Mite problems

inserirnome

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
16
I know people tend to overreact with mites but this is my first time with mite problems and I'm not sure what to do.

I just noticed that the enclosure where I keep my tenebrio molitor beetles has A SH*T TON of mites and that's probably why they were all dying. I keep them in oat meal so it was kinda hard to check them and i never really looked for them. But now there were flocks of thousands forming palace like sculptures in the substrate and climbing the walls and lid, it was really scary and unexpected (I'm a lowsy keeper). This enclosure is mostly closed but it has ventilation holes.
Currently rehousing the beetles.

Here's my question:
My Ts enclosures were prety close to the plagued one. 2 months ago my G.Pulchripes vanished into her burrow never to be seen again, which even though it's not common for her to do that at all, I didnt pay much atention since taranulas are weird like that. I now noticed 6 mites floating on the water dish. What to do? I can't really see her at all, so I dont really know how bad the situation is. It's hard to see if there's any mites in the substract cz it's dirt/coco/peat mix. Besides the water dish, I've only seen 1 more at the wall, but then again, I must be really bad at spoting mites since i can only see them when it's way too late.
 

inserirnome

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
16
I now noticed 6 mites floating on the water dish.
NOPE! Make that 6 hundred. 6 adults and a lot more tiny ones.
God they are so tiny, and i have terrible eye sight...

Do I wait for the T to show up to better evaluate the situation? Will she die if I don't intervene quickly? Could she already be dead?! :wideyed:
Stressing out here...
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
That many mites, i wouldn't be comfortable with so many, no matter which mites they are.
I'd check on the T, yes. If it is/was molting, mites could be a problem.
Just go carefully, swiping little amounts of substrate at a time. You might as well dump the substrate and put in new when your T is okay. Check other enclosures as well.
Personally I am not comfortable with lots of critters living in with my T's when I am not the one who put them there.
 

inserirnome

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
16
That many mites, i wouldn't be comfortable with so many, no matter which mites they are.
I'd check on the T, yes. If it is/was molting, mites could be a problem.
Just go carefully, swiping little amounts of substrate at a time. You might as well dump the substrate and put in new when your T is okay. Check other enclosures as well.
Personally I am not comfortable with lots of critters living in with my T's when I am not the one who put them there.
After some digging I'm seeing the tip of her legs. It's alive alright. Can't tell if it has molted or is about to. At least it didn't molt in the last couple days, seems dak enough. there are 2 white spots, but they might be grains of sand, it's too far to tell. Do I keep digging?
Other enclosures are fine, as far as i can tell.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
Active Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2015
Messages
2,217
Mites do not usually pose a problem for Ts, not even when they are molting. The tiny white stuff you found in your T's water may even be springtails - they are much more likely to end up in a water bowl than mites. How big is your T? If it's a spiderling you could keep digging and replace some of the soil. If it's even a small juvenile stop worrying and go to bed :p.

I came home from a vacation once and found a really bad mite infestation in my mealworms and spent 2 hours from 1am to 3am after a long flight to clean out the mealies and the crickets and clean the shelves... I did nothing with any of my Ts, though, and they were all fine and the mites disappeared. The mites just had found some rotting veggies the caretaker hadn't cleaned up and had happily multiplied. Get rid of the source and you'll get rid of the mites. They can't multiply without some rotting food source around. It could very well be that the dying beetles were the reason for the mites instead of the other way round.
 

inserirnome

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
16
Mites do not usually pose a problem for Ts, not even when they are molting. The tiny white stuff you found in your T's water may even be springtails - they are much more likely to end up in a water bowl than mites. How big is your T? If it's a spiderling you could keep digging and replace some of the soil. If it's even a small juvenile stop worrying and go to bed :p.

I came home from a vacation once and found a really bad mite infestation in my mealworms and spent 2 hours from 1am to 3am after a long flight to clean out the mealies and the crickets and clean the shelves... I did nothing with any of my Ts, though, and they were all fine and the mites disappeared. The mites just had found some rotting veggies the caretaker hadn't cleaned up and had happily multiplied. Get rid of the source and you'll get rid of the mites. They can't multiply without some rotting food source around. It could very well be that the dying beetles were the reason for the mites instead of the other way round.
Mature Female around 6 in DLS

What exactly did you use to clean?

It might be springtails. They are tiny, white and have legs. That's prety much all i can say about them.
EDIT: Actually, upon a quick google search i don't think it might be springtails at all.

These seem much bigger than mine, also they are round, kind of. I mistook mine for oat dust before i saw them moving. I doubt i could even get them on picture with my lowsy phone. But then again, they can just not be adults yet, idk...
 
Last edited:

boina

Lady of the mites
Active Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2015
Messages
2,217
Your mature female will be fine in any case. Is the substrate dry? Then the mites can't live there anyway. If it isn't dry just let it dry out. An adult G. pulchripes can molt in dry conditions, no problem.

I used just dish washing liquid - I was too scared to harm my Ts with anything more drastic.
 

inserirnome

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
16
Your mature female will be fine in any case. Is the substrate dry? Then the mites can't live there anyway. If it isn't dry just let it dry out. An adult G. pulchripes can molt in dry conditions, no problem.
It's crispy dry!
I'll sleep much better tonight, thank you so much.
 
Top