Parasite in Ornata tank? ANYONE WITH INFO?!?!?!

adbdasT

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
24
Okay, so before work this morning, i notice my Ornata did some hunting last night (ol' boy is freshly moulted by about a week and hungry, hunted down a crik last night/early this morning). Well, while I was sitting there watching him feed, i notice this veerrrry miniscule little bugger crawling on the leaf very near him....? WHAT IN THE?

The spider is in an all-fake-plant, aboreal set up (10 gallon tank split down the middle by a nicely guised divider, other side houses Avic. Avic).
 

billopelma

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 20, 2005
Messages
604
Why do you assume it's a parasite? Considering how many different things a "veerrrry miniscule little bugger" could be, a parasite is statistically unlikely. A better description might elicit more responses...

Bill
 
Last edited:

ShadowBlade

Planeswalker
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Messages
2,591
Could be mites, springtails, who knows really. We'd have to hear a bit more.

-Sean
 

adbdasT

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
24
Why do you assume it's a parasite? Cosidering how many different things a "veerrrry miniscule little bugger" could be, a parasite is statistically unlikely. A better description might elicit more responses...

Bill
how do you suppose i get 'a better description' of something that is a fraction of a millimeter? I mean, i could tear the tank apart, try to find the other insect, and put it under a microscope?

hows this: it was slow moving (for its size i guess one could say it was fast, so speed is relative at this point). Big enough to be viewed by the naked eye, but too small to get a detailed description.

Any entomologists' out there? General Microbiological info? Possibilities? Mite? Cage Treatment (Inoculation) perhaps?

Chances are, its nothing any more harmful than an insect it would come across in the wild. Maybe i'm just looking for someone else who may have seen something like this in their T tanks...?

I'm not saying its DEFINATELY anything...hence the questions mark in my thread title. I was really hoping for some general info to base my research off of. THANKS!
 
Last edited:

ShadowBlade

Planeswalker
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Messages
2,591
Was it kinda long? I'm betting springtail. Check for more in your water dish.

-Sean
 

adbdasT

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
24
Was it kinda long? I'm betting springtail. Check for more in your water dish.

-Sean
actually no. its a dark brown 'dot', anywhere from a quarter - to a half a millimeter across (verrry small). Nothing noticeable in the water dish.

Definately NOT a flea or tick. I have experience with those.
 

DrAce

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
764
Agreed. If it was a parasite, I would have thought it would probably spend most of its time on the tarantula.

I'm guessing some sort of crawly bug, potentially a fruit-fly like little thing living in the soil. I wouldn't be too concerned unless there was a sign something was wrong with the spider.
 

adbdasT

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
24
Agreed. If it was a parasite, I would have thought it would probably spend most of its time on the tarantula.

I'm guessing some sort of crawly bug, potentially a fruit-fly like little thing living in the soil. I wouldn't be too concerned unless there was a sign something was wrong with the spider.
my thought exactly. i'll keep an eye on the T (like usual). THANKS.
 

syndicate

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,497
as long as u dont see any of these on the spider itself i wouldnt sweat it.not all mites are bad but outbreaks of these little tank mites or dirt bugs can be solved by cleaning out the substrate if they get to out of hand.
 

adbdasT

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
24
as long as u dont see any of these on the spider itself i wouldnt sweat it.not all mites are bad but outbreaks of these little tank mites or dirt bugs can be solved by cleaning out the substrate if they get to out of hand.
*update* there appear to be very small, bright white clusters of eggs, randomly placed on some of the fake leaves in the tank? each 'egg' is about .5-1 millimeter in length? this sounding familiar?

and, does anyone know where i might find more info on these mites? i think thats what we're dealing with...and i definately DO NOT want to wait until my ornata is overwhelmed.
 

Snowball

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Messages
136
Those 'bright white eggs' are most likely poo. lol. My avic's poo all over their leaves, I see them doing it sometimes in the middle of the night...if anyones ever watched it it's kinda...weird. anyway. It's probably just turds.
 

adbdasT

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
24
Those 'bright white eggs' are most likely poo. lol. My avic's poo all over their leaves, I see them doing it sometimes in the middle of the night...if anyones ever watched it it's kinda...weird. anyway. It's probably just turds.
this is definately not the case. way to small and uniform to be poo. how do i know? because the poo is strewn about the glass.
 

Tunedbeat

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 4, 2007
Messages
656
It could be poo, my pokie tank has small white dots on the substrate. Also, it could be a baby cricket, they are very tiny.
 

MindUtopia

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
2,041
Based on your description, it's nearly impossible to give any sort of definitive answer. While mites are a possibility, it could be just about anything. I've had mites once before and they don't seem to fit the description you provided (there were many of them together and they were white). Perhaps just a random house insect that happened to get into your set-up. The egg like things you are describing could very likely be poo. Fresh T poo often looks like little white oval eggs sitting in a clear fluid. The first time I saw it I actually freaked out thinking it was an infestation of something. If you are concerned or if you see more of these, it would probably be best to change out and sanitize your set-up just to be on the safe side.
 

adbdasT

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
24
Based on your description, it's nearly impossible to give any sort of definitive answer. While mites are a possibility, it could be just about anything. I've had mites once before and they don't seem to fit the description you provided (there were many of them together and they were white). Perhaps just a random house insect that happened to get into your set-up. The egg like things you are describing could very likely be poo. Fresh T poo often looks like little white oval eggs sitting in a clear fluid. The first time I saw it I actually freaked out thinking it was an infestation of something. If you are concerned or if you see more of these, it would probably be best to change out and sanitize your set-up just to be on the safe side.
look at the attachment for a better description of the non-poo entity in my tank. the microscopic mite-like bugs on the leaves are in the pic as well, but too small to capture without a macro lens. for a 'detailed' description, i'd need to extract one and get it under a microscope (i don't have a microscope or macro lens just laying around, otherwise, i'd have more 'detailed' descriptions and pictures).
either way. poo on glass, non-poo entity on bottom tip of leaf (7, very tightly clustered egg-like formations). Tank is being sanitized as we speak (i'd still like to find out what this is).
 
Last edited:

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
Yep another vote for T poop. With pokies and avics they sometimes have really segmented poo, it almost looks like tiny tiny little pill like shapes all clusterd together and very uniform. Sometimes on the glass, sometimes on a leaf. Poo poo everywhere. :eek:

Oh and they dont poo like that all the time..... the glass poo and the poo on the leaf came from the same T.
Did I say poop or poo enough yet? :p
 

MindUtopia

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
2,041
adbdasT, since I don't have the energy to respond to all your PM's, basically the mites that I had were small white creatures with legs, smaller than a millimeter, and there would be lots of them as they don't really show up in isolation. You would get an infestation. They are usually in the substrate or on the T. I don't really remember anything else about their appearance since it was several years ago and I got rid of them as quickly as possible. Fortunately, if you did have mites, I doubt they would lay eggs that size because the mites themselves are just too small. I imagine the eggs would be microscopic.
 
Top