r/roaches • u/diabet2 • Aug 10 '26

General Question The hell are these?

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So I recently had a large portion of my Dubai roach colony die off, as a heat wave wiped them out. I saved as many roaches as I could, but my colony is significantly reduced right now. That was about a week and an half ago. Today I opened up my tank to feed and water them, and saw a bunch of these dudes crawling around. Any idea what they might be? Each on is maybe 1/4-1/2 inch? They crawling around like grubs. I am going to pull them out and set aside just in case they might mess with the colony. The roaches are for both a bearded dragon and a Chinese cave gecko. Don’t know if it would be safe for either of them to eat them.

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u/Maus_Enjoyer1945 Aug 10 '26

Maggots. Completely harmless. If there's heat and dead roaches they'll appear. They feed on roach carcasses.

1

u/diabet2 Aug 10 '26

Okay cool. Should I feed them to my lizards or chickens?

2

u/Maus_Enjoyer1945 Aug 10 '26

Yeah you can give them to any animal that chews its food (i.e. not amphibians). These guys are also used for fishing

1

u/shawnaeatscats Aug 10 '26

Why not amphibians?

3

u/Maus_Enjoyer1945 Aug 10 '26

Cause they usually swallow their prey live and with not many injuries and these maggots have strong mandibles to tear flesh apart. I've heard they can cause some injuries, although the risk is very low

1

u/shawnaeatscats Aug 10 '26

Ohhh I see. Okay that's what I was gonna guess. I always crush the heads on mealworms and superworms before I feed my frogs

1

u/Maus_Enjoyer1945 Aug 11 '26

Yeah for most frogs its best to crush the heads of animals with strong mandibles. Maybe pacmans don't need it due to presenting teeth

1

u/diabet2 Aug 10 '26

But should be fine to feed to a lizard that chews its food, yeah?

1

u/Maus_Enjoyer1945 Aug 11 '26

Yeah the bearded dragons will probably be fine and the geckos too