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Nematode/worms?

agcarf Apr 02, 2005 05:15 PM

I recently got some crickets for a pet store so that I could breed them for pinheads. They laid inside a container with peat moss and spagnium (spelling) moss...I've been incubating the container and wait for the eggs to hacth.

I just noticed that theres small type of small worm with in the soil and theres lots and there weren't there before. very tiny...2-4 mm in length and about 1/4 mm to 1/2 mm wide.

does anyone know what they are? is it safe to put the container into me frog terrarium when the pinheads start to hatch?

Thanks

Replies (1)

slaytonp Apr 02, 2005 07:44 PM

The little "worms" could be many different things, including fruit fly larvae that may have invaded the cricket food if it's damp or consists of fruit and vegetables, or various gnat larvae. They are most likely harmless, and may even make good frog food, but in any event, I wouldn't put the entire container in with your frogs--just the pinheads as they hatch, if this is what I understand you mean to do. You don't want crickets larger than your frogs can capture in the frog tank. Adult crickets may become the preditor rather than the prey, and you don't want them in your frog tank.

Diagnosing what the little worms are would take an experienced entomologist, or you could wait and see what they turn in to, if they are a larvae of some sort. It is very unlikely that they are a parasite that will invade your dart frogs, but that's not what I would worry about as much as introducing crickets too large for the frogs to eat.

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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
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6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
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4 D. reticulatus
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