Can anyone ID this invert?

I know almost nothing about inverts, so any info would be helpful. I had a plastic bag of snake sheds (I was keeping them because they were perfect sheds, but oh well hahah) and today when I went to add another shed to the bag, almost all of the sheds were gone and there is some kind of invertebrate that really enjoyed the buffet. I actually don't mind keeping these guys in an enclosure and feeding them sheds, I just don't want to house inverts that might also eat other things like paper or clothes if they escape.

https://ibb.co/DWStKMB
https://ibb.co/2t8GW5L
https://ibb.co/vVDB67n

:(Possibly isopods? Not really sure. This looks like what you saw…..






https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ce_pulchra.jpg:confusd::confusd: :(

I don't know what your visitors are, but years ago I discovered that some kind of moth enjoys snake sheds too, lol. I had saved a bag of them but it wasn't sealed tightly enough. Oops, but now I know to use zip-loc bags or other tight-fitting containers.

A lot of reptile keepers that have naturalistic setups use isopods and springtails to keep the enclosure clean of debris. IE; droppings, urates, waste, and just a live natural cleanup crew. I don’t know for sure if this is what you’re seeing. Isopods and springtails are also used in snake mite infestations instead of using chemical insecticides like Pro vent a mite, seven dust powder, mite away, etc. :confusd:

Looks like a carpet beetle species to me. They'll get into anything with natural fibers like leather and wool too, so hopefully nothing was stored to closely with that bag.

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7436.html

Carpet beetle or maybe warehouse beetle.

I think I'd find someone with a hungry lizard that needs more food...;)

I think Armiyana got it right. Isopods and springtails are very small. ;)

Yes, some sort of Dermestid beetle (the larger group that includes carpet beetles). Used in feeder insect colonies to eat deads and molts. Also found in homes in carpet. Some geckos will eat them, but not too many of them, and not reliably.

Springtails are much, much smaller (about 1mm), isopods don't have that fuzzy larval stage, and neither tolerate dry conditions at all.

Curious about the use of isopods and springtails in controlling snake mites. Both coexist happily with all sorts of detrivorous mites both in vivs and in cultures (though sometimes grain mites can outcompete springtails somewhat). Neither are predatory on mites (they mostly eat fungus and tender plants, though some isopods -- Oniscus sp., I think -- are thought to sometimes possibly maybe outcompete predatory flatworms though an unknown mechanism).

Oh, ok. Thank you, I stand corrected about the isopods and springtails use in snake mites. :confusd: Thanks M. A.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

Curious about the use of isopods and springtails in controlling snake mites. Both coexist happily with all sorts of detrivorous mites both in vivs and in cultures (though sometimes grain mites can outcompete springtails somewhat). Neither are predatory on mites (they mostly eat fungus and tender plants, though some isopods -- Oniscus sp., I think -- are thought to sometimes possibly maybe outcompete predatory flatworms though an unknown mechanism).

---

On the MorphMarket forum someone tried an experiment with springtails and snake mites (in bioactive enclosures) with promising results. I can add the link here on Monday if anyone's interested. Springtails will eat eggs of many species (mites, fungus gnats, fruit flies, etc.). For controlling snake mites with other species, predatory mites work the best.