Help!!

[dangerprone69]

I think my Emperor colony is infested with mites.

One of them was roaming around today, so I took it out to examine it and it appears to have mites around it's joints. Having had a problem before with my roach colonies, they didn't appear to move around a lot like mites do. Could they be something else? What can I do to get rid of them?

 

[EAD063]

The cuticle at the joint can sometimes look like a mite... Try getting a picture.

Here look. Does it look like that?
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/gallery/showimage.php?i=2020&catid=92

 

[dangerprone69]

I'll try and get a picture tomorrow, gotta head to work right now. Whatever these are,they're right near the joint where the legs attach to the body. Also, I flipped him over and they appear to be gathered around the spheracles. NOT GOOD!!

I ordered some isopods to play the role of cage janitors, I just need to know what I can do to get these things off them. I'm sure know that Emps don't exactly cooperate too well.

 

[Deolok]

I guess the typical solution would be to go with some rubbing alcohol and a quetip, but... If they are not exactly mites. Best go off a picture first.

 

[EAD063]

You probaly missed my edit...... check out the link in my first reply.

 

[Thaedion]

I had a P imp die from mites. They looked like tiny, .25mm/.010", brown/tan dots and they too were around the joints and in the crevices on the underside.

When I noticed my emp it was too late, it was out of its hide and listless. I took him out and looked him over and saw the mites. I tried to scrape them all off with a toothpick but they were all over. There was something I read about quarantining the infected scorp in a dryer/arid enclosure but I can't find it now. (if I find it I'll edit this post)

Anyhow if they are mites I would suggest setting up a new tank and take each scorp and individually examine it and relocate the un-infested ones into the new tank and quarantine any infected ones to see if they recover.

Then either toss (I recommend) or bake the old substrate (not microwave) before reuse. (I don't reuse old substrate)

Hope the best for you, Thaedion

 

[EAD063]

Look at my post Michael and tell me if yours looked like that also... Thats not my pic though.

Ed

 

[Thaedion]

Look at my post Michael and tell me if yours looked like that also... Thats not my pic though.

Ed

I looked at that, and could not see anything like I had.
I cropped the pic and added some 'dots' that represent colour and size of what was on my scorp, (the joints where the segments of the leg meet those brown areas are not what I was talking about)

(Hope cropping a pic doesn't violate using someone else's picture rule)

They looked like grains of sand.

Thaedion My'kel Dain

 

[EAD063]

Great comparison!! The bumps are easily confusable aren't they? I hope thats all he has.

 

[pandinus]

Look at my post Michael and tell me if yours looked like that also... Thats not my pic though.

Ed

hmm... that picture seems oddly familiar to me.:?

 

[Thaedion]

hmm... that picture seems oddly familiar to me.:?

Hope you don't mind me cropping it for comparative purposes, if so I'll delete it...

 

[EAD063]

hmm... that picture seems oddly familiar to me.:?

I didn't break any rules. ;P

 

[pandinus]

if i cared, i wouldn't put them in the gallery.

Back on topic, the best way to get rid of the mites around the spiracles is to brush them off with a damp q-tip. water ONLY.

John

 

[dangerprone69]

Thanks guys. Rehousing them is going to be my project today.

 

[dangerprone69]

I bought a half liter of "predatory mites" (Hypoapsis miles) from Biconet, and boy, those little buggers work. 3 days after the first application and there are no visible signs of infestation. I will be rehousing the scorps soon, but for now I'll be continuing with applications of H. miles every few days to make sure I get rid of any remaining mites.