# Worms In my Dubia cage



## snappleWhiteTea (Feb 3, 2010)

I was cleaning my dubia enclosure earlier, and i noticed little worm larvae looking things, pretty small, and there banded, any one know what that is?


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## TheHolyToast (Feb 3, 2010)

I had tons of these in my colonies until I got rid of the sub.  Is this what you have.  Some one said they are from dermestid beetles.


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## spiderfield (Feb 3, 2010)

Here's a link to a pic of what a dermestid larva looks like:

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...rvae&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHMB_enUS363US363&sa=X&um=1

What you have in the above pic looks to be a mealworm (_Tenebrio molitor_).


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## snappleWhiteTea (Feb 3, 2010)

yeah, that's them alright. mine live inside of the cardboard sheet i have. are they harmful?

spiderfield, the worms I'm talking about look like the first picture more then the linked.


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## ZergFront (Feb 3, 2010)

snappleWhiteTea said:


> yeah, that's them alright. mine live inside of the cardboard sheet i have. are they harmful?
> 
> spiderfield, the worms I'm talking about look like the first picture more then the linked.


 It MIGHT be able to chew through the cardboard. I had superworms (which look a lot like mealworms in many ways) and when they got out, they were between the package they were sent in and the table. They really chewed up the table. Sometimes they ate the already dead superworms.

 I don't know if mealworms have the same mandible strength as superworms or if mealworms would eat living insects, though(likely not). You could house mealworms in a cereal bran substrate if you want another feeder.


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## Travis K (Feb 5, 2010)

spiderfield said:


> Here's a link to a pic of what a dermestid larva looks like:
> 
> http://images.google.com/imgres?img...rvae&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHMB_enUS363US363&sa=X&um=1
> 
> What you have in the above pic looks to be a mealworm (_Tenebrio molitor_).


I have some of these in with my hissers, I don't really mind them cause if a hisser dies then there is a clean up crew to take care of it.  In the Pacific Northwest we have some really pretty spotted carnivorous beetles that I am gonna try and get my hands on this summer.


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## TheHolyToast (Feb 5, 2010)

I also have the worms in with my Hisser colony.  They eat the dead ones. So they do work as a clean up crew.  The thing is, if you use sub there numbers get out of control, and your food source will deplete twice as fast.  Maybe  a roach feed dispenser would slow them down, I never tried though, I just got rid of the sub.  I do use them as feeders for slings, so that,s a plus.


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## TheHolyToast (Feb 5, 2010)

Here are the beetles, usually they are a jet black.


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## AaronP (Feb 5, 2010)

*more then one type of demistid*

(copied and pasted from 
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...a=X&um=1 that spiderfield posted)

The dermestid or carpet beetle belongs to the family Dermestidae.  Dermestids       
                                         feed on mainly dry-moist animal material but I have not    
                                         found them to be overly picky with their dining                  
                                         preferences. *There are many species* of Dermestid          
                                         beetles that live in N. America and you have *probably      
                                         come across them a time or two whether you know it or   
                                         not.*

these are a type of dermestid beetle and in my experience have not proven to be harmful  my box turtles LOVE the beetles and the worms


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## koolkid98 (Feb 5, 2010)

Im breeding dermestids the main types are:Carpet beetles,larder beetles and hide beetles.


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