# Black beetles at the bottom of my cricket tub :S



## Bradders100

Heya, I have small black beetles at the bottom of my cricket tub, they seemed to eat the dead crickets and anything rotting really... but now i have discovered about 20-30 of them, (only two adults and most still in their 'caterpillar' state.

I don't want to kill them because they can be useful to me. 

Any advice on what they are and how I could look after them better?

Thanks 

xx Laura xx


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## nebski

they may be what the crickets feed on ?????? not sure but i used to work in a place where we got live crickets in and i remember seeing something like that in the tubs.


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## joe0709

dont think there any harm and im pretty sure they clean the tub but there not supposed to be there lol


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## SiUK

yeh they do no harm, just eat dead crickets and help keep it clean


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## Mark75

Mantid nymphs eat them fine


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## Becky

Baby spiders love 'em too


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## GRB

There is a thread about them in the lizard section - I thought they were Antrhenous beetles, but they are hide beetle and the hairy worm like ones are their larvae. 

They are a pest of museum specimens, and are used to clean out cricket enclosures - they might nibble on a moulting invert, but otherwise are no threat to inverts and make reasonable feeding. They seem to do a lot of harm to reptiles however - some people on the other thread suggest that since the reptiles eat them whole, they can cause damage to the lizrad stomach as they literally chew their way out.


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## boomslang40

ive always found these lil guys in cricket tubs, especially the larvae, and they seem to always get into my vivs, even my snake vivs, i think once out the tub they msut get in a like the warmth,w henever i clean out they;re somehow in the substrate! and especially hiding in the bark!

but they;ve never cause any trouble in my snake tanks, frog tanks or lizard tanks :S


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## Jake89

I started a thread about this in the lizard section, there is a scientific name for them, but the nick name in death grub, they are they to eat the dead crickets, it isnt really advised to feed these too any of your animals, and they are also used for stripping dead flesh from bone! (random fact for you!)


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## wilkingson

hi 
well i get these bugs and caterepilla things in with my criks


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