How many of you have seen mites in your enclosures? What do you personally do about it?

[ARACHNO-SMACK48]

The title pretty much says it all. I am wanting to see how common mites are amongst AB collections. Im not talking about a huge infestation, just an occasional mite or two on feeding on a bolus or whatnot. Do you guys ever see the occasional mite and not worry about it or is it a huge deal in your opinion? I have noticed different people responding differently. I am asking because I am extremely afraid of any type of parasite outbreak etc. in my collection. Last week, I noticed a piece of cricket bolus that I had not cleaned up in one of my sling vials. When I went to remove it I noticed several small mites. I quickly rehoused the spider (who seemed to be mite free) and placed the vial, substrate, and tongs into the freezer for several days just to be safe. Should I be worried?

 

[cold blood]

The title pretty much says it all. I am wanting to see how common mites are amongst AB collections. Im not talking about a huge infestation, just an occasional mite or two on feeding on a bolus or whatnot. Do you guys ever see the occasional mite and not worry about it or is it a huge deal in your opinion? I have noticed different people responding differently. I am asking because I am extremely afraid of any type of parasite outbreak etc. affecting my collection. Last week, I noticed a piece of cricket bolus that I had not cleaned up in one of my sling vials. When I went to remove it I noticed several small mites. I quickly rehoused the spider (who seemed to be mite free) and placed the vial, substrate, and tongs into the freezer for several days just to be safe. Should I be worried?

This past summer I found a few around the water dish of my G. pulchrpies. I removed the water dish and allowed it to remain dry for a week. Also do a thorough clean up of any bolus's that may be sitting in less noticeable places. Dry is the best combatant of mites IMO.

I think their more common in certain places and with certain keepers that are maybe too liberal with the misting/wetting/humidity and too complacent with regards to bolus removal. My pulchripes was the latter, I found several bolus's buried in the far corner when I really looked hard.

 

[PanzoN88]

Once, way back in sptember a week after i got my slings and that was it

 

[Galapoheros]

They are likely grain mites, very common. http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/flour-and-grain-mites Even though there is a crazy amount of mite species, the grain mite is the one people in the hobby seem to encounter most often, prob Acarus siro imo. People used to call them "Carrion mites" because they feed on dead inverts in their cages along with grains and decaying veg matter. Years ago I thought they were parasitic because of the way that attach to inverts in a stage called the hypopus stage. They appear to be tick like, so people assume they are parasitic. The theory is that they attach like that for transportation to more food. Almost impossible to get rid of so management is the way to handle it. People think they get rid of them but they are often on your invert also, so they crawl off ...there they are again. If you buy feeders from a pet store, you probably have the mites around somewhere. Before the internet came along, out of ignorance I'd throw out collections when I saw these mites, turns out they are not that big a deal unless there are too many that stress out your invert. There have been 100+ threads about it so you can find more info searching around.

 

[Poec54]

I'm in humid Florida, most of my spiders aren't under a/c, and I keep the substrate moist on a number of species (Asian and NW tropical terrestrials). I don't have a mite problem, rarely see them. I pick up boluses and dead prey every time I open the cages and I have adequate ventilation. I also have ceiling fans going most of the year, which no doubt helps.

 

[problemchildx]

I have never once seen mites in any enclosure. I think it has a lot to due with my location though. It seems to occur more frequently on the east coast/midwest/south/southwest.. Rather than Northwest. This is pure conjecture however.

I have had mold problems in the past though.

 

[Biollantefan54]

I have seen the likely grain mites in at least 6 out of 18 cages. I first noticed it a few months ago in my G. porteri's enclosure. I have had it for 3 years and it has likely had them since the beginning. I saw them on the spider, and a good bit on boluses, I lazy and don't clean up boluses a lot (One reason, my G. porteri is a messy eater and likes to turn it's food into a mat of parts spread around a 6 inch area).
I don't worry about them, none of my inverts have had any problems with them.

 

[ARACHNO-SMACK48]

So do you guys not worry about spreading them in trades etc?

 

[viper69]

If I see one mite, I isolate the container, rehouse entirely, wash the container w/water. Throw out old sub ALL of it. I remove the other T containers, and clean the entire stand.

They are not parasitic to Ts. However, they DO ANNOY Ts. I've seen my female GBB flick a rear leg, like she was scratching an itch when I had my first and only major mite outbreak (it was my fault). Ts, dont like them at all. Who would!? You are an animal w/a nervous system geared towards touch and a mite walking over you is a clear reason to go postal!

 

[ARACHNO-SMACK48]

Oh ok. Thx for the info guys.

 

[14pokies]

Once on WC g.rosea..damn imports!

 

[lalberts9310]

Encountered these buggers once, when I saw them crawling around the water dish and against the glass I took my T and placed her in a temporary enclosure. I took the infected enclosure, isolated it and checked the other enclosures for any mites. I then Threw out all the sub, took the wood decor and left it in the sun for a day, placed it in the oven at 120 degrees celsius for approximately 3 hours. I took the enclosure and the rest of the decor and water bowl and thoroughly washed it in a bit of bleach and water, I rinsed it thoroughly afterwards. Left it to dry for 2 days, I then took the enclosure, I didn't smell any fumes of residue bleach. I took new virgin substrate that was semi-dry and placed it into enclosure, rearranged all the decor etc. I inspected the T for mites, took a brush and brushed her for incase there was any, I put back T and all was back to normal. What I do to combat these buggers is, I do not mist the sub, ever. I put in water bowls, if the sub gets to dry I add a little bit of water too it and just mix it up well. I do maintenance regularly, removing poo and boluses and also good ventilation helps. I haven't encountered those tiny buggers since.

 

[BobGrill]

Grain mites are just something you have to deal with. I get them from time to time, but I haven't had a true infestation in years thankfully.

 

[Galapoheros]

Grain mites are just something you have to deal with. I get them from time to time, but I haven't had a true infestation in years thankfully.

Yip, I don't freak out anymore about them after I accepted that, it really bugged me for years. If people go read about them, they will see that grain mites can handle dry conditions in that dormant stage(hypopus) for several months. I have tropical stuff, very moist and humid but I don't have a problem in those cages as long as I keep the rotting leftover stuff out of there, hard to catch everything though. This is where the dwarf white isopods come in handy, when they get up in numbers, they tend to eat that stuff before those mites can eat enough to cause an outbreak, there is some speculation they eat the eggs of the mites and poss even the mites, haven't seen any proof of that though.

 

[Hanska]

I had some on my rosie when I got her. The store misted it a bit so I think that was the reason. After a week in my care with a properly bone dry enclosure they vanished. Later I got a huge infestation on my meal worm colony that spread all over my sling shelf. Millions of them. Took out all containers and cleaned the shelf with a steamer and they were all gone in a few days.

Grain mites are like fungus/mold spores. No point in worrying if you'll transport them with trades or the like. They're already everywhere... yes.. everywhere. All you can and need to do is keep your setups so that they are less than optimal for them to live(as in dry/clean/well ventilated).

Oh. And once I had mites allover an african beetle. Good thing the beetle was more resistant to low humidity and I just put it in a deli cup with dry paper towel and checked it twice a day. Two days and all the mites died of dehydration and the beetle got back with it's friends. No mite problems followed.

 

[CEC]

Once on WC g.rosea..damn imports!

Not just wild caught, I have had a few imported slings with parasitic mites attached to or around the chelicerae. You can't see the mites on a sling with the naked eye, it takes magnification, like my bro's macro camera. I waited till they molted and immediately transferred them once they completed and hardened a little. I made sure to get them moved before the mites left the molt to reattach to the T.

 

[viper69]

If I recall correctly there are predatory mites which go after on these hellish grain mites.

 

[Hanska]

If I recall correctly there are predatory mites which go after on these hellish grain mites.

Hypoaspis miles

 

[LuiziBee]

I've had mites in all of my enclosures for years. But just the little harmless ones that feed on the leftovers. They are in my most humid M. robustum enclosure all the way to my bone dry M. balfouri enclosure. They don't bother me. Spot cleaning helps keep their numbers down.

 

[goodoldneon]

I've had mites in all of my enclosures for years. But just the little harmless ones that feed on the leftovers. They are in my most humid M. robustum enclosure all the way to my bone dry M. balfouri enclosure. They don't bother me. Spot cleaning helps keep their numbers down.

Same here. When viewed under a microscope, they appear to be a species of grain mite. I've never observed them on and/or harming my tarantulas, so, I just let them be. Unless they appear to be the harmful sort, cleaning house seems like a waste of time. In all likelihood, they’ll be back shortly thereafter. I haven’t changed the substrate is some enclosures in years. Rehousing, replacing substrate, etc, seems to be more stressful than sharing space with microscopic cage mates. It’s like setting a tarantulas reset button, they roam and wander aimlessly, etc.