Mite Problem in Roach Bin

[Hisserdude]

Yup! The seller included plenty -- in fact, the leaves outlasted the isopods, since I think the isopods preferred the roach poop. (I also added fish flakes and nutritional yeast for them -- but the roaches may have really eaten that stuff).
My theory: dessication killed them.

Yeah, must have been dessication. The lats like it dry, too dry for most isopods I imagine.

Yeah -- this was the case with my mealies -- esp the beetles where you could see moving grain mites on them and their wings got all damaged looking -- I had a LOT of beetle losses and mealworm losses during my grain mite infestation.

Sorry to hear that, I have been lucky and have yet to have the common grain mites. I have a ton of other species though, so I ain't that lucky!

 

[Ellenantula]

Final thought since I mentioned fish flakes.... that crap STINKS UP a B lat enclosure. My roaches usually have extremely little smell -- not bad at all like crix enclosures can be. I do NOT miss adding fish flakes for the isopods.... lol

(edited to add: be funny if I was misinformed re: fish flakes and never even needed them for the isopods - hehe)

 

[Hisserdude]

Final thought since I mentioned fish flakes.... that crap STINKS UP a B lat enclosure. My roaches usually have extremely little smell -- not bad at all like crix enclosures can be. I do NOT miss adding fish flakes for the isopods.... lol

Interesting, I have never used those for my isopods, and now I never will!

 

[Ellenantula]

I still add fish flakes and nutritional yeast to my springtail colony -- but theirs is a closed system, so no smells. I have never even used those springtails.... I guess at this point they are pets -- bought them in case of a mite infestation and then read they might not eradicate one anyway.

 

[Hisserdude]

Huh, I am vegan so I have a ton of nutritional yeast, never thought of using it for my bugs! It depends on what species of springtail, some are really good at combating mites, others are better as tiny, but interesting pets.

 

[Ellenantula]

Huh, I am vegan so I have a ton of nutritional yeast, never thought of using it for my bugs! It depends on what species of springtail, some are really good at combating mites, others are better as tiny, but interesting pets.

COOL re: being vegan. I failed, so back to plain old vegetarianism. It was the cheese and milk chocolate that broke me. I am weak. (sigh)

 

[Hisserdude]

COOL re: being vegan. I failed, so back to plain old vegetarianism. It was the cheese and milk chocolate that broke me. I am weak. (sigh)

It was the same with my mom, those were the two things she couldn't give up. Then she watched a documentary called "Earthlings", and she became a total vegan. There are some really good cheese replacements available nowadays, Daiya for example.

 

[Galapoheros]

I stuck a wood burning stove in my fire place and cut my own wood so I have a lot of curled bark. I use that instead of egg crates that do take on a smell pretty fast, you might not have easy access to things like that. Something else you could use is broken pottery or cut cement board, aka hardiboard, hardiplank. I use crates for crickets though, but I don’t need to, use your imagination. That way you can keep the sub a little moist for isopods.

 

[Ellenantula]

Yeah, I bet curled bark would work well. I don't really have access to an easy/inexpensive wood supply here (just meaning it would probably be more trouble than it's worth for me to acquire).
With the roaches, there is little odour, so as long as the egg crates don't get damp, they last a bit longer.

 

[-=}GA']['OR{=-]

Order a culture of predatory mites. They will eradicate the pest mites quickly. Do a search for Stratiolaelaps scimitus formerly known as Hypoaspis miles. I have used them several times over the years with great effect.

 

[Travis K]

The only time I had grain mites was when I was breeding meal worms so they will not eat them. Keeping things dry and clean is the best preventative.

 

[Hisserdude]

No darkling beetles that are in the hobby eat mites, lesser mealworms can merely out compete them for food, and thus can be good for keeping mite numbers down.

 

[Dark]

Thank you all for the insights and information, I sincerely do appreciate it. I don't want to jinx myself but at the moment I SEEM to have the mite problem under control. I've been continuing the daily wiping of the cage walls with a Lysol wipe and keeping the lid off to dry it out. Right now the cage is bone dry and there are only a dozen or so mites visible if you peer around the cage. Initially there were thousands of them covering each wall entirely on both the inside and outside of the cage and walking around my desk, that is why I felt a dire need to completely eradicate them.

Order a culture of predatory mites. They will eradicate the pest mites quickly. Do a search for Stratiolaelaps scimitus formerly known as Hypoaspis miles. I have used them several times over the years with great effect.

Are these mites pet safe? I keep 5 birds in my room. If the mites ONLY eat / attack gnats, mites and other irritants then these guys might be my key to a cleaner cage. My concern with buying more mites is having an infestation of them instead of the other ones.

Eric

 

[BobBarley]

Hey guys!

Never had a mite problem before, but I thought I'd contribute a bit. Has anyone tried pseudoscorpions as a counter against mites? Is it even worth it considering they probably aren't capable of the population growth of predatory mites? Anyone tried it before?

 

[Hisserdude]

Hey guys!

Never had a mite problem before, but I thought I'd contribute a bit. Has anyone tried pseudoscorpions as a counter against mites? Is it even worth it considering they probably aren't capable of the population growth of predatory mites? Anyone tried it before?

I have heard of at least one person using these in his beetle cages, they work well to get rid of mites. Only problem is they are hard to locate in the hobby, and they require moist conditions.

 

[Hisserdude]

Thank you all for the insights and information, I sincerely do appreciate it. I don't want to jinx myself but at the moment I SEEM to have the mite problem under control. I've been continuing the daily wiping of the cage walls with a Lysol wipe and keeping the lid off to dry it out. Right now the cage is bone dry and there are only a dozen or so mites visible if you peer around the cage. Initially there were thousands of them covering each wall entirely on both the inside and outside of the cage and walking around my desk, that is why I felt a dire need to completely eradicate them.

Are these mites pet safe? I keep 5 birds in my room. If the mites ONLY eat / attack gnats, mites and other irritants then these guys might be my key to a cleaner cage. My concern with buying more mites is having an infestation of them instead of the other ones.

Eric

Good to hear, hope you don't have a huge explosion again.

Predatory mite can stress out certain invertebrates, while others don't mind them at all. The only way to find out is to try yourself. Unfortunately, that can mean severely stressing out some of your invertebrates.

 

[BobBarley]

I have heard of at least one person using these in his beetle cages, they work well to get rid of mites. Only problem is they are hard to locate in the hobby, and they require moist conditions.

Ah I see. I've only seen bugsincyberspace.com sell these occasionally. The humidity may be a problem but I want to try breeding these as I've caught a few before. I may try to use these if I ever get a mite problem. Not that I'm hoping for one lol!

 

[Hisserdude]

Ah I see. I've only seen bugsincyberspace.com sell these occasionally. The humidity may be a problem but I want to try breeding these as I've caught a few before. I may try to use these if I ever get a mite problem. Not that I'm hoping for one lol!

Well if you don't have mites, you can always feed them springtails. I caught a few and tried keeping them, they all drowned in tiny water droplets within the first week. Lesson learned, next time make sure there is no condensation on the walls of the enclosure!

 

[BobBarley]

Well if you don't have mites, you can always feed them springtails. I caught a few and tried keeping them, they all drowned in tiny water droplets within the first week. Lesson learned, next time make sure there is no condensation on the walls of the enclosure!

Thanks for the tip!

 

[-=}GA']['OR{=-]

I'm not sure if they would effect the birds. I never had any issues with my inverts, they may or may not be irritated by the predatory mites presence. They do the job of eradication well, and when the food source runs out they die off.