Parasite Question

Hey all, today I found maggots in my cricket enclosure, all the crickets were dead save one, most of the swarming maggots were small, like I think fruit fly sized, but some were considerably larger (not huge mind you, but 1/4 to 1/6 of an inch) and were more visible than fruit flies themselves are (Not sure how big the babies get before they morph). I think rigorously checked the enclosure and found that a decent bit of the crickets I put in there have actually died in hiding... then we found a corner in the far side of the tank that has some of the maggots residing in it, the good news is they're moving almost not at all, whereas the ones in the cricket tank were in a gross frenzy. I am totally cleaning the tank tomorrow and baking the substrate and getting some new stuff, should I be worried? Are there any parasitic worms that come out and roam a bit? I hope (and think) everything is okay and should be fine once I clean everything up, but if I am wrong, someone tell me, hehe. Thanks guys,

Dan

There is a breed of "fruit"fly thats a carnivor it breeds faster and have bigger maggots then fruitflies they can be a pain in the <butt> to get rid off. And they go for everything they dont attack living stuff, but a dead cricket can become maggot city in 24 hours and they go from maggot to flie in 48 or so.. i hope that these aint the ones you have but it chould sound like it, but dont worry if you clean up and stuff they can be killed easly..

There's another family of small flies called Phorids -- they can wreak havoc in tarantula collections, so that may be what you're seeing.

Remember, just 'cause it eats something doesn't mean it's a parasite.

i often find Phorids in with crickets, and thus have a decent population in my animal area
they are horrible!
but housekeeping a bit will control them, as will using woodlice and springtails in the enclosures to eat leftovers and out compete both mites and Phorid flies.