i have a mite problem.how fast do mites spread?

[bodc21]

i never have had a problem with mites out of the 9 tarantulas i have,i was overlooking mr.bigglesworth's enclosure saying goodnight and what not i noticed little white dots upon further inspection of the whole enclosure it was only under the water dish how fast can these spread my rosea is far away from em will he be ok in there with them over night till in the morning when i will be able to thuroughly clean out and put new substrate in his enclosure?thanks jason here is a photo of the damage

 

[bodc21]

number 2

 

[SpiderTwin]

If it were me, I would pull out the T and clean the enclosure. You can also pull out the T and let the substrate dry out, this will also kill the mites, but the first option is faster to get the T back to it's home.

Depending on what type of mites they are, it is better just to get rid of them ASAP.

 

[Beth-Tex]

Hmmm......am having a bit of a hard time really seeing what's in the picture......but.....it almost looks like mold to me. Are the dots moving? If not.....then it is mold & the substrate will need to be cleaned up. You may only need to replace the substrate around the area of the water bowl if the mold has not spread. (if it is mold - that is)

 

[L_mactans]

I actually had the same problem last night. I noticed that one of my P. murinus s'ling enclosures has some white dots meandering about. I have all of my slings on one shelf and very close to one another. I am not sure how long they had been there, but it was only with that one s'ling. I cleaned out every one of my 17 baby cages (at midnight!) with hot water, and hope that the threat is cleared, but I am definately going to keep a closer eye on that. I am suspecting that it came with a cricket? It has been very hot and humid in WI these last couple of days, and that may not have helped situations. Good luck with clearing out your mites!

 

[arachnopunks]

I would just clean the enclosure really well, and give fresh substrate. That should take care of whatever it is. We had this problem w/one of our T. blondi's, but the white was actually growing on his abdomen. Changing the substrate helped a lot, but it was still on him, so we had to lightly dab the areas with alcohol and it went away for good. It didn't ever spread to any of our other enclosures. Crickets track mites and molds in and then they thrive in the moisture near the waterdish. Re-doing the enclosure should be all you need to do.


-Jill

 

[bodc21]

thankyou everyone!