Hello, In my search for isopods, a guy at a pet store said I could let meal worms grow to beetles and those beetles could be part of the clean up crew. I did do some research and it seemed like people agreed with this. This sounded like a great idea until I saw one climbing around my crested geckos enclosure. It was up in his favorite place to sleep and was a lot bigger than I would have expected. Are these things safe to be in the enclosure? I’m afraid for Dunkins safety and will remove the beetles anyway but those things have been hard to catch. Any opinions would be great! Thank you
Clean up crew-mealworms
- Thread starter Jenni76
- Start date
I've used and am using some meal worms in my tank as a clean up crew and have not personally ever had a problem. Though I admit not entirely intentionally using them as a cleanup crew this time. I just don't really care if a few get out while Spot's staring at them because he's a bit of a funny eater. He likes to watch them for a bit then I don't know pick the one that looks the most tastey first before diving in. So now and then one'll climb out.
They shouldn't really pose any threat to Dunkin though, if there was perhaps some feces up where Dunkin chills could have been why the beetle was up that way or simply looking for a way to escape.
The beetles though should eat feces, decaying matter and other such things however they are known to nibble on chickens, though I personally have never seen one bite a lizard or ever seen evidence of one biting a lizard. I cannot say that the possibility of one biting a gecko is nonexistent. Anything is possible, though the chance of it happening is probably a case of there not being enough of its usual foods and it reaches a point of desperation.
They shouldn't really pose any threat to Dunkin though, if there was perhaps some feces up where Dunkin chills could have been why the beetle was up that way or simply looking for a way to escape.
The beetles though should eat feces, decaying matter and other such things however they are known to nibble on chickens, though I personally have never seen one bite a lizard or ever seen evidence of one biting a lizard. I cannot say that the possibility of one biting a gecko is nonexistent. Anything is possible, though the chance of it happening is probably a case of there not being enough of its usual foods and it reaches a point of desperation.
Thank you! I appreciate your response. So far I have had no issues with the mealworm beetles bothering Dunkin
Now does Dunkin ever eat them? My friend had a bearded dragon that did, but my leopard gecko never showed any interest at all in them.
No he doesn’t. He’s a Crested gecko and has never eaten any of the insects I’ve offered him. He will also only eat the watermelon Pangea. He likes what he likes I guess!
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In general I think it's a fine idea. Just a few things to be aware of: At one point I was breeding super worms in one of my crested gecko cages. Superworm beetles are a lot bigger than mealworm beetles. The beetles chewed up the styrofoam background and when I had a lot of super worm beetles I did see some of them nibbling on the geckos' tails. Needless to say, I moved my collection of super worms and beetles to a different enclosure. I also once had a leopard gecko with a regenerated tail and I couldn't feed him mealworms because I would find mealworms chewing on his tail. This didn't happen with any other gecko, just him.
Aliza
Aliza
I've not owned or even actually seen a crested gecko in person I don't think. But they're one I've had my eye on picking up but I keep leaning towards Gargoyle gecko's over them. Who knows though Might end up with both over the next year once I get all the terrariums setup in the room. They seem like pretty cool lil gecko's.
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- Somerville, MA
I think gargoyle geckos are prettier but cresties are more active.
Aliza
Aliza
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