Caterpillars with crickets?!

[BoxTurtle52]

I just got some crickets from the pet store and when I got home, I noticed there were these little caterpillars with them. I called the pet store and they said that sometimes they come with the crickets when they order them.

Is this normal and are my crickets safe to feed to my beardie?

[laurarfl]

I don't what the scientific name is, although I have heard people mention it on the net. I call them fuzzy bugs and I have heard they are the larva of a type of Dermestid beetle like preservers use to clean skeletons. I've also heard that they are high in calcium. My beardies luv 'em. :)

[the enigma]

Yep they're harmless and my local pet shop calls them "potato bugs" because they bore into the potatoes that the cricket breeders throw
in the cricket boxes and are hard to remove

[BoxTurtle52]

Thanks! It's a relief knowing they're not going to bother the crickets. I did scoop them out anyway, though.

[Gnatilie]

They are in fact dermastid beetles no harm to anything you would be feeding :)

[Hokurai]

Another common name for them is carpet beetle. They are flesh eating beetles but are harmless to anything alive. They probably eat the dead crickets and they also eat other things.

[tupinambis]

Just be careful how you dispose of them...they are voracious eaters of anything organic and dead - leather, natural fibre carpet, fur coats, etc. If they get loose in your house, and you have anything like this, you'll be cursing yourself for a long, long time.

[Hokurai]

Then to the dragons with them!