Some sort of beetle feeding on my t ??

[Al64]

I've got an adult chilean rose which i feed on crickets bought from my local pet store. I noticed that there was other bugs in there with the crickets but thought nothing of it until one day I noticed one hanging on to my t's abdomen presumeably biting and feeding off her. There was a couple of them in with her, about half an inch in length, they looked a bit like small mealworms. So i took her out and cleaned the tank and put fresh substrate in with her and cleaned her log.
That was a few weeks ago, she has molted since then, maybe as the tank was a bit damper with the new substrate...then a few days ago I found a small beetle in the tank and I've no idea how it got there though I fished that out straight away and then found another dead beetle in her water bowl.
Would anyone be able to shed any light on these visitors, knowing what they may have been...and also if the last findings could have been in the dried coconut husk which I use for substrate and not something that may have hatched from inside my T.
Many thanks Al

 

[EndlessForms]

I've got an adult chilean rose which i feed on crickets bought from my local pet store. I noticed that there was other bugs in there with the crickets but thought nothing of it until one day I noticed one hanging on to my t's abdomen presumeably biting and feeding off her. There was a couple of them in with her, about half an inch in length, they looked a bit like small mealworms. So i took her out and cleaned the tank and put fresh substrate in with her and cleaned her log.
That was a few weeks ago, she has molted since then, maybe as the tank was a bit damper with the new substrate...then a few days ago I found a small beetle in the tank and I've no idea how it got there though I fished that out straight away and then found another dead beetle in her water bowl.
Would anyone be able to shed any light on these visitors, knowing what they may have been...and also if the last findings could have been in the dried coconut husk which I use for substrate and not something that may have hatched from inside my T.
Many thanks Al

if you were feeding it mealworms, then thats where the beetles came from. they aren't really 'worms' their beetle larva. also, when feeding with mealworms, try not to let them bury themselves you can't just throw them in the tank like crickets you need to 'hand feed' with them..or use a feeding dish

 

[Al64]

Oh right, thanks a bunch for the advice, I'm not sure if they were meal worms, they looked similar but I thought that mealworms were longer, they were just in the tub with the crickets...about half an inch long with six legs and a hard shell, but they could move fairly quickly when i tried to get them out, I'll be more careful about that I put into the tank in future.

 

[bobusboy]

Just for future reference, take a photo and post it. You will get a lot more responses..

 

[Hobo]

Dermestid beetles perhaps? I get those with my crickets sometimes.

 

[Travis K]

Dermestid beetles perhaps? I get those with my crickets sometimes.

Hard to say without photos

 

[Bugs In Cyberspace]

You mentioned a log. I'd ditch the log at this point. My guess is it's some type of woodboring beetle.

 

[Mez]

I forget the latin name, but are they 'fluffy' looking? If so, theyre oppotunistic scavangers and will eat whatever they can. Usually this is mainly dead crickets, hence why they put them in the tubs. Very common over here.

 

[mcluskyisms]

I forget the latin name, but are they 'fluffy' looking? If so, theyre oppotunistic scavangers and will eat whatever they can. Usually this is mainly dead crickets, hence why they put them in the tubs. Very common over here.

Beat me to it

 

[Al64]

no they're were not fluffy, they were yellow/beige in colour with a hard segmented shell. I thought they were just cricket larvea or something as they werte in the same tub, I think the best thing I can do is go back to the pet shop (Pets at Home) and have a word with one of the managers and see if he can shed any light on it, but thanks for your advice, if I get any results I'll post it on here... thanks a bunch guys, you've all been a great help

 

[mcluskyisms]

no they're were not fluffy, they were yellow/beige in colour with a hard segmented shell. I thought they were just cricket larvea

I dont think he was talking about the actual beetles before but the actual larvae of the beetles being furry. Many cricket dealers include them in their crickets to eat the dead crickets. I'm a County Durham product myself, where you from???

 

[ZergFront]

Can't say without a pic but I second the dermestids. I've gotten more than a few Attagenus in my cricket box.

 

[Al64]

Ah right, that makes sence, just when i saw one of them hanging off my T's underside I got a bit worried incase it was some sort of parasite.
I've still no idea where the black ones materialised from after thoroughly cleaning out the tank, boiling the log and giving my T close scrutiny to make sure that she had no ''Hangers on''. So they must have been in the coconut husk substrate...little feckers !!
I live in Durham, best place in the world !!