Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I was cleaning my leopard gecko's cage today and I ran into about a dozen of these bugs. They were tiny and looked like maggots..but they weren't. They are black and look fuzzy and wormy. I think they could be mites, but I'm not exactly sure because I can't find any images of mites.. then again I seen that mites are supposed to be microscopic. I'm totally lost.. I removed all their sand in their cage, all the bugs that I seen, and shaked out all their vines outside and immidiatly tossed the garbage back outside. I need to know what these are!!! I don't want my geckos in danger! Please help me, if you have any ideas, please email me at sparklinstarsz888@comcast.net
Thanks so much!
Michelle

Mites look almost like little spiders....so what you are describing are not mites.

What kinds of insects have you been using as food? Could it be another stage of a feeder insect?

Sometimes odd things come in with the crickets.

wormy things that kinda crawl along the bottom pretty fast, then they are not harmful at all. I get them all the time with my crickets, actually my lizards love to eat them. They sorta look like a short hairy caterpillar but walk much quicker.

Black or a brownish furry/hairy

Mites are tiny and spidery looking.
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

Thank guys.. they are the little hairy type.. I thought they could have been like baby crickets, but they have no legs..they look more along the lines of a catapiller but the size of a maggot. I never seen anything like that and got scared. They don't seem to be bothering the geckos though.. they're burrowing in the sand. Thanks for the help though, I was ready to go to the vet with them, disinfect the cage, and throw away the wooden log they hide in. lol

What you are describing sounds like a species of Dermestid beetle larva. They are usually harmless, although some species of lizard can't digest the cilia on their body and can develop intestinal lacerations or impactions. Usually they show up in cricket shipments from companies that don't do enough pest species control. If you have a lot of them in the cage, you can assume your gecko either isn't eating them, or is able to digest them. Many people actually use these as a "cleaner" species that help break down the waste in natural substrates for longer substrate use time in the cage. They are a great natural "garbage disposal." Hope this helps.

Bryan
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Last night I was laying in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, "Where the hell is my ceiling?"

Heard about this in the past, and seen a couple myself. What I heard isn't that the cricket company isn't doing pest control, it's that they encourage these beatles, as they are carrion eaters that keep the dead crickets cleaned up. Sometimes the beatle eggs end up in cricket shipments, and hatch into the larva. Not heard about the possible digestion problems though.

>>Heard about this in the past, and seen a couple myself. What I heard isn't that the cricket company isn't doing pest control, it's that they encourage these beatles, as they are carrion eaters that keep the dead crickets cleaned up. Sometimes the beatle eggs end up in cricket shipments, and hatch into the larva. Not heard about the possible digestion problems though.

They are great garbage disposals for sure. In tiny or small lizards the larger larvae could present a possible digestion problem as the hairs could cause them to get stuck in the digestive tract. In general though, some lizards do love eating them. My beardies did.

Overall even if a cricket company is doing good pest control, it's hard to eradicate the dermestid beetles as the adult beetle can fly so they can still spread easily.. unlike mealworm beetles which don't fly.
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PHWyvern

First of all, get your leos off of sand! Sand is a huge cause of death in leopard geckos because they accidentally ingest it and it causes impaction, a blockage.
As for the mites, change of substrate should fix this problem. Try switching them to reptile carpet from a petstore, ceramic tile, paper towel, actual towel, or non-adhesive shelf paper from Walmart.
With these substrates, the mites won't be able to burrow PLUS your gecko won't die of impaction!
Now, many people say "Oh but it has been on sand for a long time and is fine." But why do you even want to risk it when there are safer and cheaper options available? And please be aware that the size and/or age of your gecko makes no difference in its ability to pass sand. Sand is bad for leos. Excuse me for ranting, but I'd like to cover all of the many arguements I've heard before they're said.
Leos do not live on sand in the wild. Yes, they live in a desert area, but not on the sand. They live in arid/rocky grasslands where the only sand is literally dust, eroded by the wind off of the rock. They live in grass and rock.

If you are still worried about the mites having gotten into your lizards, take a fecal (poop) sample into a vet and have them check it. I'll bet the vet at Petsmart would do the test for fairly cheap. Usually, it costs very little anyway.
- Rien
PS If you have questions or comments, feel like simply chatting about your lizards, or anything else, feel free to email me at leogeckogirl@gmail.com
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Leopard Gecko:
1.0 tremper albino,mix (Kalt)
0.1 unknown morph,mix,high yellow? (Hazuki)
Dog:
0.1 cocker spaniel (Molly)
Cat:
0.1 tabby x siamese (Omen)
Rodent:
1.0 albino feeder mouse (Egan)
1.0 standard grey chinchilla (Roo)