Orange mites

[connieisdead]

I received a couple of wild caught Centruroides vittatus, striped bark scorpions that all have some of these small orange mites. I can't take a good enough picture myself but here is what they look like.



I have no clue if they are harmful, but they seem parasitic to me. Any idea how to get rid of them?

 

[Poonjab]

Those are predatory mites. Pick them off. Quarantine those scorpions from all other inverts.

 

[connieisdead]

Will do, any idea if I could drown them? I have heard Centruroides sp. can go quite a while underwater.

Also, to what extent should I quarantine the little stinkers?

 

[Poonjab]

I don’t think drowning them will work. I sure wouldn’t try it.
As far as quarantine. I’d put them in an empty container with nothing more than a water dish and ventilation and move them out of any room that has other inverts to avoid them spreading.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Those little bastards are the scourge of any number of housemates. I've dealt with them by the THOUSANDS when I was dealing with WC Rhacodactylus species...
I wouldn't know how to BEGIN dealing with them on arachnids, but PM me if you've got a reptile infestation, as I might be able to help..

 

[connieisdead]

Gotcha, they're one of the hardier scorps I've kept so I think they'll be alright. Picking the mites off will be painstaking though.

 

[Arthroverts]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't predatory mites, so long as kept in manageable numbers, in theory be welcome due to their ability to hunt down and eat more troublesome species such as grain mites?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Dr SkyTower]

I am wondering if they are like other mites, require water and can't cope with dry conditions. Maybe isolating the scorpions in a dry enclosure, with the only source being a water dish then they will migrate off the scorpion to the water source.

 

[GordoOldman]

Drying out the enclosure and putting a slice of cucumber in it sometimes draws tje mites to the cucumber for moisture, which allows you to remove the slice with mites and drop into alcohol. Manual removal with a fine paint brush is time consuming but worth the effort.

Eradication of the mites is paramount if you have other species...and as stated already quarantine.

 

[connieisdead]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't predatory mites, so long as kept in manageable numbers, in theory be welcome due to their ability to hunt down and eat more troublesome species such as grain mites?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

I believe these guys are parasitic Leptus mites, makes sense since they don't appear to be crawling around much on the scorpions.

 

[connieisdead]

Drying out the enclosure and putting a slice of cucumber in it sometimes draws tje mites to the cucumber for moisture, which allows you to remove the slice with mites and drop into alcohol. Manual removal with a fine paint brush is time consuming but worth the effort.

Eradication of the mites is paramount if you have other species...and as stated already quarantine.

I'm going to try this. If it works out well, I'll be sure to post back here.

 

[Liquifin]

Predatory mites don't really come off once they have a host. If you can drown them or pick them off it would be best for your scorpion. But there isn't a lot of methods in dealing with predatory mites as they stick on constantly.

Drying out the enclosure and putting a slice of cucumber in it sometimes draws tje mites to the cucumber for moisture

This works for most mites, but not really with predatory mites as they wouldn't want to travel to a cucumber when they already have a host that's supplying them constantly.

 

[Arthroverts]

I believe these guys are parasitic Leptus mites, makes sense since they don't appear to be crawling around much on the scorpions.

Ah, so they aren't predatory like H. miles then. These are the true banes of the collection...

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Dr SkyTower]

If water bowls or cucumbers won't get them off, then the removing with a paint brush is the best option. I had no idea these mites were preying on the scorpions themselves, feeding on their hemolymph!

 

[The Snark]

Those are predatory mites. Pick them off. Quarantine those scorpions from all other inverts.

I don’t think drowning them will work. I sure wouldn’t try it.

Water isn't wet enough. A soap solution could be. I'd suggest laundry detergent. Use something like a toothpick dipped in the wet water then simply touched to the mite. If it's sufficiently wet and delivered they die in about a minute.
Don't expect all predator mites to be affected by moisture or lack of it. Many species go without moisture their entire lives.

 

[connieisdead]

For anyone still interested, I have kept the scorpions in a plastic container with a bottle cap full of water for about a week now. Almost all of the mites have hopped off the scorps, many of them went to the water dish. I cleaned out the old container with alcohol to kill any mites and I will keep the scorpions in quarantine until all the mites are gone and I no longer see new ones coming off. Thanks for all the help, hope this thread stands as a source of help for anyone else dealing with these little orange demons.

 

[Poonjab]

For anyone still interested, I have kept the scorpions in a plastic container with a bottle cap full of water for about a week now. Almost all of the mites have hopped off the scorps, many of them went to the water dish. I cleaned out the old container with alcohol to kill any mites and I will keep the scorpions in quarantine until all the mites are gone and I no longer see new ones coming off. Thanks for all the help, hope this thread stands as a source of help for anyone else dealing with these little orange demons.

Awesome. Fill us in when they are 100% gone and the scorpion is in perfect condition.

 

[Arthroverts]

Good to hear! Definitely keep us updated on how it turns out.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[connieisdead]

Okay, having searched the scorpions from top to bottom and waiting a few days to confirm, I can confidently say that the scorpions are 100% mite free. Just in the nick of time too, as one of the chonkier females popped out something like 30 babies just this morning. I gave mom her own enclosure since one of her hungrier compadres had eaten a scorpling right off her back. The rest of them are doing well in their new enclosure.

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Ferrachi]

Great to hear ! but sad to hear about losing one of the little scorplings...