Reptile & Amphibian Forums

does anyone know what a silverfish or a firebrat (type of bug) is? i found a few silver/gray, flat, bugs in neil's (3-toed) area & i'm trying to find out what they are, & think i've narrowed them down to these, using yahoo images & looking up general pests. anyone know what these do/where they come from? looking for ways to get rid of them, & fearing infestation & harm to my turtle...
thanks in advance.

I haven't seen a silverfish in years! We don't have them here, not that I know of but they were common where we used to live.
I think they'd make good turtle food but of course you do not want an infestation.
How to rid your home of them? Without poisons I am not sure what you could do.
You might try Arbico's website, there may be some help there.
Here's the URL:
http://store.arbico-organics.com/organic-pest-control.html

Good luck!
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PHRatz

thanks a lot for your help. ive been finding them in the area with her, so ive been freaking out because i didnt know what they were. i might have to try some of the traps they have on that website, at least in other areas of the house. didnt think about the food factor (duh,) which will help because im still trying to get her to eat something other than turtle pellets & ive been failing miserably for about 6 months now, maybe longer. shes really stubborn. its probably too much to hope that they cant get out of the area. living about 2 miles from a river, im discovering all kinds of creepy little things id never seen before. makes me a little paranoid. anyway, PHRatz, thanks for the help. ill check that site out.

>>thanks a lot for your help. ive been finding them in the area with her, so ive been freaking out because i didnt know what they were. i might have to try some of the traps they have on that website, at least in other areas of the house. didnt think about the food factor (duh,) which will help because im still trying to get her to eat something other than turtle pellets & ive been failing miserably for about 6 months now, maybe longer. shes really stubborn. its probably too much to hope that they cant get out of the area. living about 2 miles from a river, im discovering all kinds of creepy little things id never seen before. makes me a little paranoid. anyway, PHRatz, thanks for the help. ill check that site out.

You are welcome.
Oh my gosh I need to drag PHLaure over here to tell you what she does. She has a male Eastern boxie who is so finicky that she named him Morris. She took him in 3 years ago I think it was, he was ill then. She still has had a heck of a time finding things he'll eat.
I hope you solve this buggy problem though. I have bugs I breed for food but I sure don't want them roaming around in my house loose. ick
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PHRatz

You rang? Yup, Morris has been with me for three years after my dog mistook him for a mobil chewtoy. It was a blessing in disguise because it was October and he was on the verge of starvation and would not have survived hibernating. He's still quite finicky. I still cannot get him to eat crickets, waxworms or mealworms. Weird turtle. However, he does love earthworms/nightcrawlers.

When I first took him in the thing that finally got him eating was water packed (rinsed to remove salt) sardines. These are still a favorite. Since he only eats a small piece at a time, when I open a can I freeze the remainder for future use. He also likes canned oysters (I get the ones from the dollar store) and Wardley's Reptile Sticks. He won't touch Reptomin. Mostly he eats the box turtle pellets. I finally got him to eat greens but only if they are mixed in with something else. I've tried various meats, fruits and veggies to no avail. I would like him to have a more varied diet but at least he eats something.

As to the silverfish, they are waterbugs. I had them in an apartment that was built over an underground spring and hated them. I sprayed in any cracks and behind baseboards but didn't have any reptiles. I mosttly dealt with them by going on patrol with a shoe in hand. I am definately not a bug person which is so funny since I raise my own mealworms.

re:raising meal worms. PHRatz was kind enough to explain how she raises meal worms. Would you mind doing the same? essentially I do the same as PHRatz, but with little result. I purchase 500 about once a month and maybe have a few offspring. currently my tubs have been invaded by the grub(?) stage of a moth and need to be redone, but the meal worms are doing fine.mahalo/p

Hmmm Laure thanks! I'm going to the grocery store today maybe I should look for sardines.
Yesterday after trying mealworms I tried soaked Mazuri tortoise & aquatic pellets. In the last couple of weeks I've tried cactus berries, organic apples, bananas, thawed out bloodworms, live crickets, nightcrawlers, roast beef and even did something I normally would never do, I offered him canned cat food but Chip won't go for ANYTHING I offer. Not on his own anyway.
We were at the feed store Saturday to buy water softener salt. They sell Mazuri so I went in to look for the new Mazuri box food, they didn't have it & the clerk said he just uses canned dog food when the turtles won't eat... he said it never fails.
It failed here!
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PHRatz

I bet your local university has an entomology class/professor/club that would just love for people to bring invertebrates down for identification. Once specified, they may have ideas on how nutritious it would be, and ways to eradicate it, or if it was even necessary.

Ian

someone posted a photo of one they found not too long ago in the insect photo gallery on this site:

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?photo=245676

Not all silverfish/firebrats will look like this..different sizes, different colors depending on the species, but generally all have the same body shape, etc.

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PHWyvern

hey guys, thanks for all the help. sorry for the lack of response, lots of drama going on here. rebuilding a balcony thats more trouble than planned, but what projects arent. anyway, im probably going to buy some traps from that site recommended early on. that picture was close, but the large ones are hard to come buy, the only things i can ever get a hold of are the tiny ones. the one large one i found, i drew pictures of to look for on the net later. its for 6 legs, a brownish head, white belly, gray back with 2 lines down it that were a really light tan color. the biggest ive seen so far is 1/4" long. so mostly guesswork, but hopefully itll help.

thanks a lot for all the help.