Mites? In my scorpion's aquarium

[gottacontra]

I just found tiny bugs, guessing mites on the interior of one of the logs in my imperators aquarium. I squished all I saw. Are they harmful to my scorpions? I can't find anything on this forum about it. I thought I had read somewhere mites can be harmful when scorpions molt. Mine aren't at this time. Do I need to worry? Should I replace their substrate? I feed them crickets. Read crickets can be a source for mites. I don't feed them roaches because I'm from Florida and roaches squig me out. I do everything to not have roaches. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Remy004]

I just found tiny bugs, guessing mites on the interior of one of the logs in my imperators aquarium. I squished all I saw. Are they harmful to my scorpions? I can't find anything on this forum about it. I thought I had read somewhere mites can be harmful when scorpions molt. Mine aren't at this time. Do I need to worry? Should I replace their substrate? I feed them crickets. Read crickets can be a source for mites. I don't feed them roaches because I'm from Florida and roaches squig me out. I do everything to not have roaches. Any advice is appreciated.

I've not had to deal with mites myself (knock on wood), but they certainly aren't something you want to have around. Crickets are often a major source of mites and their eggs, and apart from breeding your own, I'm not sure how you would go about making sure your feeders are free of parasites... In terms of the damage mites could do to your scorp, I'd assume it would be similar to tarantulas: irritation and possible death. I think they irritate the book lungs and joints?

Of course, that's only if they are parasitic mites. Can you describe them in more detail? Color, size? Are they just crawling on the log/substrate or on your scorpion as well? And the log--is it a new addition? Have you added anything else to the enclosure recently?

 

[MintyWood826]

I've not had to deal with mites myself (knock on wood), but they certainly aren't something you want to have around. Crickets are often a major source of mites and their eggs, and apart from breeding your own, I'm not sure how you would go about making sure your feeders are free of parasites... In terms of the damage mites could do to your scorp, I'd assume it would be similar to tarantulas: irritation and possible death. I think they irritate the book lungs and joints?

Of course, that's only if they are parasitic mites. Can you describe them in more detail? Color, size? Are they just crawling on the log/substrate or on your scorpion as well? And the log--is it a new addition? Have you added anything else to the enclosure recently?

I haven't had mites, but they aren't harmful to tarantulas. I don't think they'd be harmful to scorpions either. @boina

 

[boina]

Mites are harmless - practically always. They are scavengers living off rotting organic matter. I don't know much about scorpions but I do know about mites. Parasitic ones are highly specific and will certainly not come in on crickets. They need moisture and if you need to keep your scorpions moist get some springtails - they will outcompete the mites. Read the link @MintyWood826 provided for everything about mites.

 

[Galapoheros]

They can cause problems if your scorpion is having babies or has newborn babies. They are obviously irritating to scorpions and so they will use their tail to try and scratch those grain mites off and so go the newborns flicked off their backs, I had a bad experience with that and 3 female H. swammerdamis. If there are hypopus stage mites on the mother, the babies tend to "wake them up" out of the stage as the babies stick to the mother's back. A way to test to see if they are grain mites, which is most likely, smash them between your fingers and you may smell a minty odor.

 

[Remy004]

I haven't had mites, but they aren't harmful to tarantulas. I don't think they'd be harmful to scorpions either. @boina

Ah, okay. I've always been advised to the contrary. My apologies if I was wrong -- I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to my arachnid friends. Even if most mites won't harm arachnids, I'd still think they'd be pretty irritating to them...