Mites.... augh.

[KoriTamashii]

So, I went to snag a cricket from my H. lividum's cage that she didn't want, and I noticed... a black beetle under her water dish. And around that, tiny white things... Mites.

So I immediately evacuated her into a temp house while I scrounge up some cash to get some fresh substrate, and toss the KK plus mite infested substrate outside.

Does moisture attract them, or something? 'Cause the only place I saw them was around the water dish.

Athena wasn't thrilled, and I know I sure as heck wasn't.

My friend took the beetle to see what kind it is, so I have no pics, but it just looked like... well, a black beetle. Where the hell did it come from?

Rage.

 

[Ariel]

Have you ever fed your H. lividum mealworms? It could be the adult form of one of those.

And yes, mites are attracted to the moisture. I usually don't worry about getting rid of everything if I see them starting to crop up. what I usually do is just let everything dry out, it's only if they don't dissapear then that I think about changing out the enclosure. I'm trying to figure out how to balance keeping the enclosure humid but not so humid it attacts mites. It would help if I could use isopods but my Ts just eat them...

That's something to consider though, you could try adding isopods to the enclosure, it might help.

 

[KoriTamashii]

Have you ever fed your H. lividum mealworms? It could be the adult form of one of those.

And yes, mites are attracted to the moisture. I usually don't worry about getting rid of everything if I see them starting to crop up. what I usually do is just let everything dry out, it's only if they don't dissapear then that I think about changing out the enclosure. I'm trying to figure out how to balance keeping the enclosure humid but not so humid it attacts mites. It would help if I could use isopods but my Ts just eat them...

That's something to consider though, you could try adding isopods to the enclosure, it might help.

So I guess I overdid it in my panic? :wall:

 

[Ariel]

It doesn't hurt to be over cautious. Don't feel bad the first time it happened to me I did the same exact thing. I changed out everything and I even went as far as soaking the tank in a bleach solution. They hadn't even acctually been mites, just springtails.

but yeah, I've noticed that if you just let it dry out a bit they usually go away.