Grain mite explosion in tarantula enclosures

[MariaLewisia]

Usually I'm the one calming people down in these sorts of situations but I feel like this is getting out of hands and I can't think straight, so I need some advice what to do.

So about a month ago I found grain mites in one of my mealworm colonies. The colonies are very small so no problem, I thought, and removed all the mealworms by hand and stopped with the grains.

Fast forward a month and the mites have now migrated all over my tarantula room. They are on the outside of almost every single enclosure, waaay off from where they started in bins on the floor. What really made me feel upset was just now when I discovered clusters of eggs in the lip of the lid on my Idiothele mira's enclosure. This has never happened before when I dealt with mites in the past. I don't understand what the mites are living off of or why/how they can reproduce not in but ON my tarantulas' enclosures, especially the I. mira who is the one I least expected to be a victim since she doesn't eat the mealworms, hasn't eaten anything else in the last months either, and is the farthest away from any sort of nutritional food source.

What should I do? I know mites are not harmful, especially these grain mites, but they are everywhere and their numbers are increasing rapidly and I don't want their numbers to get to the point of irritating my animals. I keep all feeders on zero grains now except for one with newly hatched mealworms which I can't separate but might just throw out. There are, strangely, no mites inside the dubia or red runner enclosures.

Tips and/or reassurance is greatly appreciated as always.

(Edit: spelling, apparently I can't spell when I'm upset lol)

 

[Wolfram1]

I never had this problem so i am not sure how to deal with it.


Perhaps you are now in a similar situation as i am with springtails.

Just today i set my morning coffee down for a few minutes and found my very first springtail on it. Usually i had a similar problem only after bad fungus gnat outbreaks....

It was nowere near any enclosures or pots but Collembola seem to be my very personal cleanup crew now .


are you sure they are grainmites and not other cosmopolitans? In ether case, it makes sense that they would move to more humid areas with slowly decomposing organics, perhaps creating eggs to endure until a more abundant grain/food supply resurfaces.


I found keeping darkling beatle larvae in coco-husk mixed with 10-20% clay granules works well, they spend their days burrowed and only resurface to feed, i also feed them very sparingly, ofen just a spoonful of thick porrige which they clean up 100% over night.

I then add a few layers of rough jute fabric on top for them to pupate in.

Not very practical but it works for me. I also accidently introduced some into my roach colony where they seem to be reproducing as well. Never had any mites, since there are nevery any leftovers.

anyway, sorry i dont seem to have very useful advice

prevention is easy, solutions are hard
edit: & spelling is even harder

 

[MariaLewisia]

I never had this problem so i am not sure how to deal with it.


Perhaps you are now in a similar situation as i am with springtails.

Just today i set my morning coffee down for a few minutes and found my very first springtail on it. Usually i had a similar problem only after bad fungus gnat outbreaks....

It was nowere near any enclosures or pots but Collembola seem to be my very personal cleanup crew now .


are you sure they are grainmites and not other cosmopolitans? In ether case, it makes sense that they would move to more humid areas with slowly decomposing organics, perhaps creating eggs to endure until a more abundant grain/food supply resurfaces.


I found keeping darkling beatle larvae in coco-husk mixed with 10-20% clay granules works well, they spend their days burrowed and only resurface to feed, i also feed them very sparingly, ofen just a spoonful of thick porrige which they clean up 100% over night.

I then add a few layers of rough jute fabric on top for them to pupate in.

Not very practical but it works for me. I also accidently introduced some into my roach colony where they seem to be reproducing as well. Never had any mites, since there are nevery any leftovers.

anyway, sorry i dont seem to have very useful advice

prevention is easy, solutions are hard

I have to admit I snickered a little at the thought of finding springtails in your coffee. I'm sorry, I hope you find a solution to your own springy problem!

I am 100% sure they are grain mites, and the exact colony they emerged from. They came, they saw, they conquered. I had the same thought about them migrating to try and find a better place to live, now that the buffet has closed. The eggs are freaking me out nonetheless.

I might just try keeping them in something other than grains. What happened this time is I left the grains in with the beetles, got lazy and didn't separate them so that the eggs could hatch, and the rest is history. My deadly sin is definitely sloth. Or the less deadly forgetfulness. Either way, I agree: prevention is easy, solutions are hard. Thank you anyway for taking your time answering!

 

[Wolfram1]

Always a pleasure.

and when they are not in my coffee i do appreciate them, usually

My deadly sin is definitely sloth. Or the less deadly forgetfulness.

i know that problem.
sometimes it could also be classified as selective forgetfullness

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I’ve never had these mites and I already took my few meal worms off grains .. not sure if they will pupate or not .
I’ve had phorid fly invaders and that was devastating to my roaches mostly wiped them out .. they never recovered.. very costly ..

 

[jbooth]

I'm inundated with them too, or soil mites, not sure they are light colored almost pink/light orange. They seem to pretty much move to somewhere moist when it dries out is about it, I imagine if everything dries completely out they'll be gone, quite annoying. Lots of moisture dependent enclosures around here. They even got into some nymphs in an incubation pot that had tiny holes in the lid, I watched them for hours and they are harmless, just eating fluids out of molts and stuff, but they sure are unsightly and annoying. The only barrier I've seen them not be able to cross is fly paper/strips. I quarantined some in an enclosure hoping they wouldn't spread but it was too late, and that glue is dangerous, one touch and your spider is missing legs, and very hard to clean up.

 

[MariaLewisia]

I'm inundated with them too, or soil mites, not sure they are light colored almost pink/light orange. They seem to pretty much move to somewhere moist when it dries out is about it, I imagine if everything dries completely out they'll be gone, quite annoying. Lots of moisture dependent enclosures around here. They even got into some nymphs in an incubation pot that had tiny holes in the lid, I watched them for hours and they are harmless, just eating fluids out of molts and stuff, but they sure are unsightly and annoying. The only barrier I've seen them not be able to cross is fly paper/strips. I quarantined some in an enclosure hoping they wouldn't spread but it was too late, and that glue is dangerous, one touch and your spider is missing legs, and very hard to clean up.

Yeah, no fly paper for me. I just find it curious how mine seem to wander around sort of aimlessly only to end up laying eggs on my driest enclosures when I have a bunch of moisture dependent ones right beside it. Very odd. These are very very tiny white mites, light beige if you have a bunch of them against a white background.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I'm inundated with them too, or soil mites, not sure they are light colored almost pink/light orange. They seem to pretty much move to somewhere moist when it dries out is about it, I imagine if everything dries completely out they'll be gone, quite annoying. Lots of moisture dependent enclosures around here. They even got into some nymphs in an incubation pot that had tiny holes in the lid, I watched them for hours and they are harmless, just eating fluids out of molts and stuff, but they sure are unsightly and annoying. The only barrier I've seen them not be able to cross is fly paper/strips. I quarantined some in an enclosure hoping they wouldn't spread but it was too late, and that glue is dangerous, one touch and your spider is missing legs, and very hard to clean up.

I think I’ve seen them Before they swarm the water dish like springtails. It’s weird ..

 

[viper69]

Usually I'm the one calming people down in these sorts of situations but I feel like this is getting out of hands and I can't think straight, so I need some advice what to do.

So about a month ago I found grain mites in one of my mealworm colonies. The colonies are very small so no problem, I thought, and removed all the mealworms by hand and stopped with the grains.

Fast forward a month and the mites have now migrated all over my tarantula room. They are on the outside of almost every single enclosure, waaay off from where they started in bins on the floor. What really made me feel upset was just now when I discovered clusters of eggs in the lip of the lid on my Idiothele mira's enclosure. This has never happened before when I dealt with mites in the past. I don't understand what the mites are living off of or why/how they can reproduce not in but ON my tarantulas' enclosures, especially the I. mira who is the one I least expected to be a victim since she doesn't eat the mealworms, hasn't eaten anything else in the last months either, and is the farthest away from any sort of nutritional food source.

What should I do? I know mites are not harmful, especially these grain mites, but they are everywhere and their numbers are increasing rapidly and I don't want their numbers to get to the point of irritating my animals. I keep all feeders on zero grains now except for one with newly hatched mealworms which I can't separate but might just throw out. There are, strangely, no mites inside the dubia or red runner enclosures.

Tips and/or reassurance is greatly appreciated as always.

(Edit: spelling, apparently I can't spell when I'm upset lol)

All over the room? I'd bomb the room.

An explosion to me is mites in a SINGLE container, irritating the crap out of a T.
They are attracted to moisture and T poop

 

[MariaLewisia]

All over the room? I'd bomb the room.

An explosion to me is mites in a SINGLE container, irritating the crap out of a T.
They are attracted to moisture and T poop

They're literally crawling on the walls. Unsightly and irritating. But it seems like they're not actually inside any of the enclosures which is... odd.

 

[viper69]

They're literally crawling on the walls. Unsightly and irritating. But it seems like they're not actually inside any of the enclosures which is... odd.

Bomb

 

[MariaLewisia]

Bomb

I'm beginning to suspect that would only make them stronger.

 

[coolnweird]

If it's gotten that bad, I would advise the following. Find another room to serve as a temporary enclosure location, and inspect it carefully to make sure no mites are present there already. Rehouse your spiders into small temporary holding enclosures with dry substrate and a slice of fresh fruit or veg (apple, lettuce, cucumber). The mites should swarm the food, and you'll be able to remove large amounts of the at once. Place the enclosures in to temporary holding room, and return your attention to the infested room and empty enclosures.

The enclosures will need to be completely cleaned out, the substrate disposed of or sterilized with heat. I would wipe down with vinegar water or a veterinary disinfectant. The room itself should be wiped down and pest control measures should be applied, I would avoid airborne pesticides for the safety of your spiders, unless you can relocate them completely. Once the room is free and clear, rehouse your spiders back into their original enclosures, adding plenty of springtails, which compete with the remaining mites for resources and keep populations down. Avoid keeping things too damp, unless of course you have moisture dependant species, and swiftly remove any leftover prey items.

Disclosure: I have no dealt with a mite issue this large, but I've had individual enclosures become infested and have resolved the issue. This is what I would do in your position, but your milage may vary. Best of luck!

 

[Wolfram1]

or: get a packet with predatory mites? I know, these can be hard to come by sadly.

 

[MariaLewisia]

If it's gotten that bad, I would advise the following. Find another room to serve as a temporary enclosure location, and inspect it carefully to make sure no mites are present there already. Rehouse your spiders into small temporary holding enclosures with dry substrate and a slice of fresh fruit or veg (apple, lettuce, cucumber). The mites should swarm the food, and you'll be able to remove large amounts of the at once. Place the enclosures in to temporary holding room, and return your attention to the infested room and empty enclosures.

The enclosures will need to be completely cleaned out, the substrate disposed of or sterilized with heat. I would wipe down with vinegar water or a veterinary disinfectant. The room itself should be wiped down and pest control measures should be applied, I would avoid airborne pesticides for the safety of your spiders, unless you can relocate them completely. Once the room is free and clear, rehouse your spiders back into their original enclosures, adding plenty of springtails, which compete with the remaining mites for resources and keep populations down. Avoid keeping things too damp, unless of course you have moisture dependant species, and swiftly remove any leftover prey items.

Disclosure: I have no dealt with a mite issue this large, but I've had individual enclosures become infested and have resolved the issue. This is what I would do in your position, but your milage may vary. Best of luck!

I have already moved a couple enclosures upstairs and the mites have not followed. At least they seem to be confind to the tarantula/boiler/heater room.

I keep springtails in all of my enclosures already and it seems to be keeping the mites out of them somewhat, but they're still crawling around on the outsides of the enclosures. There's one particular shelf that's targeted now and I wonder why. During the last 24 hours I finally got those pesky mealworm colonies out of there and did a lot of cleaning in and around all the other feeder colonies and honestly I haven't found as many stray mites as before other than that one shelf.

I'll try baiting with some food and see if I can catch and throw them away once every few hours before taking any drastic measures. Thanks!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I have already moved a couple enclosures upstairs and the mites have not followed. At least they seem to be confind to the tarantula/boiler/heater room.

I keep springtails in all of my enclosures already and it seems to be keeping the mites out of them somewhat, but they're still crawling around on the outsides of the enclosures. There's one particular shelf that's targeted now and I wonder why. During the last 24 hours I finally got those pesky mealworm colonies out of there and did a lot of cleaning in and around all the other feeder colonies and honestly I haven't found as many stray mites as before other than that one shelf.

I'll try baiting with some food and see if I can catch and throw them away once every few hours before taking any drastic measures. Thanks!

If they’re not inside your Ts enclosures are they really a threat? Find a way to get rid of them , I’d find another t room temporarily and bomb that room they have infested .

 

[viper69]

I'm beginning to suspect that would only make them stronger.

Dead

 

[MariaLewisia]

Update: Baiting doesn't work, but I see less and less stray mites. Instead most of them seem to have gathered in the lid of two enclosures: my Hysterocrates gigas and my Brachypelma emilia. They are sitting on the same shelf as the Idiothele mira, the first "bad" one. Still no rhyme or reason why they chose those two since they are opposite in humidity/moisture requirements and the B. emilia was just rehoused in a fresh tub a few months ago, so no poop or forgotten boluses or anything for them to eat. Anyway, I did a good wipe and rinse of the lids and sides of the enclosures and got a good amount of mites off. Hopefully they continue gathering on this shelf and I can rinse them off periodically.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Update: Baiting doesn't work, but I see less and less stray mites. Instead most of them seem to have gathered in the lid of two enclosures: my Hysterocrates gigas and my Brachypelma emilia. They are sitting on the same shelf as the Idiothele mira, the first "bad" one. Still no rhyme or reason why they chose those two since they are opposite in humidity/moisture requirements and the B. emilia was just rehoused in a fresh tub a few months ago, so no poop or forgotten boluses or anything for them to eat. Anyway, I did a good wipe and rinse of the lids and sides of the enclosures and got a good amount of mites off. Hopefully they continue gathering on this shelf and I can rinse them off periodically.

Do the mites just spontaneously appear out of no we’re like fruit flies ?
I wish I had an idea or clue how to get rid of mites but I’ve never gotten them .

 

[MariaLewisia]

Do the mites just spontaneously appear out of no we’re like fruit flies ?
I wish I had an idea or clue how to get rid of mites but I’ve never gotten them .

Yup, they popped up in a mealworm colony and suddenly they're all over the place. Annoying. But their numbers are dwindling so I guess I'm doing something right.