Carpet beetle larvae suitable sling food?

[greensleeves]

Would carpet beetle larvae that had never been exposed to pesticides be suitable as food for spiderlings? I was thinking they might be since they are usually small - no bigger than fingernail size, and look nice and tasty: crunchy on the outside, and mushy on the inside. Okay, so I personally don't think they would be tasty, but...

Anyways, just thinking ahead to when my babies arrive.

If you want to know what the specimens in question look like, here is a photo:

 

[Immortal_sin]

they look disgusting....but probably deliciously delectable to your Ts
I'd try them, if you are CERTAIN they have not been exposed to ANY pesticide!

 

[Kugellager]

The problems with carpet beetle larvae is that they can infest your house and damage anything that is made with natural fibers. This includes the carpets themselves, sweaters, couch stuffing and many other things you would not want them to munch.

They are also very difficult to get rid of once your house becomes infested. I would not recommend them as I had a small outbreak in my bug room as they came from the crickets I was getting from my pet store...the larvae were getting tossed in with the crickets and mutliplying in my tanks by feeding on cricket parts...no wonder my tanks were always so clean...then I saw the larvae crawling around other parts of the house...bad news...took me a couple of weeks to get it under control and prevent an infestation...powdered borax worked very well and safely on the carpet of my bug room and catching/killing any adult beetles I saw put an end to their spread.

All and all I would NOT recommend them.

John
];')

 

[Immortal_sin]

so, what you're saying Kug...is that maybe greensleeves has an infestation of them? yuck!
then I'd invest my time in ridding myself of them....
but why not feed them to the Ts, if the Ts will eat them??

 

[greensleeves]

Originally posted by Kugellager
They are also very difficult to get rid of once your house becomes infested.

I know. :8o

My Mom had an outbreak, which we thought we had eliminated with thorough cleaning. We think they arrived at her place in some birdseed.

Anyway, she replaced all the carpets since they had been needing it anyway, had the house professionally cleaned top to bottom. And I thought that was the end.

I moved out in 2000 and didn't take any potentially beetle-carrying stuff with me: ie. nothing that had been on the floor, not stored in plastic bins, etc. And it seemed I didn't have any either.

Then she gave our kitty a fuzzy pillow as a present, it had been in her house and she must have still had them somewhere, because they now infest our loveseat. I hate using pesticides so I've just been vacuming the hell out of the loveseat every day and then flushing what I find down the toilet. There are never many, and they have never spread, but I figure why not make the best of a bad situation, eh? :8o

It would give me some satisfaction to see something prey on the nasty little critters besides me.

I can't believe I just admitted that.

Greensleeves

 

[Kugellager]

If you see them in places of your house that you shouldnt than its possible...They were breeding in my H.spinifer scorpion tank for about a month where I thought nothing of it til I saw them in the hallway and my bathroom adjacent to my bug room...that's when I did my research and asked a local invert guy on the potential problems with them.

I discovered they can climb even thin silicone in the invert tanks. Which is how they were getting out. Luckily I caught the problem in the beginning.

John
];')

 

[Kugellager]

You could try putting the powdered borax in the loveseat..it's relatively non-toxic to humans and mammals...though if youyr cat licks the pillow I would NOT use it...It works in the carpets on fleas and roaches...which is how I got the Idea to use it on the carpet of my bug room...I realized it woul not hurt my inverts as I don't let them wander around. Then after a couple of week with it in the carpet I vacuumed it all up.

John
];')

 

[atavuss]

Kug, where do you find powdered borax at?
Ed

 

[Valael]

Supposedly (I heard it countless times while I worked there, but never actually looked) Wal Mart carries it in the chemcials area.

 

[Kugellager]

You can find borax in the laundry detergent area of just about any store that sells laundry detergent...the only brand I ever see is '20 mule train BORAX' ...it's in a vomit green and tan box with red lettering...about $3 US.

John
];')