# Tiny little white bugs



## redsaw (May 17, 2009)

Woke up this morning to find little white bugs crawling all over my meal worm colony containers. They are so small it looked like dust all over the containers at first. Has anyone had this happen before? I cant get a pic because they are so small. What could they be?


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## Miss Bianca (May 17, 2009)

They are the same little white bugs that form when conditions are too moist, 
(collembola?? Not sure..)
but.. there must be at least a _thousand and one_ threads about these same 
little white bugs. This is best assumption, by the way... a pic would definitely 
work wonders.. but since there isn't one available...

They breed like crazy... by the way... I'd rinse them out through a sifter 
and put them in a new dry enclosure...


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## redsaw (May 17, 2009)

Thanks Miss Bianca. The bugs are as big as the tip of a stick pin and I don't have a camera that will take that close of a shot. I have been using cricket gel water for the meal worms. Should I not use that?
-edit- I'm not sure if I even want to mess with these things any more. Its really annoying and pisses me off, I kinda hate throwing away $15.00 worth of worms & containers but I don't want to have to deal with this crap. Makes me want to get rid of my T's before they get bugs on them also.


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## Matt K (May 17, 2009)

Grain mites.

Too much moisture. Not enough air circulation.


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## Matt K (May 17, 2009)

For my mealworm and my superworm colonies I dont dare add water.  They get enough moisture from a piece of carrot or something.  They do not need much to drink by nature.


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## Miss Bianca (May 17, 2009)

definitely do not get rid of your Ts! These can be eliminated and prevented 
also.... if you want get rid of the worms, but it's not absolutely necessary. 
A piece of vegetable once or twice a week should suffice as food and 
moisture, besides any dry media that they live in. 
If you rinse them off briskly in a sifter like I mentioned before, 
I believe you can get rid of most if not all of them. 
I feel the same way about these by the way... they gross me out.. 






redsaw said:


> Thanks Miss Bianca. The bugs are as big as the tip of a stick pin and I don't have a camera that will take that close of a shot. I have been using cricket gel water for the meal worms. Should I not use that?
> -edit- I'm not sure if I even want to mess with these things any more. Its really annoying and pisses me off, I kinda hate throwing away $15.00 worth of worms & containers but I don't want to have to deal with this crap. Makes me want to get rid of my T's before they get bugs on them also.


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## Matt K (May 17, 2009)

Dont get rid of the T's.  Just keep the worms really dry and that will solve the problem.  My mealworms live in a tub with dry breadcrumbs and oatmeal, both from canisters I bought at the grocery store.  They eat that and then once in a while I toss in a bit of carrot or apple or zucchini.  A small bit! Then I wait for that to be completely gone, skip a couple days, and add another. 

Easy breezy.  Dry, well fed worms.  After several months I pour them into a strainer to sift off all the frass and then pop them into a fresh tub of meal....hence the name "meal worm"


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## redsaw (May 17, 2009)

I cleaned the containers out and gave them new substrate & and baby carrot. I'll keep an eye on them to see what happens.


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