How to get rid of mites on a wild tarantula?

TheDarkAbyss

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Mar 10, 2019
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Greetings.

I was recently given a wild caught juvenile female Orphnaecus Philippinus and I immediately noticed parasitic mites around her carapace.
How do you remove them with out damaging the tarantula?
 

moricollins

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Greetings.

I was recently given a wild caught juvenile female Orphnaecus Philippinus and I immediately noticed parasitic mites around her carapace.
How do you remove them with out damaging the tarantula?
Paint brush, dry, essentially sweep them off
 

AphonopelmaTX

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Greetings.

I was recently given a wild caught juvenile female Orphnaecus Philippinus and I immediately noticed parasitic mites around her carapace.
How do you remove them with out damaging the tarantula?
How can you tell if they are parasitic?
 

Garnet3942

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May 27, 2020
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Is there another way? This one is teleportation-levels of bolty
Well you kinda have to sweep them off I found a helpful site that helps with tarantula sickness you need a cotton bud and you need to put petroleum jelly on the cotton bud and jently swab the parts of the tarantula that have mites on it the mites should go onto the cotton bud.
 

Garnet3942

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Greetings.

I was recently given a wild caught juvenile female Orphnaecus Philippinus and I immediately noticed parasitic mites around her carapace.
How do you remove them with out damaging the tarantula?
And the substrate looks very wet move your tarantula to a dryer enclosure
 

Poonjab

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Well you kinda have to sweep them off I found a helpful site that helps with tarantula sickness you need a cotton bud and you need to put petroleum jelly on the cotton bud and jently swab the parts of the tarantula that have mites on it the mites should go onto the cotton bud.
Completely off topic, but cotton buds? I’ve never heard a q-tip or cotton swab referred to as that. The more ya know..
 

Daniel S

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Great thread, it confirms that these are tarantula parasitic mites- right? I think the most important thing to do is quarantine that T., so those mites won’t spread to your others. I don’t know what your options for treating the T are though, as that thread indicates that nobody really does right now. You could get predatory mites and “experiment” but I don’t know if you want to really do that. (Predatory mites wouldn’t be harmful to T’s, but any microfauna such as springtails will get consumed). H.miles is a generalist-predator mite and may do the trick, but like I said, it’s basically “uncharted territory” at this point. Best of luck to you and your T, OP.
 

TheDarkAbyss

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How can you tell if they are parasitic?
For one thing, I can see with a loupe magnifier they are biting down into the nooks and crannies of the spider like a tick would

Great thread, it confirms that these are tarantula parasitic mites- right? I think the most important thing to do is quarantine that T., so those mites won’t spread to your others. I don’t know what your options for treating the T are though, as that thread indicates that nobody really does right now. You could get predatory mites and “experiment” but I don’t know if you want to really do that. (Predatory mites wouldn’t be harmful to T’s, but any microfauna such as springtails will get consumed). H.miles is a generalist-predator mite and may do the trick, but like I said, it’s basically “uncharted territory” at this point. Best of luck to you and your T, OP.
It is very likely these are parasitic mites as, that thread states, only wild tarantulas have a chance of having them, and this is a definite wild specimen

And the substrate looks very wet move your tarantula to a dryer enclosure
This is an O. Philippinus though, they will die fast on arid enclosures
 

Garnet3942

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For one thing, I can see with a loupe magnifier they are biting down into the nooks and crannies of the spider like a tick would



It is very likely these are parasitic mites as, that thread states, only wild tarantulas have a chance of having them, and this is a definite wild specimen



This is an O. Philippinus though, they will die fast on arid enclosures
Hmm OK I suppose you could atleast make it more dry but not too dry.
 

Chebe6886

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Apr 24, 2018
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Probably best to let more experienced keepers and people who have dealt with this chime in and not fill a serious thread with stuff you googled real fast
 

Danthan inc

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May 12, 2021
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Okay so I've battled mites a few times and many different ways, Vaseline cotton tips✔ different counter treatments✔ paint brushes✔
All equally the same result. Now a wild T won't have any of them options, so he would do the same as a snake would soak/swim..... I have just tested it on on of my T's and instantly seen results!
Now In saying that dont just dump your T into water. It would be a horrible experience, so try to.. yano make it luke warm bath, with a lid. He will naturally float anyway Then in a nice dark quiet place for about 5 minutes and then back into clean enclosure.
 

Dry Desert

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For one thing, I can see with a loupe magnifier they are biting down into the nooks and crannies of the spider like a tick would



It is very likely these are parasitic mites as, that thread states, only wild tarantulas have a chance of having them, and this is a definite wild specimen



This is an O. Philippinus though, they will die fast on arid enclosures
You could try reducing the enclosures temp. quite a bit for a while, that may calm the T and prevent it teleporting whilst paintbrushing.
 

Jess S

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If I was in your unenviable position I'd first look for a scientist, to email photos of the mites and potentially send a sample of those mites to, if requested. They will be able to tell you the species.

in the meantime id have this t quarantined in a different room to the others.

If they turn out to be harmful mites, I think the q tip method would work. My concern is you probably won't get every single mite so you'd probably have to do it more than once, plus redo and wash the enclosure with very hot water (though some people freeze the enclosure for 24 hours instead).

A way of using qtip method without getting bit:

Find a container that the t can fit into snugly and not be able to turn around in. Precut lots of access holes for your brush or qtip. Coax t in and remove mites, through the access holes/slots.

Hope things work out for you.
 
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