How to get rid of mites?

[Lorgakor]

I have been searching, but the answer is always to dry the cage out. But what happens if you get mites in a cage that is already bone dry? It has just a waterdish, and there are little tan/browny/orangey little mites all over the cage, climbing around the water dish. I found them all over my sling vials too. I don't keep any cages moist, so what do I do now? Do I need to completely clean out every cage?
All advice appreciated.

 

[CedrikG]

I have been searching, but the answer is always to dry the cage out. But what happens if you get mites in a cage that is already bone dry? It has just a waterdish, and there are little tan/browny/orangey little mites all over the cage, climbing around the water dish. I found them all over my sling vials too. I don't keep any cages moist, so what do I do now? Do I need to completely clean out every cage?
All advice appreciated.

neve heard of orange little bugger, but i would immediatly change the suubstrate to get rid of these ... wash teh tank just in case depending how many they are .. are they on your T ?

 

[Brian S]

You can also get predatory mites which will kill the other mites.

 

[bonesmama]

You can make mite traps-take a small container (like Chinese dipping sauce sauce comes in from the takeaway) and put a food item, and lots of holes in the top. Put a nice thick coating of vasoline inside, and the mites will go in to eat and get caught in the vasoline. Your T is safe cause the top's on. But-- if they're really bad, I would clean out the tanks and vials, just to be on the safe side. Have you brought in a new T or changed anyone's substrate lately? Are you keeping the cages clean? What about prey items- they can come in on them.

 

[lta3398]

Do you make sure to remove any leftover food sources after your T finishes with them? That can attract the mites, also. Any cricket part left too long can be a reason to attract mites. Since you are keeping the enclosure relatively dry, that would be my guess on where they came from, unless you recently had a substrate change? In that case, it could have been in the new stuff, also. It is difficult to know for sure sometimes. But if you remove your T, and give it a thorough cleaning, and try again, it should solve the problem

 

[wolfpak]

You can make mite traps-take a small container (like Chinese dipping sauce sauce comes in from the takeaway) and put a food item, and lots of holes in the top. Put a nice thick coating of vasoline inside, and the mites will go in to eat and get caught in the vasoline. Your T is safe cause the top's on. But-- if they're really bad, I would clean out the tanks and vials, just to be on the safe side. Have you brought in a new T or changed anyone's substrate lately? Are you keeping the cages clean? What about prey items- they can come in on them.

this is a good idea. dosen't stress the Ts, by changing the substrate :clap: does this really work :?

 

[Deschain]

I saw this a while ago, and forgot where I bookmarked it.

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/mites07.html

 

[Lorgakor]

I haven't seen any on the spiders yet. They are in the T. blondi cage mainly, and crawling on the sling containers beside his cage. I've put some containers with dead crickets and vaseline inside, I'll see if that works. I'll take out his water dish for a few days too, see if that helps. I caught a wood bug last night and threw that in too. I wish i could find more of them!
Thanks for all the suggestions. If this doesn't work I will toss the dirt.

 

[Henry Kane]

You're just putting off the inevitable. If you want to tackle the problem 100%, it's actually very simple.

1) Quarantine your T in a deli cup. Keep it dry.
2) Dump the substrate and dispose of any cork bark, wood or any organic accessories.
3) Thoroughly clean the enclosure, it's lid, water dish and any other non-organic accessories.
4) Start from scratch with clean, pest free components.
5) After a couple or three days, inspect the quarantined T to be sure there are no mites present and introduce it to it's brand new habitat.

Gary

 

[Lorgakor]

Thank you BileDrunk. I've taken your advice and rehoused all the tarantulas that were on that shelf. I am watching the cages that are on the opposite side of the room, so far they look okay. If I see any mites over there I will do the same thing. Here are some pics of the containers I used. I had to use what was at hand. They are empty except for a spider and a water dish. The slings are in little condiment containers with no substrate. I'll have to at least mist them though. Any other advice? I've thrown away the T. blondi's log hide, I'll have to buy a new one, and then I'm going to thoroughly wash everything else.

 

[Bigboy]

The orange ones to my knowledge are no threat, I used to have them all over the place and then they just up and dissapeared, I think they feed on the substrate.

 

[Bigboy]

You seem to have thoroughly nipped that problem in the bud though, whatever the heck that means.

 

[Arlius]

Your not talking about nipping it in the bud not knowing what it means are you BigBoy?
Anyways... I had mites a little while ago. I have lost a scorp and a T to mites so far. They were kinda off white. My 2 surviving emps also got them, so bought predatory mites, put some in with em, prepared new substrate and quarentines. Cleaned out their cage, put em in quarentine with more predatory mites. Left em there for 48 hours. Put them in clean enclosure... 3 weeks later and I haven't seen any mites, but cant tell for sure.
Btw, seems food really is a major bad thing to be left behind. I got mites from 2-3 days of the dead cricket bein in there after it died in all instances I have gotten em...
So if you see half eaten/uneaten food, dont procrastinate... not much you can do about burrows, just make sure there arent unused burrows. Got mites that way... burrow stopped being used, 1 week later, a cricket died in there, got mites shortly after...

 

[Henry Kane]

Thank you BileDrunk. I've taken your advice and rehoused all the tarantulas that were on that shelf. I am watching the cages that are on the opposite side of the room, so far they look okay. If I see any mites over there I will do the same thing. Here are some pics of the containers I used. I had to use what was at hand. They are empty except for a spider and a water dish. The slings are in little condiment containers with no substrate. I'll have to at least mist them though. Any other advice? I've thrown away the T. blondi's log hide, I'll have to buy a new one, and then I'm going to thoroughly wash everything else.

I don't think there's any problem with the temporary enclosures you have them in. It's only for 2 or 3 days so they should be just fine.

Best of luck and post the updates.

Gary

 

[Lorgakor]

Well, after four days in the temporary containers and no sign of any mites at all I rehoused everyone with new substrate. The T. blondi flicked hair like crazy at me, I am itchy as heck already. I had to use coconut coir for the E. campestratus and the B. smithi, neither of them have been on that before but I ran out of peat moss. It has been a major pain in the butt, and I'm glad it is all finished! I will try to be more johnny on the spot with bolus removal in the future. Here is a pic of the new digs. I got slightly larger containers for the slings as well.

 

[cocopuff]

I am glad you got rid of them.

I had mites twice. Once with my T's (white mites). Just changed everything, kept bone dry for a month and that was it.

And mites with my snakes. They are brown-black and bigger.

 

[CreepyCrawly]

I am glad you got rid of them.

I had mites twice. Once with my T's (white mites). Just changed everything, kept bone dry for a month and that was it.

And mites with my snakes. They are brown-black and bigger.

Heh, I'm dealing with my first-ever bout with Spider Mites, and I am hoping that they are easier to combat than reptile mites, as those seem to come back on me every 6-8 months.

 

[Captante]

Interesting ... The only places I've ever seen red mites have been on rotting timbers of old buildings & a couple times on a wood pile... I bet they were after the substrate.

 

[Cameron]

Well, after four days in the temporary containers and no sign of any mites at all I rehoused everyone with new substrate. The T. blondi flicked hair like crazy at me, I am itchy as heck already. I had to use coconut coir for the E. campestratus and the B. smithi, neither of them have been on that before but I ran out of peat moss. It has been a major pain in the butt, and I'm glad it is all finished! I will try to be more johnny on the spot with bolus removal in the future. Here is a pic of the new digs. I got slightly larger containers for the slings as well.

Where did you get your setup?

 

[Stanky105]

Wow, I never realized mites could be such a problem. I have had a chilean rose haired T (sorry, not good with scientific names) for about 14 years and have never had mites... just luck I guess, unless the wisconsin weather keeps them away.

She also only has about 1-2 inches deep of bedding though, if that has anything to do with mites.... dang though, I gotta keep her cage cleaner now, Im all nervous.

EDIT: Anybody have a quick link to pictures of what an infested cage/spider looks like for reference?