# Isopods eat mites?



## joks (Jun 12, 2008)

Is it true that isopods eat mites? :?


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## bjaeger (Jun 12, 2008)

Nope. If you already have mites they cannot get rid of them, but they can help prevent them by eating the uneaten scraps, mold, etcetera. I also read somewhere that says that they would compete with the mites for food and the isopods are bigger, so they'll probably win. I'm not sure which to go by but you should definitely have isopods in a moist environment.


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## arachyd (Jun 12, 2008)

Mites appear to be having a population explosion everywhere, probably due to the heat and humidity at this time of year. I've been seeing a lot of posts about them the past couple of days.


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## talljosh003 (Jun 13, 2008)

i hang fly tape in my tank occasionally too keep them down


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## enjoier14 (Jun 14, 2008)

So if I threw a few isopods into my Babycurus jacksoni tank and Pandinus imperator tank...they wouldn't try to eat the isopods?  
and if the scorps were to eat the isopods, would it harm the scorpion?


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## inverts (Jun 14, 2008)

enjoier14 said:


> So if I threw a few isopods into my Babycurus jacksoni tank and Pandinus imperator tank...they wouldn't try to eat the isopods?


There are two basic types of isopods. Their common names are pill bugs, which have the ability to roll their body into a spherical shape and sow bugs, which do not have the ability to roll their body into a spherical shape. Scorpions will generally not try to eat the pill bugs, but I have read that they will sometimes eat the sow bugs.  


> and if the scorps were to eat the isopods, would it harm the scorpion?


No, it should not harm your scorpion if it eats an isopod, unless the isopod has some harmful chemicals or pesticides on it.


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## Kid Dragon (Jun 14, 2008)

Land isopods are crustaceans that are detritus feeders and herbivores. Although they remind people of millipedes, they are more related to crabs. They are nonpoisonous and nonvenomous. They thrive in moist environments, like in a forest inside a dead log.


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## enjoier14 (Jul 9, 2008)

I have tons of isopods around my house.  I'll throw a few in my scorp tanks.


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## reverendsterlin (Jul 9, 2008)

best treatment for mites is mites (predatory mites).
Rev

Reactions: Like 1 | Clarification Please 1


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## JBoer (Jul 9, 2008)

be careful about introducing pillbugs(or others) into an environment, as stated many times before the pesticides in modern agriculture can easily kill your collection. I, personally, segregated mine for a month and introduced the babies with nothing but praise at the results.


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## Malcara (Jul 10, 2008)

talljosh003 said:


> i hang fly tape in my tank occasionally too keep them down


How in the name of Zeus' butthole did you accomplish that? I tried it next morning I had fly tape on tank floor with 2 stuck crickets and one really MIFFED pregnant emperor who was stuck to it.:wall:


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## talljosh003 (Jul 11, 2008)

just tape it up to the top of your enclosure?


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## jebranson (May 12, 2012)

*This isopods ate a mite*



joks said:


> Is it true that isopods eat mites? :?


My high school student, Christian,  recently captured video evidence that an isopod will consume a mite. Please watch the video! 

Best,
Ms. Branson
Science Teacher
Chicago Public Schools


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## Michiel (May 13, 2012)

the fly tape thing cracked me up.......is that for the flying mites???????


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## Roblicious (May 13, 2012)

pill bugs will eat anything on the ground

I just witness some of my isopods eating 1i C gracs that were on the mothers back (she was hanging upside down low to the ground)


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