Living contaminates of cultures

Blackbun

Blackbun

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OK....should I worry?
Every so often, to add variety, I feed my fire salamanders house crickets which I buy from Pets at Home.
Today I noticed in one punnet a well grown cockroach (probably P.americana) and in another punnet a black, bulbous spider (size of a dime/5p).
Not sure how to respond. I don't want a cockroach infestation and I don't want to play Russian Roulette with the spider.
Any thoughts would be gratefully received.
 
I think there's always a risk with live food of any kind. Its the same with the aquatic invertebrates that I buy or catch and the Leaf worms I use as a staple can apparently pass on parasites as well. For me though, the benefits of a varied diet outweigh the risks of something going wrong. I've found Dragonfly nymphs, Great diving beetle larvae and loads of other strange inverts that I have no Idea what they are in shop bought Daphnia, but sometimes its my only option if I run out at home.
 
WOW Chinadog that includes a lot of potentially big predators. I was wondering maybe if I should buy direct from specialist suppliers. Many of these shop bought cultures are in appalling condition.
 
Yes, I think things like that must get harvested with the Daphnia as eggs or tiny hatchlings. Lately, I've been buying my aquatic live food in bulk from sellers on ebay, its invariably better than the stuff in the shops and way, way cheaper. I haven't tried any crickets from ebay though.
 
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  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
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