Are mites harmful

[Arachnoenthusiast]

I've heard it both ways. Some say mites are harmful to tarantulas and other invertebrates. I've also heard people say that mites are either harmless or beneficial. What do you all think? And is simply letting the enclosure dry out for a week or 2 the best way to get rid of them?

 

[cold blood]

mites are detrivores, so theyre most dangerous to dead tarantulas...to living ones, generally speaking, mites can be a nuicence, but not dangerous.

Lots of times mites get blamed when people find their dead t covered in them, but the truth is, they are just really quick about showing up after death.

 

[Arachnoenthusiast]

mites are detrivores, so theyre most dangerous to dead tarantulas...to living ones, generally speaking, mites can be a nuicence, but not dangerous.

Lots of times mites get blamed when people find their dead t covered in them, but the truth is, they are just really quick about showing up after death.

Would letting the enclosure dry up kill them off? It's in my damon diadem enclosure which I keep fairly moist. So far they haven't shown up in my t enclosures, they are both dry species having only water dishes.

 

[cold blood]

Drying things out, along with keeping things clean, are your best ways to control mite populations.

 

[Liquifin]

It depends on what specific/species of mites. The common mites (grain mites, etc.) are harmless to T.'s but can be of nuisance if they reproduce and swarm like crazy in a enclosure. If you keep dart frogs and have flightless fruit flies then these common mites are the biggest enemy to deal with for flightless fruit fly colonies as they'll wipe colonies out with numbers and swarms. The harmful ones are predatory mites or nematodes which mostly come from WC specimens. I've heard that snake mites from snakes can attach on to T.'s but I don't know if that's true or not...

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Would letting the enclosure dry up kill them off? It's in my damon diadem enclosure which I keep fairly moist.

Yeah, mites aren't really drought tolerant, if that's not an option then you can add springtails to moist enclosures, they outcompete mites for food.

 

[viper69]

What do you all think?

I'll tell you what I know from experience. If the mites are in HUGE numbers they can agitate a T easily. As they attempt to crawl on the T, the T will use their legs to try and flick them off, like they have a mammalian itch.

Also in huge numbers (I didn't count, so don't ask) the T will move to another portion of the cage. SO if you actually pay attention to your Ts behavior as I do, you will notice this as I did.

You're welcome

. If you keep dart frogs and have flightless fruit flies then these common mites are the biggest enemy to deal with for flightless fruit fly colonies as they'll wipe colonies out with numbers and swarms

I didn't know this, thanks! I take it they are attracted to the food?

 

[Liquifin]

I didn't know this, thanks! I take it they are attracted to the food?

Yep. Humidity and food within the colony are what drives mites to overthrow fff colonies and it really sucks if anyone has a lot of colonies getting wiped out because of it. There are youtube videos of people using different methods to prevent mites from swarming fff colonies, while I don't have any dart frogs, I do have fff that I buy from dart frog owners and they tell me about them.

 

[Arachnid Addicted]

I've heard it both ways. Some say mites are harmful to tarantulas and other invertebrates. I've also heard people say that mites are either harmless or beneficial. What do you all think? And is simply letting the enclosure dry out for a week or 2 the best way to get rid of them?

Long thread ahead, but it should be helpful.

All you need to know about mites

Mites are one of the big topics that turn up over and over again. I can't count how often I've posted about them and tried to put a rational view on some rather phobic reactions. So, here is a consolidated post with everything about mites that I (and others) can link back to: Mites are harmless...

arachnoboards.com

 

[viper69]

Yep. Humidity and food within the colony are what drives mites to overthrow fff colonies and it really sucks if anyone has a lot of colonies getting wiped out because of it. There are youtube videos of people using different methods to prevent mites from swarming fff colonies, while I don't any dart frogs, I do have fff that I buy from dart frog owners and they tell me about them.

No one told me about this in my on/off research of PDFs, though I haven't asked about raising FFs yet. So they like the blue food too...great.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Yeah, mites aren't really drought tolerant, if that's not an option then you can add springtails to moist enclosures, they outcompete mites for food.

Just wanna say, at least here in Aus, the common soil mites will nearly always outcompete even the most well kept springtails in a matter of days to a week, before then turning on the springtails after running out of food. I struggle to even keep springs because inevitably the mites end up with them regardless of how careful you are

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Just wanna say, at least here in Aus, the common soil mites will nearly always outcompete even the most well kept springtails in a matter of days to a week, before then turning on the springtails after running out of food. I struggle to even keep springs because inevitably the mites end up with them regardless of how careful you ate

Yeah, but everything in Australia is mental.

Tbh, I'm surprised the mites there aren't deadly to humans

 

[Poonjab]

It depends on what specific/species of mites. The common mites (grain mites, etc.) are harmless to T.'s but can be of nuisance if they reproduce and swarm like crazy in a enclosure. If you keep dart frogs and have flightless fruit flies then these common mites are the biggest enemy to deal with for flightless fruit fly colonies as they'll wipe colonies out with numbers and swarms. The harmful ones are predatory mites or nematodes which mostly come from WC specimens. I've heard that snake mites from snakes can attach on to T.'s but I don't know if that's true or not...

Hey, thank you for this info. I think you helped me solve where my mite problem came from and why my fruit fly colony died out. I’ve never had an issue with mites. Then one day, they were just there. I’m glad I finally got rid of them all. I hated seeing them in my enclosures.

 

[The Snark]

Here's an odd one I recently heard. Dessicant added to enclosures can inhibit, control or even wipe out most mite infestations. Essentially, it's simply ongoing moisture and humidity control.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Yeah, but everything in Australia is mental.

Tbh, I'm surprised the mites there aren't deadly to humans

They are, the reporters just never survive an encounter before they can tell the media

 

[The Snark]

They are, the reporters just never survive an encounter before they can tell the media

Visualizing red spider mites dangling nooses from trees.... need more coffee.