mites

[Lycanthrope]

anybody have any clue how i can rid myself of a mite nuiscance?
ive emtied and washed the cages repeatedly, but it seems some stow away on the spider or something, because not 2 days later they are back. they mainly seem to be in my cobalt blues cage, after repeated cleanings they just reappear. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[Gail]

http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/hypoaspis.html

Go to this site. They sell a predatory mite that works very nicely when you have recurring bad mite problems. These predatory mites don't attack the T's.
Another thing you can try is keep the spider as dry as possible if it is adult, with a full water dish available at all times. Mites can't live through dry spells but sometimes the eggs can so I would recommend cleaning the cage very well - let it sit with a mild bleach solution for an hour - rinse well, air out, and try the dry approach.

Gail

 

[Lycanthrope]

Thanks, i had no idea such mites were available on the market. i knew they existed but not that they were sold. Learn something new everyday i guess. thanks again

 

[MrT]

I keep looking for mites, haven't seen any yet.
Just a matter of time though, I guess .
Thats a good tip on the predatory mites. Could they be used as a preventative measure? Or is that a bad idea?

Ern

 

[Botar]

I thought it said on the site that they were a reactionary measure. Plus, I think the cost would be prohibitive. I believe Code Monkey or someone posted on here that most of the "mites" that are reported are actually springtails... I think that's what they are called. Keeping dead prey items cleaned up seems to help the problem. I think someone else had posted some way to eliminate a great deal of them by letting the substrate dry out and putting a large shallow water dish in the container. The springtails will be attracted to the water and drown. I've only had one outbreak of them and a cage change and the water dish approach fixed it for me. Now I'm just really dilligent in my cage cleaning efforts and I've put a few "rolley polleys" in my cricket containers to compete with any scavengers.

Botar

 

[MrT]

Botar, How long do the rolly pollys live?
I put a few in one of my T's tank a couple weeks ago, and they seemed to die pretty fast. Or maybe they dug in and I lost track of them.

Your saying you put them in your cricket containers? Not your T's enclosers?

Ern

 

[Brandon]

I also have mite problem in my cobalt blue cage, it seems that there is no way to rid of them. In cages that are like the cobalts it is probably best to wait it out entel the eat all the available that you cant get. The mites that eat the dead food never have harmed any tarantula of mine so i find them to be no concern, though maby i should be carful when playing with fire.

Sincerely,

Brandon

 

[Botar]

Originally posted by MrT
Botar, How long do the rolly pollys live?
I put a few in one of my T's tank a couple weeks ago, and they seemed to die pretty fast. Or maybe they dug in and I lost track of them.

Your saying you put them in your cricket containers? Not your T's enclosers?

Ern

I'm not sure on the longevity. My daughter caught about 12 of them a month or so ago and I put them in the cricket containers. So far they seem to be doing fine. I haven't paid much attention to the numbers so I can't tell you if they've mulitpied. I do know they require a humid environment. Perhaps if you've put them in an enclosure with a dry substrate, that may be the problem. I would think they would locate themselves under the water dish since that would most likely be the most humid location. The particular cricket enclosure I have them in is for my smaller cickets so the substrate is damp. It would be interesting to know if they feed on cricket eggs as well... much to learn. I haven't put any in with any T's yet, although I've seen people suggest that in the past.

Botar