Baby crickets everywhere!!

[Watermonitor]

So last night I was cleaning my water monitors cage and noticed little bugs moving everywhere at first I thought they were mites but I looked closer and saw they were tiny little crickets which is weird because when I feed my monitor crickets i drop them in his cage one by one so that I know he eats all of them. But when I first got him on Jan 24 I would just drop them all in, so it possible that there were cricket eggs in their for that long? also should I take them all out or leave them in his cage?

 

[william.l123]

feed him in a diff area other than his enclosure, they probably did have a prego cricket that survived and layed eggs in the substrate. those type of monitor are also really fiesty so if you plan on keeping him awhile as a great pet. transferring him to a feeding frenzy (feeding him outside of his cage in like the tub or a feeding tank) may help him understand that your hand means friend not food not must kill when you reach in for him

 

[james.w]

They are probably springtails and not crickets. Springtails are harmless and thrive in humid areas. If they are crickets, they pose no problems either and will just turn into food. Feeding your water monitor in its enclosure is fine and will not cause any problems. Do you mind sharing pictures of the monitor and his enclosure?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

If it's crickets, change the substrate. I had the same issue with Dino some time back leaving them in can stress your monitor. Crickets are scavengers and will eat just about anything organic even your monitor.

Sometimes Dino would be hissing in his cage for no reason that I could figure out. A few times he darted across it as if something grabbed him. One day I noticed little nicks in the scales on his tail. I wasn't sure what they were from until one day I saw one of the nymphs chomping on it.

I changed the substrate and that was the last time I put any live insects in his cage or any of my other reps.

 

[JohnMatthew]

If they're crickets a shallow dish with water changed a couple times a day will get rid of them pretty quick via drowning.

 

[laurarfl]

I've had crickets lay eggs in the substrate. They come from a pet shop that keeps them in an aquarium. The first chance the females get to lay eggs in a substrate, they hit the ground and lay. Then they are eaten.