Mites in Substrate

[BertWright]

:wall:
O.K. - I have a lot of substrate that, according to Stan and Marguerite Schultz's Tarantula Keeper's Guide, I must now dispose of, clean the cages with a bleach solution, prepare new substrate and start again. Does anyone know of any alternatives to disposing of the substrate - and still have a decent home for the tarantula or tarantulas? I know that Stan knows his stuff, but that is a lot of substrate. I suppose I could remove the tarantula and NUKE the substrate in the microwave, cage by cage. I have a feeling though that nuking them wouldn't get them all - the microwaves or heat may miss some for whatever the reason.

At any rate. I have been keeping tarantulas for years. I have not yet dealt with mites. I recently had an elder female Rose Hair that has begun to act strangely - wobbles, stiff, etc. It could be old age. I looked in the Guide and noticed that Mites can adversely affect tarantula health and even kill them over time. My infestation, it seems, is in several cages -and seemingly in some of the dryer cages where I would NOT expect them since moisture is one key attractant for these pests.

I would take a picture, but i don't have a scanning electron microscope as these are wee tiny. As the Guide mentions, they are either tan or white - my mites are tan and they are into everything. I have been brushing my spiders and looking VERY closely and have not noticed any of them ON the tarantulas - so that is good. But, I can't believe how many of these are in the substrate. I am about 1/10th of the way through my cages - if anyone else has any better ideas or advice, please do advise. Thank you.

Bert Wright
Fellow Tarantula Keeper/Enthusiast

 

[elyanalyous]

i'd just scrap the substrate and start fresh...use peat moss (you can get huge bricks of it for ~$39.99...enought to do 24 tanks (10gal)...rehouse them one by one, keeping the rehoused ones in a different room untill your done. ensure the t's have none on them before putting them in the new cage...and just throw it all out...

why risk your collection? it sounds massive, and obviously means alot to you, to notice the mites and connect that to the possible health probelms in your rosie...and having the forthought to look it up first in the holyiest of all bibles "the Tarantula Keepers Guide" before posting

 

[Scott C.]

Kill them with co2 from dry ice. Take out t, fill cage with co2, let sit, air out, put t back. Search for a thread called pest control posted by me for more info and the link to even more info. Your search will go better if you limit it to my threads. You can do that through my user profile.

 

[syndicate]

Kill them with co2 from dry ice. Take out t, fill cage with co2, let sit, air out, put t back. Search for a thread called pest control posted by me for more info and the link to even more info. Your search will go better if you limit it to my threads. You can do that through my user profile.

never heard of that method before sounds interesting

 

[P. Novak]

What Scott said is absolutely true! IT works like crazy!

 

[BertWright]

Thanks for the great information - I like the CO2 approach.

I like any idea of eliminatiing the little boogers - but it seems like you would still have their carcasses (though admittedly not as many), and it is their carcass and shed skins that seem to potentially accumulate around the mouth parts or in the book lungs.

I don't know - it is a toss -up. I am leaning toward puchasing one of the large Peat Moss bales and starting anew. I need to find some mite-eating tarantula-safe critter in case they come back - whatever that might be. Thanks again for the great feedback.:clap:

 

[Scott C.]

Isopods will clean up the carcasses, and although a few have said they had problems with them, there are many more who have not. Good luck either way.