Predatory mite question

[Lorgakor]

Okay, before anyone jumps on me, YES I USED THE SEARCH BUTTON!

I have a H. lividum with quite an extensive mite problem. I am unable to physically remove them from her because I am a chicken and she is very defensive. I am considering my options here. I have tried just keeping her in a container with new peat moss and a water dish. The mites have not died.

So, I could either put her in a container with either sand or plain paper towels and not feed her until the mites die and fall off (I read that someone had success that way when I did a search) or I can get some H. miles to see if that works.

My question about H. miles is, do they actually kill and eat the mites that are living on the tarantula? Because I read an article about them and it sounds like they just live in the soil and eat the mites and eggs that are in the soil. So I'm wondering if anyone has actually had success using them against the kind of mites that live in little clusters on the chelicerae and leg joints?

I am looking for success stories using both methods so I can decide which would be most successful.

 

[Arlius]

I can't say for T's, but when my 2 emps were infested, the mites worked. They should get on the T same as the parasitic mites (on the T isnt the first choice, its that 'last resort'... kind of) so when they finish scouring the soil for food, they will likely 'check th T out'

 

[Kali]

i have had success with the "dry out" method. i took away the substrate altogether and provided small water dish only. the mites do not like to be dry and thrive in moisture.

 

[Lorgakor]

How long did it take for the mites to dry up? Did they just fall off the spider? Also, did you continue to feed the spider during this time or just provide the water?

 

[Kali]

it was an adult female, and it only took a couple of weeks i think. this was quite awhile ago. she wasn't eating too often because she was already an adult, so i did not offer her food during that time because i was afraid it might support the mites as well.

 

[metzgerzoo]

H. miles can be very costly, but yes, they will eat the mites. I use isopods (pillbugs/rollie pollies) in my moisture loving containers. They will not only keep unseen debris in check, but will also eat mites.
Since the mites are actually on your lividum, I'd suggest removing it from it's container, putting it in a dry container with no substrate and just a water dish until the mites die. It might take a couple weeks, but it should work. Just be sure to keep a close eye on your lividum as they do not appreciate dry conditions. Refill the water dish every day with fresh, clean water just in case the mites decide to hop in it. If you choose to feed during that time, do so when you are able to sit and watch and can remove any prey remains immeditally after the spider is done eating. Keep the spider in a cooler place so it will be less likely to dehydrate due to heat and decreased humidity. Also, the cooler temperatures, in addition to dryer conditions will help the mites that are on the spider to die more quickly.

 

[Lorgakor]

Thank you all for the advice, I am going to put her in a container with no substrate when I get home. And I think it's time I go searching for some pill bugs!

 

[metzgerzoo]

Chances are you should be able to find some in your yard. Check under rocks and stuff. I've got them all over the place here so they don't even cost me anything.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Lorgakor]

Oh the resilience of mites.

I've had this H. lividum in a container with no substrate, just a water dish and a hide for over three weeks. I have not fed her in all that time.

The mites are still on her! Completely dry, with no food and they are still there. They are small greyish/cream coloured mites. Could she live this long if the mites were feeding off of her? She has them in her chelicerae and right under her caphalothorax, where the legs meet the body. They are clustered in all the crevasses under there.

I don't know if predatory mites would work, they too need moisture to survive, and I'm not convinced that they will actually eat the mites off of her.

Have any of you guys had a case of mites that were this stubborn?

 

[Brian S]

Get the predatory mites. It will take awhile but they will take care of them

 

[EDED]

i had some mites on my pede, the drying trick did not work, i figure once the mites are on your pede or your spider its happy with limitless food source, i dont know if they can breed on top of you spider, i heard they need soil to lay eggs so maybe they wont breed more but i doubt you can get rid of them by drying them out. once they are on they are happy.

so its time to stress out your spider more, its time to somehow brush off the mites using a brush, IME they come off pretty easy, just make sure you crush those fuc*ers good once they fall off.

ive done this for a small spiderling, a pede, and a WC adult of different species that was already slow from shipping stress,,,so all my experiences were pretty easy in terms of the animal cooperating. so goodluck,

i do not see any other way, also, if you dont like a brush, using forceps or chopsticks work too, as long as you throw those bastards off, but the problem is your spider attacking forceps or wahtever and hurting itself.

maybe put the spider in the fridge to slow it down a bit and work quickly,

once you manage to get the mites off, like i said kill them good and dont let them stick around your instruments, cage, or wherever it might colonize to infect your spider again or other spiders too.

 

[Lorgakor]

Can the predatory mites be used with slings as well? Turns out one of the new slings I recently received came complete with hitchhikers.:evil: I've separated it from the rest of my spiders along with the other sling that I got at the same time. Hopefully the mites didn't have time to spread to my other slings.

EDED- I tried putting her in the fridge, it did nothing to calm her down. I am just not confident (or crazy!) enough to pick this one up. She is extremely defensive.

I am going to try using the predatory mites. I think I'll put them in all my containers, but I'm unsure about using them with slings. After I get rid of all the mites, I think I will be selling my whole collection. I am tired of this.

 

[Brian S]

As long as your slings arent super tiny, the pred mites should work for them too I would say

 

[EDED]

fridge trick ive never done personally, it was just an idea, as others have done it, maybe its the freezer,

put it in a freezer check it every 15 seconds, until slow enough, then take it out,

right now, you cant really sell this parasite ridden spider, if untreated it might die, so time to experiment and try everything. GOODLUCK.

if you dont want to do the fridge/freezer trick, try putting the T in a small container with little room to turn around or run around and have a long stick/swab/brush ready to clean off the spider. the spider iwll fight and bite, but you just going to have to go at it till the job is done.

the predatory mites live top soil, maybe 1'' underground or less, dont like it deep, they will NOT follow the T inside the burrow. Ive seen it with one of my spider tanks. so i don tknow if that will work out. it may or may not, ive seen those fast moving brown tiny mites above the ground while i had big grey white ones inside the burrow. ask others who have actually USED these mites with burrowing spiders.

as for your new slings. put it in a tiny vial, get a thick/softest brush you can find from an art store and another soft brush but very narrow/small, you will find some at an art store for sure, then you can push down the sling gently with a thick brush and with a little brush knock off the mite/mites. i have done this with a C. crawshayi sling with a mite between legs, worked great. the trick is to have a right sized vial where there is just enough room for two brushes to work around a pinned down sling.

okay, another idea for the defensive T, again put her in a tight container, see if you can get long sturdy tweezers or tongs (rubber tipped better), and grab the spider by its cephalothorax, and careful not to crush the spider. and with your other hand knock off the mites.

i really hate mites too. really hate them, let us know what you do with updates.

 

[treeweta]

I have a few spiders here in USA with mites but seem low in number. In the Uk around 15 years ago i had an issue with mites, not sure if its the same species as i have now, these were wery small and were imobile except when the spider moulted and they'd scurry onto the new skin! Anyway these mites eventually vanished on their own accord and at no point did I try any methods to reduce them except pluck them off with a tiny point of wet tissue when the spider was moulting and they were relocating, my spiders seemed fine with them, even spiderlings, my two remaining spiders in Uk are totally mite free despite having them when they were younger.

treeweta.

 

[Lorgakor]

Thanks for the suggestions, but grabbing this spider in any way is not an option for me. This is, like I said, an extremely defensive spider. I am not touching it. And thank you, but I do know that I cannot sell it with mites on it. The only reason I spotted the mites are because I was packing her up to send her (for free) to Manville(another member). I was definitely not going to send someone a spider covered in mites.
Also, she will be treated with the predatory mites not while in a burrow, but while in a cage with absolutely no substrate. I may move her to a cage with an inch or so of substrate, but not more than that.

I have emailed some local horticulture type businesses about their predatory mites, so I'm just waiting to hear back.

 

[chubfarm]

i was told if you have a mite problem to get a film contaner (like a 35mm)and put a dead cricket in there,cut a small hole in the lid and put vasoline in there.when the mites crawl in to eat they get stuck in there.

 

[Brian S]

i was told if you have a mite problem to get a film contaner (like a 35mm)and put a dead cricket in there,cut a small hole in the lid and put vasoline in there.when the mites crawl in to eat they get stuck in there.

That works for scavenger mites but since the parasitic mites arent attracted to dead meat I doubt it will work on them

@Laura,
When you get your predatory mites and do this I would like for you to post your results if you dont mind. This would be a helpful topic for future reference

 

[Lorgakor]

Actually the film container thing doesn't even work on scavenger mites. I've tried it. Substrate changes work though.

Brian I will definitely post updates about this.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[Brian S]

Laura, I just remembered that Raze on VL used predatory mites when she had a mite infestation. You might send her a pm and ask her about it.