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[Vampire]

I was just checking on my B Smithi & noticed some tiny white wormlike creatures in the soil. What can these be? I have emptied out her tank & washed everything in hot soapy water & will replace the potting soil......I don't see anything on her or any in my other Ts tanks......how can I prevent this?

 

[Navaros]

Maggots? Maybe you are keeping the substrate too wet?

 

[Vampire]

think so?

Man, I am totally freaked out.......I don't wanna lose her......is this dangerous?

 

[Vampire]

PS

They're really tiny........about as wide as a hair......they"re smaller than the fruitfly larva....speaking of which, I've been keeping my PZB sling in the same tank & I feed her those fruitflies......crap, I don't know.

 

[Vampire]

PSS

The PZB is in her own vial.

 

[metzgerzoo]

Sounds like larva of some sort to me. Good idea changing out the soil. Does your smithi have a different substrate than your others? You might want to make sure your humidity isn't too high and "breeding" these creepy buggers and make sure you don't leave left overs in her tank to encourage nasties.

 

[Vampire]

substrate

I have them all in potting soil with a little vermiculite.....same stuff I always use.......thing is I just got a T Blondi a few weeks ago & maybe I did go a little crazy with the misting......I see nothing in there with her.

 

[BaltimoreBoy]

the only time maggots or worms come around is when they have a good food source and if not your tarantula then the left overs it leaves in verious spots... THEY MAY BE DEADLY TO YOUR T. ive heard of tarantulas getting a case of the "worms" or some sort and they dont kill it untill they come out of its mouth and you never even know. they eat it from the inside out. when they are dead you will see the worms at the front of its mouth. take all the substrate out and get new stuff. There is no way this wont work and DONT MAKE YOUR VENTILATION HOLES SO BIG this allows anything to get in there and lay 1000's of eggs in your tank. the little worms or larva u see crawling around will soon turn into flies or beetles.

 

[Navaros]

Maggots wont feed on live flesh. The larvae you're probably thinking about are of parasitic wasp species like pepsis. I agree with the food source though, are you not cleaning out all the old food? Could also be some nematodes or small worms.

 

[reverendsterlin]

I put dry peat into boiling water to hydrate it and sterilize it, have not noticed any bugs in my stuff but the ones I put there.