White spots: Does my tarantula have mites?

[Pseudo]

Or am I being paranoid?

 

[BoyFromLA]

It gets too blurry if I try to zoom in, but as far as I can tell, it only looks like just dirts.

 

[Venom1080]

Mites aren't even a big issue like some people think they are. Most are just a free cleaning crew.

 

[BoyFromLA]

Not so long ago, there was a similar question/concern just like yours, and this was the one of comments by @cold blood, hope this will light your way out.

 

[Ellenantula]

I can't tell upon zooming in, but I do know sometimes mine get this look -- it's like, um, a pet rock that got dusty. Hopefully nothing more than 'dirts.'
Substrate looks too dry to be much else, really.

 

[Pseudo]

Does this picture help?

Spoiler: Image

 

[Flexzone]

Does this picture help?

Spoiler: Image

No

 

[Pseudo]

No

 

[BoyFromLA]

Well, with or without a better picture, your question is already answered by @Venom1080.

Most mites are just scavengers, no need to worry too much.

Now, now don’t you worry, and be happy!

 

[Pseudo]

Alright. I will stop being paranoid. I keep reading different information that goes from it is harmless to THEY WILL GET IN THEIR LUNGS AND KILL THEM. Thanks for reassuring me, everyone.

 

[viper69]

So called "grain mites" can explode in number in a day or two. In numbers sufficient to irritate a tarantula, they are not harmless per se.

 

[Pseudo]

So called "grain mites" can explode in number in a day or two. In numbers sufficient to irritate a tarantula, they are not harmless per se.

Are you saying this is a case of grain mites?

 

[Pseudo]

I pulled this dubia out of the cage after it had been in there a day. Help.

 

[viper69]

Are you saying this is a case of grain mites?

No, never seen a good amateur pic of those mites. They are 0.5mm in length.

 

[NickW]

As said above, let things dry out. Also make sure things like dead feeder parts are taken out. I once had an explosion of mites in a P. imperator enclosure. I rehoused to a dry temporary enclosure for a few days and cleaned out the old one, adding new substrate. Probably overkill but it worked.

 

[boina]

So called "grain mites" can explode in number in a day or two. In numbers sufficient to irritate a tarantula, they are not harmless per se.

I really wonder what conditions you'd need to have grain mites explode in a tarantula enclosure. I did have a mite explosion in my feeder tanks (mealworms, B. lat.) a couple of times when I was a bit too generous with fresh veggies but never in a tarantula enclosure - and I have mites everywhere. I even feed the infested B. lats off - but more than the occasional mite here and there never survives in a tarantula enclosure. Maybe that's because I have springtails everywhere, too, I don't know.

OP, I don't ever worry about mites. They are there or they are not there, whatever. If they are there they help the clean up crew to keep mold in check. They don't attack tarantulas, ever. In really huge numbers they can be irritating to a tarantula (or so I've heard) but I somehow never had that happening.

 

[viper69]

I really wonder what conditions you'd need to have grain mites explode in a tarantula enclosure....they can be irritating to a tarantula (or so I've heard) but I somehow never had that happening.

There's no heard, I've seen!

I wrote the above post because it's a fact. I've observed it in my own care. I had a GBB (still have her) when she was younger, and she web matted the entire container down as they always do. However I THOUGHT I had gotten all the boli out, I didn't. There were some under the webbing, not visible. As her container was a cave of webbing, I put some water on the web matting (bowl too hard to access at the time, and she's a flicker quite readily). Ultimately I added too much because it soaked through to the dead crickets. A few days mites appeared due to moisture attraction. I had to leave town. I came back to find her a vertical, legs on floor and container wall, a bit unusual for her as she was not in her usual area of the container. I didn't notice that many mites. In 2 days I saw her rear leg twitching, quite a few times. It was a lot of movement for her, and odd too. It basically looked like she was scratching an itch.

So that night I pulled out flashlight and saw a carpet of white dots on top of her web mat. Basically she moved to the part of the container the mites hadn't explored yet. When I looked inside at the right angle, it was a sea of mites, or so it seemed.

I removed those nasty arachnids and she went back to her favorite spot within minutes.

It's the last time I watered a GBB like that. While her container was far from wet, that one area was enough to cause an explosion.