# Mites with crickets...



## Alboy84 (Jul 9, 2007)

Hi,

I've noticed that my cricket pet pal has been infested with mites (everytime I add a new piece of fruit for moisture it takes only a few hours before a whole batch of these mites attaches themselves to it). I'm just wondering, is it better to just get rid of the crickets and clean the whole thing out - or is it possible to keep removing these pieces of fruit daily (as I would do normally) removing the majority of the mites each time, and eventually clearing it that way. Also, I don't seem to see any of the mites on the crickets themselves so would it be safe to still feed them to my T's? (Don't worry - no crickets have gone near my T's since I noticed the problem, in case the answer's no). 

Thanks for any advice!

Alan


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## Wadew (Jul 9, 2007)

Alan,
It is important to clean your cricket cage daily and feed your crickets in a dish that is easily removable. I would ditch what is left of your crickets and start fresh.
                        Wade


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## Becky (Jul 9, 2007)

You get mites on most cricket's you'll buy anyway. Remove the fruit and eventually all the mites will be gone. Then hopefully, breeding the crix without mites will mean u dont get any in future. Good luck


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## Skypainter (Jul 9, 2007)

Ditch the crickets and buy some roaches.  I have B. lateralis and mites never seem to be a problem.


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## BinarySpider2 (Jul 16, 2007)

*Cricket Mites ?*



Alboy84 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I've noticed that my cricket pet pal has been infested with mites (everytime I add a new piece of fruit for moisture it takes only a few hours before a whole batch of these mites attaches themselves to it). I'm just wondering, is it better to just get rid of the crickets and clean the whole thing out - or is it possible to keep removing these pieces of fruit daily (as I would do normally) removing the majority of the mites each time, and eventually clearing it that way. Also, I don't seem to see any of the mites on the crickets themselves so would it be safe to still feed them to my T's? (Don't worry - no crickets have gone near my T's since I noticed the problem, in case the answer's no).
> 
> ...


I agree with what Wadew said. Start all over. Interesting and odd though, I have never ever had a single mite on any crickets in the past two or three years. I have ordered crickets from multiple places all over the USA and I have never seen a single mite ever. I feed mine a very fine ground up 50/50 mixture by volume of...

Pounce Chicken & Turkey Flavor Cat treats / Hartz Hamster Pellets

...and I give them some carrots. I also make sure they have fresh water. For pinheads I feed them the same 50/50 mixture but use oranges instead of the carrots.

Some species of insects do seem to become easily infested with mites. I have seen tiny pinhead size white mites just covering roaches and the giant millipeeds. I have heard of some people getting them on their tarantulas but I have never ever seen a single mite on any of my 31 tarantulas to date and never in the cages that I keep them in.

I do keep my cages cleaned out very well and I live in a dry and arid climate.

Owe, I probably do have to spray larger volumes of water and more frequently in my Avics cages than other Avic owners who may live in more humid climates such as Florida. I do NOT spray my crickets at all.

BinarySpider2


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## BinarySpider2 (Jul 16, 2007)

*Other mites*

I forgot, I have also seen mites on plants in my mothers outdoor flower garden but they looked more of a reddish brown color and are probably not the same species of mite that you have.

Owe yea more mites, when I was a child in Indiana I let my pet hamster out in the grass to play while I watched it. I brought it in and in less than a week it was covered with red mites and the cage was also infested with them crawling out the small open air holes. I had to get rid of everything.

BinarySpider2


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## WARPIG (Jul 16, 2007)

I keep about 50 -80 crix at a time, and I feed them dry cat food (I don't even grind it up), and inexpensive fish flake food. No substrate and I have yet to have any kind of outbreak. 

Once I have used most of the crix up, I will clean out everything with mild soap/water, and then restock.

Hope this helps-


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## Sobrino (Jul 16, 2007)

Skypainter said:


> Ditch the crickets and buy some roaches.  I have B. lateralis and mites never seem to be a problem.


i have Dubia Roaches and they breed extremely fast, everytime i open their cage i say... "HOLY $#^%!" and start a new cage. They are cheap and awesome and feed good. Just see if u can pick up some at a reptile show or something like that.


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## Moongazell14 (Jun 17, 2020)

I have started to notice very small white things that are attached to the thoraxes of many of my newly hatched crickets. I know they are mites, but are they harmful bloodsucking ones? If I remember correctly, blood sucking mites are dark in color, and these ones are white. They are in the soil I used to incubate too. I want to raise the crickets up, so I need to know how to get rid of these mites and if they are harmful. Can someone please help?


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