PLEASE HELP!! MAGGOTS IN MY CRICKET CAGE :(

kayleeanddallas":2qfy2y8n said:

Hi!!
For about a month I've been struggling to keep fruit flies and their eggs away from my poor cricket cage, but I swear they just keep spawning in. I dont breed my own crickets, i buy them from a local pet store. Recently i've been very, VERY, hesitant to bring them near my bearded dragon, let alone allow her to eat them. I've stopped putting fruit in my cricket cage because obviously fruit flies would be attracted to fruit!! I deep cleaned their old home and stored it away, now I have a larger home for them, and I clean it inside and out every time i go to buy a new batch of crickets. I feed them a jello that is infused with calcium, sometimes some greens, and sometimes even cat food!! Please help! I cant keep wasting my money on crickets just to throw them away because of stupid fruit flies ;( any advice is welcome!! Thanks so much!

Click to expand...

kingofnobbys":14zwxcda said:

Get a 30L tub , tip the crickets out into this.

Clean the current cricket keeper, to get rid of the maggoty food and maggoty dead crickets.

Put the crickets back in with some fresh chunks or carrot , some dry repcal adult bearded dragon pellets and some fresh greens ( buk and puk choi are excellent ).

The jelly stuff is waste of money ( that stuff is a cash cow for petshops ) , and is most a big part of the problem , I'd stop buying it , throw the bottle away.

Check the crickets' tub every few days and remove any dead or dying crickets immediately , and any slimy greens or carrot at the same time and this will control the problem.

If you are buying crickets from a pet shop, it's very likely they are selling in tubs that are already flyblown. Order your crickets online ( you get them cheaper and of better quality ( healthier ) and not as likely to be contaminated.
It's the humid moist conditions caused by the garbage you are feeding the crickets with that's the main problem.
And garbage fed to the insects results in very poor garbage quality feeder insects of poor nutritional value to the dragon.

Click to expand...

AHBD":2fftcmjt said:

Hi there, if your crickets aren't dead there is no reason to throw them away. Fruit flies are harmless, people feed " maggots " to reptiles all the time [ black soldier fly larva is a top feeder insect ] So even though the larva is too small to use as food and you don't really want them in the tank they are more a nuisance, not anything dangerous for your beardie.

Click to expand...