Help please

[beckett5000]

I noticed today that in two of my tarantula tanks that there a little bugs everywhere. They are really small and hard to see, so I cant get a good picture of them. Anyone have any ideas what they are, or how they infested the tanks? I cleaned them out dumping all the substrate, rubbed it down with alcohol, and then washed with soap and water hoping I killed all of them. I don't know if they will hurt my T's, but I'm not taking a chance. What am i doing wrong, and how do I stop this from happening again? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[popcangenie]

i know some soaps are very dangerous to tarantulas and im not sure about the alcohol and the bugs are probably mites, spring tails or if there flying ... nats

what kind of tarantula are you keeping?

how damp is that tank?

if some one can confirm there spring tails theres no problem but mites can kill tarantulas

 

[mcluskyisms]

You may find this helpful to read A guide to mites

 

[Ictinike]

Yep sounds like mites and they are almost always present but if you have an explosion in population, as what it sounds, there are some practices that can remedy as well prevent outbreaks in the future.

In most cases it comes down to proper husbandry depending on the species and it's likely you've kept the enclosures too moist as well prey remains were left around as a food source.

I'm in a similar situation although not as bad by the way it sounds and I'm rehousing my H. lividium on dry substrate for a few days until they fall off and dry up. My problem was the same as I've stated as my girl likes to pack her roach remains after feeding well back into her burrow and I've been using too much water in this case. Clearly my fault.

Keep things clean and dryer for awhile and they should die off but again if there are many and are crawling around and over the T, as well in the "soft" spots like the joints and such you may need to quarantine off the T(s) into other enclosures and clean out the old ones and re-do with new substrate.

It happens but can mostly be prevented. The above article linked has great info.