Worms came out of dead roach?

[Isopod]

I got about a dozen ivory head roaches at the end of last year. Most were large nymphs that eventually became adults. Things have seemingly been going fine with them(including some new nymphs born) until a couple weeks ago. I found one of the roaches dead and partially eaten. I put it in a bottle to dispose of on trash day. The next day I happened to notice there were little skinny white worms on the side of the bottle that seemed to have come from the roach. I didn't get a close look but to me they seemed like maybe nematodes.

    Today, I found another dead adult roach. Noticed another live one with damaged wings that I'm not sure if might have been from getting attacked by the others or not molting properly. I don't know if these two could've died from my less than perfect care recently or if it could just be normal to lose two considering I've had them for almost 6 months.

    Just wanted to see if anyone thinks the nematodes might be causing their deaths. Also I had planned to buy more ivory heads from another seller to add some genetic diversity and then eventually sell some of their offspring. Does this mean I have to now abandon this idea? I assume since I've been careful with their food, that they must have had nematodes from the seller I bought them from.

    Unless someone suggests a better course of action I'm thinking of cleaning their container and giving them new bedding. What would you recommend for disinfecting their container? There are young nymphs. Are these less likely to be infected? if so, I was thinking of separating them from the adults.

[Josexotics]

Sometimes substrates(Ex. Timberline Top Soil) harbor nematodes that consume decaying organic matter, such as leaves, boluses, and dead animals. It may be possibly that your roaches are not are not infected by a parasitic nematode, rather soil nematodes that happen to facilitate the decomposition of dead roaches. I haven't heard about any problems regarding the presence of these soil nematodes, and personally witness them in some of my containers, however in small populations. I would suggest drying out your substrate since these organisms rely heavily on moisture.

[Test Account]

Another possibility:

 

your decaying roach has become maggot food

 

If I were you I would not worry. Scavenger invertebrates are more common than parasitic ones in many captive-bred insects

 

of course, we need photos to confirm identity. Have any?

[Marlon]

Had a sick dubia, picked it up, maggots started jumping ship.  It was alarming and VERY disturbing as I was holding it.  Figure out it was an injury and phorid flies had laid eggs on the roach and were eating it alive.  cleaned out the bin and keep it drier now, no more problems.  Might be what you got, its quite common to get them in the colony.  

[Isopod]

Ok thanks on the suggestion of them being scavengers from the substrate. I hope that is the case.

These were definitely not maggots. They looked more like the pictures I've seen of grindal worms(yes I know not nematodes) or like the white nematodes I've seen in my aquatic aquariums before. They weren't very active like they weren't surviving well out of the body. Only saw one of them maybe twitch on the side. I suppose if were scavengers they could have been at rest because there wasn't much substrate in the bottle. They were very long compared to their body width. Since I've never witnessed this from other debris I've thrown away in bottles and only from a dead roach I don't think it would be grindal worms. Would've taken a picture but don't think I could've gotten a good one. Also honestly parasites bother me so I rushed to throw the bottle out.

pictures I've seen like this http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wTWbNMsHY6w/TzM0OwhZCCI/AAAAAAAAAAs/CtstGGwfhHE/s1600/Grindal+Worms+(2).JPG . Yes again I know not nematodes but they were smeared on the sides like that but in lesser numbers

Oh yeah the substrate is a mixture of potting soil and coconut fiber. I'm pretty sure I microwaved the substrate before adding it. I also added oak leaves but I heated them in water in an oven

[Test Account]

Microwaves can heat unevenly. I often find one side of my food sizzling and the other side still frozen

 

Do note that not all dipteran larvae look like maggots. Some (especially those of nematocerans, like gnats) are long and wormy.

 

I guess you either have long thin dipteran larvae or nematodes. Probably harmless either way

[Isopod]

Ok thanks Test Account. I still learn towards worms but I'll admit if it looked like the larva in this https://diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=1426 I could see how they could be mistaken especially if you don't get a great look. I'll see what I can do about a picture if it happens again.

I stir the things I sterilize by microwaving, but something could've got in on food. Also if were gnats, they can easily get past the window screen.

[Isopod]

Thanks Josexotics and Marlon too. Looking at pics of phorid fly larvae I don't think that is a possibility but that sure could explain what happened to an emperor scorpion I got in the mail many years ago. It arrived dead and had maggots coming out of it. Luckily(not for it :( ) it was a freebie extra and the other two were fine.

[Marlon]

I had that with a millipede too.  I was wandering the jungle trails in Malaysia late one night and found a huge beautiful millipede on the trail.  Forget which species.  It only lived a day before worms started crawling out of it.  I guess it was on the trail because it felt sick.  That memory still disturbs me.  Eaten alive...