Need ID on bugs found in turtle food

[MuseCrazy]

https://vimeo.com/112243453

I'm so grossed out. I definitely fed this food to my turtle and my hermit crabs on multiple occasions. I'm already battling a fruit fly infestation with isopods in the hermit crab enclosure which is a 150 gallon tank. If these bugs are harmful I will have to do a deep clean and remove 400+ pounds of substrate. I would love for them to just be a harmless Beatle. Can someone please ID?

 

[Twentytwenty]

Those look like meal worms to me. They just turn into a harmless beetle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mealworm
I could be wrong though.

 

[pardozer]

Are you sure they aren't supposed to be in there? They are meal worms.

 

[MuseCrazy]

Everything in there is supposed to be freeze dried.

 

[Philth]

Those look like meal worms to me. They just turn into a harmless beetle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mealworm
I could be wrong though.

I suspect the dried meal worms are part of that commercial diet, and she's talking about the tiny black things moving around on them. ( hard to see in the grainy video) There is no way to ID them from this video , but I would think they are some sort of beetle, and wont do much harm. Why not contact Fluker about it ?

Later, Tom

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I suspect the dried meal worms are part of that commercial diet, and she's talking about the tiny black things moving around on them. ( hard to see in the grainy video) There is no way to ID them from this video , but I would think they are some sort of beetle, and wont do much harm. Why not contact Fluker about it ?

Later, Tom

I used to feed those beetle larvae to my slings, fluker always sends them with there crickets to pet stores.

 

[Philth]

I used to feed those beetle larvae to my slings, fluker always sends them with there crickets to pet stores.

Yes, Dermestid larva often show up in live cricket shipments, but you rarely find the adult beetles. Who knows what is crawling around in a sealed jar of freeze dried meal worms pellets. Who knows if they are even beetles ? They could be aliens for all I know. We need a better pic or video.

Later, Tom

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Yes, Dermestid larva often show up in live cricket shipments, but you rarely find the adult beetles. Who knows what is crawling around in a sealed jar of freeze dried meal worms pellets. Who knows if they are even beetles ? They could be aliens for all I know. We need a better pic or video.

Later, Tom

Dermestid larva are exactly what the looked like, I should stick to my roach colony. Who knows what pet-shops are selling as feeders.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dermestid+larva&num=30&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=IztsVP3nF4mRyQTItYKQBw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=pXFEDBHsC1n6yM%253A%3BcoJ7PPosmDFqoM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbugguide.net%252Fimages%252Fcache%252FWQJ0BQ302QBKKK9KQKPKQKEKRKPKRKWK5QNK5QB06QC0QKB0PQZSGKRSGKAK7KOKWQAK4KTKBQHSBQJ05KOKAQF0GK.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbugguide.net%252Fnode%252Fview%252F245532%252Fbgimage%3B560%3B420

 

[Philth]

Dermestid larva are exactly what the looked like, I should stick to my roach colony. Who knows what pet-shops are selling as feeders.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dermestid+larva&num=30&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=IztsVP3nF4mRyQTItYKQBw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=pXFEDBHsC1n6yM%253A%3BcoJ7PPosmDFqoM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbugguide.net%252Fimages%252Fcache%252FWQJ0BQ302QBKKK9KQKPKQKEKRKPKRKWK5QNK5QB06QC0QKB0PQZSGKRSGKAK7KOKWQAK4KTKBQHSBQJ05KOKAQF0GK.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbugguide.net%252Fnode%252Fview%252F245532%252Fbgimage%3B560%3B420

There's no harm in getting a Dermestid larva in your bag of crickets.

later, Tom

 

[Smokehound714]

it's virtually impossible to keep pests out of dried goods. They can eat virtually anything, hence the name 'carpet beetles'. other closely related species within the powder-post and death-watch beetle family are the cigarette beetles, and drugstore beetles, all of which can be found in virtually any dried foods you purchase, animal feed, or for human consumption.

None of them are harmful to your turtles or you. I would be more concerned about them taking flight and infesting your grains and other dried goods.

 

[MissLyss]

Since it is a freeze dried mix, you can nuke it in the microwave for 15 second increments until.. well.. no more moving specks.
I used to have this issue with the bulk bird seed from a local pet store, microwave solved it. Good to know they are just carpet beetles, but I could see them being a nuisance if they reproduce in your substrate.

 

[Smokehound714]

they might not necessarily be carpet beetles, they can be any number of Bostrichoidea, which is an ENORMOUS superfamily, containing the carpet and hide beetles, the drugstore/tobacco beetles, the powderpost beetles, deathwatch beetles, and many more families that contain species well known for infesting grain and animal feed.

 

[The Snark]

Since it is a freeze dried mix, you can nuke it in the microwave for 15 second increments until.. well.. no more moving specks.
I used to have this issue with the bulk bird seed from a local pet store, microwave solved it. Good to know they are just carpet beetles, but I could see them being a nuisance if they reproduce in your substrate.

Works but diligence is required. I did an experiment nuking fleas and flea eggs (and wrecking a carpet... please don't ask). Fleas can survive up to ten 30 second nukings. Some eggs survived many repeated nukings. Not that there are many critters as hardy as fleas but microwave zapping is really spotty and unpredictable.