My predatory mites don't seem to be doing much

RezonantVoid

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So my Selenotholus Kotzman female came with some parasitic mites on her recently, I contacted the seller and they gave me a container of predatory ones to help clean them up. I've put a reason of the mite substrate in her container, and after about 2 weeks I checked her and there's still plenty of the nasty ones on her and not a single predatory one in sight. I saw quite alot of the predatory ones in the teaspoon I put it. Is it possible they just crawl out the air holes and venture off? Do they have a preferred humidity level (the container has a bit humidity in it) to survive? Should I just keep trying and put another spoonful in? At this point the parasitic mites are confined to my Selenotholus enclosure, and I'm hoping I can eradicate them completely. 20180805_115515.jpg 20180805_083448.jpg
 

Greasylake

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How do you know they're parasitic mites? Almost all the mites we see are detrivores and are completely harmless, but if you actually have real parasitic mites @boina might be pretty interested.
 

RezonantVoid

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How do you know they're parasitic mites?
They are always around her leg or abdomen joints, with their heads pressed into the spider. I have alot of detrivoric ones but these ones are definitely bigger and appear to be causing her discomfort as she tries using her feet to flick them off sometimes
 

Greasylake

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They are always around her leg or abdomen joints, with their heads pressed into the spider. I have alot of detrivoric ones but these ones are definitely bigger and appear to be causing her discomfort as she tries using her feet to flick them off sometimes
This is interesting. This may be the first case of actual parasitic mites we've had, at least it would be the first one in a while.

Onto your questions about the predatory mites, they are perfectly capable of escaping through air holes while looking for food or just exploring. I believe they need moisture just like the regular grain mites would, but you said the enclosure is already a little moist so I don't think that would be causing them to leave. It's also possible the predatory mites just didn't find the parasitic ones and either died off or left the enclosure in search of food.
 

cold blood

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This is interesting. This may be the first case of actual parasitic mites we've had, at least it would be the first one in a while.

Onto your questions about the predatory mites, they are perfectly capable of escaping through air holes while looking for food or just exploring. I believe they need moisture just like the regular grain mites would, but you said the enclosure is already a little moist so I don't think that would be causing them to leave. It's also possible the predatory mites just didn't find the parasitic ones and either died off or left the enclosure in search of food.
Im curious what makes the op believe these are parasitic mites.
 

RezonantVoid

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I might try sealing off the air holes and adding more mites. Selenotholus are traditionally desert species so don't know how she'll like it with the humidity. I just don't wanna see her itching any more. But I have no doubt these mites are nasty ones, and ones I've never seen elsewhere before

Heres another photo, as you can see they are avoiding her mouth which alot of your detrivoric ones stick around and are clustering around joints. Another possibility I can think of is that her webbing may be preventing them from reaching her? She doesn't make alot of the fine sticky bits just a big shiny sheet of it but would that prevent the mites from traversing the container? 2018-08-05 17.43.03.jpg 20180805_173945.jpg
 
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darkness975

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if you do have legitimate parasitic mites it's possible that the predatory one simply did not encounter them because they did not themselves climb all over the tarantula
 

cold blood

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I might try sealing off the air holes and adding more mites. Selenotholus are traditionally desert species so don't know how she'll like it with the humidity. I just don't wanna see her itching any more. But I have no doubt these mites are nasty ones, and ones I've never seen elsewhere before
If its a dry species, just keep it dry and clean....mites struggle to survive in dry conditions.

@boina
 

RezonantVoid

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If its a dry species, just keep it dry and clean....mites struggle to survive in dry conditions.

@boina
That is a logical suggestion. Only reason why I'm not is because I will need to put new substrate in and I'm trying to keep her stress levels as low as possible. She is already incredibly bolty and a loud hisser and I just worry moving her to a dry setup might make her more uncomfortable. If the extra mites don't work I will give it a shot
 

boina

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This is absolutely fascinating. I agree with @Greasylake this may be the first case of real parasitic mites I've ever seen!!

1. Predatory mites won't make a difference - they hunt for grain mites but don't eat parasitic mites as you've already found out.
2. Parasitic mites can survive perfectly well in dry enclosures as they get their moisture directly from their host (the tarantula)
3. Parasitic mites have a rather complex life cycle that isn't even completely known yet. It is extremely unlikely that they will multiply.
4. I'd still keep the affected tarantula separate from others to keep the parasites from spreading.
5. I've absolutely no clue what to do about them as this is the very first case I've ever encountered. All the usual remedies against mites won't work - at all. I'd probably just wait it out and hope for the best. As far as I know even a molt won't help much.
 
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RezonantVoid

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This is absolutely fascinating. I agree with @Greasylake this may be the first case of real parasitic mites I've ever seen!!

1. Predatory mites won't make a difference - they hunt for grain mites but don't eat predatory mites as you've already found out.
2. Parasitic mites can survive perfectly well in dry enclosures as they get their moisture directly from their host (the tarantula)
3. Parasitic mites have a rather complex life cycle that isn't even completely known yet. It is extremely unlikely that they will multiply.
4. I'd still keep the affected tarantula separate from others to keep the parasites from spreading.
5. I've absolutely no clue what to do about them as this is the very first case I've ever encountered. All the usual remedies against mites won't work - at all. I'd probably just wait it out and hope for the best. As far as I know even a molt won't help much.
Alright. I take it this is quite a rare situation. Should I try to extract the mites and send them somewhere for data or something? Also would physically pinning the spider down and picking them off be an idea to consider?

EDIT

I tried plucking some off and it was remarkable! Once I got one off she just stopped moving and let me pull and poke them off without the twitch of a leg or one hiss. I have a photo of the culprits, definitely a species Ive never personally seen. Size is about 1-1.5mm, quite large. Does this look like anything familiar @boina? 20180806_202630.jpg
 
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boina

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Alright. I take it this is quite a rare situation. Should I try to extract the mites and send them somewhere for data or something? Also would physically pinning the spider down and picking them off be an idea to consider?

EDIT

I tried plucking some off and it was remarkable! Once I got one off she just stopped moving and let me pull and poke them off without the twitch of a leg or one hiss. I have a photo of the culprits, definitely a species Ive never personally seen. Size is about 1-1.5mm, quite large. Does this look like anything familiar @boina? View attachment 283065
Sorry - I'm not really a mite taxonomist and I wouldn't be able to identify a parasitic mite from a picture. The small legs compared to the larger body do hint at a parasite, though.
 

RezonantVoid

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No worries, Ive learnt alot from making this thread and think ik the best way to deal with them, and save me wasting my predatory mites. Thx for all the info!
 
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