week old crickets for my Fire-bellied toads and Leo Geckos. The crickets come in a small cardboard box with egg carton filler. The last couple of boxes have revealed a worm like larvae in with the crickets. They are about the size of 2-3 week old crickets, black in colour, topedo shaped, with a bunch of legs and bristles along the sides. Does anyone know what they are? Are they safe to feed to my animals? Right now I am squishing them-they are very crunchy sounding!!

[John]

Yes they are safe to feed. They are a grub of a carpet beetle and are a symptom of the cricket farm not cleaning their rearing facilities often enough.

[Jace]

Thanks John. I think I pretty much squashed them all, but next time I will let my toads have a treat.

[Tom Highum]

How big do they get when they are through the larval stage?

[Kerry1968]

I get these in with my crickets too, the beetles are only about half to one cm long. I've put them in for my frog to eat, I haven't seen him eat them, but I haven't seen any running around!

[Tom Highum]

Thats a good sign. Does anyone anything about these guys nutritional value?

[John]

Many wild amphibians eat beetles as the staple food in their diets, so I would expect them to be a decent nutritional value. Probably similar to mealworms - those are beetles too.

[Tom Highum]

hmm i wonder if its possible to keep/breed them as a staple.

[John]

I would think it's difficult - generations can take several weeks or longer, depending on temperature. I would think it's easier to culture crickets in large numbers.

[Tom Highum]

Ok thanks