My emperor was out of his hide so I was looking at him and noticed a little white mite walking on one of his claws. Are parasitic mites that infect scorpions white? They looked like they were just from the substrate but this is the first mite I have seen on my emp. I am going to move him to a different tank after rolling him in flour and rinsing him off, any other suggestions? It wasn't a permanent tank anyway.
Emp Mites.
- Thread starter Navaros
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Your gonna roll it in flour and rince him off??.......I have an Androctonus spp. with this problem. I dont think ill try this.
Mat
Mat
Well the mites are not parasitic they just crawled on him from the substrate, so I am not worried about them anymore. I have used flour to get mites off of millipedes, it works good. Someone on these boards usually recommends doing it for mites, Professor T I think. Sounds strange but it works. 
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Yeah it does work, and don't worry it wont hurt them.
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Couldn't the flour block the booklungs...??
Frank
Frank
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Hi
I have got red small mites which looks like small spiders.
Does anywone know if they are "hurting" to the scorpion?
Alexander
I have got red small mites which looks like small spiders.
Does anywone know if they are "hurting" to the scorpion?
Alexander
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The only time you should flour your scorpion is if you plan on deep frying it like a shrimp.
The easiest and safest method to remove mites from a scorpion is to use a small paint brush...same one you might use to heard your T's around. Just put the scorpion in a deilicup deep enought that the scorpion won't be able to get out with some lightly moistened paper towel (one or two mist sprays) and gently use the paint brush to brush the mites off. Then you can wipe the paint brush on the damp paper towel and throw the papertowel down the toilet when you are through...no mites no problems.
I just did this to three WC Central American C.gracilis the other day. They come off fairly easily and no mess. If you use a paint brush with long enough bristles you can even get into ti leg areas.
Just make sure the paint brush has soft enough bristles...not the softest bristles but not stiff either...too stiff and you might injur the scorp...too soft and you won't be able to easily brush off the mites.
If mite are a reoccurring problem you might want to order some predatory mites from a biological supply. The method I have outlined above works fairly well if you are persistent and have good cage cleaning habits.
John
];')
The easiest and safest method to remove mites from a scorpion is to use a small paint brush...same one you might use to heard your T's around. Just put the scorpion in a deilicup deep enought that the scorpion won't be able to get out with some lightly moistened paper towel (one or two mist sprays) and gently use the paint brush to brush the mites off. Then you can wipe the paint brush on the damp paper towel and throw the papertowel down the toilet when you are through...no mites no problems.
I just did this to three WC Central American C.gracilis the other day. They come off fairly easily and no mess. If you use a paint brush with long enough bristles you can even get into ti leg areas.
Just make sure the paint brush has soft enough bristles...not the softest bristles but not stiff either...too stiff and you might injur the scorp...too soft and you won't be able to easily brush off the mites.
If mite are a reoccurring problem you might want to order some predatory mites from a biological supply. The method I have outlined above works fairly well if you are persistent and have good cage cleaning habits.
John
];')
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Well then that's an easy fix. I would be more worried if you saw them on your scorpion that has been living in an established enclosure...that might indicate you have mites all over the place. Just make sure you totally change out the substrate and clean the enclosure well or put it into a new one after you clean off all the mites.
Also vacuum any carpet or floor area where some of the infested soild might have fallen.
Put the infested soil in a tightly closed bag an toss it in the garbage...or since is so freaking cold where you are right now...you can probably safely dispose of your old soil in your yard.
John
];')
Also vacuum any carpet or floor area where some of the infested soild might have fallen.
Put the infested soil in a tightly closed bag an toss it in the garbage...or since is so freaking cold where you are right now...you can probably safely dispose of your old soil in your yard.
John
];')
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I know this is off topic, but yeah, it's cold. Real cold.
Chris
Chris
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The red mites you spoke of earlier are more of a worry than the white "mites." As I too have pulled a few reds off my scorpions in the past. (around the fleshy membranes between the caudal segments.) I'm beginning to think the "white mites" aren't mites at all. As i have never seen them "stay-put" or "attach" to my arthropods. I think they're an aphid-like insect// leaning towards greenhouse Whiteflies. Of all the times i've had them, they were either around the live plants or mixed throughout the substrate. (peat) So who knows, probably not mites at all, something worth looking into...
-Matt
-Matt
No, they are not insects they are mites. Not all mites are parasitic, most are beneficial. The white mites that live in substrate actually don't cause much harm, they are just really gross. They eat left over food. Dust mites eat crap in your house. You have mites all over your body right now eating your dead skin. There are even mites in your eyelash follicles, without those every morning your eyes would be crusted over like pink eye. The red ones you are talking about are parasitic since you saw them attached to the soft membranes of your scorpion.But mites cover all ranges of life, predatory, parasitic, beneficial (scavengers,cleaners), etc.
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Mites...like our Scorpions and Tarantulas are also arachnids...so..in a way..they kind of go along with our hobby.
John
];')
John
];')
I have had that thought before John.lol Mites are so gross though. Bob, my problem is some of the substrate mites crawled onto the scorpion so if I move him to a fresh tank with fresh good substrate the mites will crawl off of him and infect the new tank, so I need to clean him off first. I would like to order some hypoaspis and treat all my tanks with them once or twice a year just as a precaution, but they are so damn expensive.