Mites?!?!

[gingerjessie]

Hi all, I am hoping some of you brainy bug lovers might be able to help. Its been one heck of a summer battling the fruit flies and fungus gnats but after numerous substrate changes and playing about with humidity, this seems to be resolved. I now have a more pressing issue at hand! So one of my beetles (rainbow stag) has some mites on her joints (little round ones) I am pretty sure these are the 'bad' kind. I was researching whether or not to boil/ bake wood and leaves. I went with a basic wash as many keepers suggest it is more beneficial but I think they came in on this. I also have soil mites (or so I have been told) along with spring tails in a totally separate communal millipede tank. My question is, can anyone tell me definitive ways to identify beneficial from harmful mite populations? Is there a predatory mite I can purchase which will fix the issue if I do not know what type of mite is on the beetle? Is there a predatory mite I could introduce to all of the tanks I have as precautionary measure? I don't want to mess them about constantly changing substrate and brushing etc (they are all in carefully planned bioactive set ups and uprooting was an absolute nightmare for the gnat problem not to mention my millies need time to chill underground). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[DomGom TheFather]

If they're only on the animal and all face first in soft spots, they're not harmless.

 

[gingerjessie]

Thats what I have on one of my beetles

 

[gingerjessie]

well turns out it might have been dirt sand bits from the soil. cleaned her off and they weren't mites lol

 

[Polenth]

The most commonly sold predatory mites will wipe out all your tiny critters, so I don't recommend it. Also, don't panic about little critters living in the soil. A bioactive setup is going to end up with fruit flies, fungus gnats, springtails, mites, soil nematodes and more. I'd personally boil or bake the leaves as what you don't want is unintended woodlice, but the other very little critters will move in regardless.