little beetle type things?

[saz-bristol]

I have noticed that my chilli rose has aqquired some little friends or foes?
god knows where they came from. they are about 5millimeters long and a blacky brown colour.
they don't seem to go anywhere near her and don't seem to be bothering her.
Where did they come from? should I get rid of them?
Can any1 help?

[Shot8un]

Hi Saz,

Have you been feeding her mealworms?

Regards

[St0n3y]

Hi Saz I have seen those beetles you talk about...

They come with the crickets, I have seen a few in the past and I don’t think the will harm your tarantula. I think they are more like cleaners and will feed on the cricket waste. As for the beetle larvae then that could be a different matter?

[Aviculariinae]

Hi,
Have you ever seen little furry catapillar things(cant remember there bloody names) in with your box of crickets, Well thats where the beetles come from they are the larve form of the beetle!

[RichardDegville]

you have to be careful with the beetle larve I have lost a couple slings to these

[Mark Pennell]

Hi
I think you'll find these are a species of dermestid beetle. I am not sure if the Cricket farms use them to clean up the dead and decaying crickets on purpose or they are just something they have problems with and can't get rid of.

Dermestid beetles feed exclusively on dead matter. They are commonly found in houses where they feed on scraps of food. Certian species of these beetles are used by Museums to clean meat off the bones or to clean skulls for display etc.

I have feed them to spiderlings and they seemed to go down OK.... However these where aggresive Asian species that ate just about anything that moved.

The beetles will eat your tarantulas leftovers and my proliferate. So best get rid of them to be on the safe side. Try putting a piece of meat in a bowl and place this in the substrate the beetles will go in but will not be able to climb out. Then remove the bowl and dispose on the beetles.

Other than that clean the whole tank out.

Have fun
Regards
Mark

[saz-bristol]

Thank you all for your replies. they have been in there for a while now and don't seem to go near her and thinking about it i haven't seen any dead crickets or any bits of dead crickets for a while so i think they must be cleaning up the remains. I'll see how they go over the next week or 2. sometimes we do feed them on mealworms just for a change for all my T's. Thanks again