pest control

[Telson]

I use shredded coconut "bed-a-beast" for substrate for my T's because it holds moisture well and makes for excellent burrowing material for my terrestrials just like potting soil, but I've had tiny flies appear in the enclosures when using potting soil. Unfortunately, I'm still having that problem with the bed-a-beast stuff...

Suggestions?

 

[MizM]

Some prior posts on this subject might help...

http://arachnopets.com/arachnoboard...id=30190&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

 

[wsimms]

I can't get the link to open.
I also use the coconut stuff (not sure of brand), and have never had any critters show up in it when used by itself. In a mixture of it, peat, and potting soil, I have had the usual scallywags, which I attribute to the potting soil. I'm about to switch my Emps to pure coconut stuff for that very reason. It's distressing to hear about your problem. They aren't scuttle flys are they?

W

 

[esmoot]

Pests usually appear when you are keeping the substrate too wet and/or not cleaning up after your t's. You may need better ventilation. Also once in a while let you t's homes dry out for a few days. No misting but be sure to keep a full water dish. Remove prey remains ASAP.

If they are a big problem you have to remove all substrate and start fresh.

I use part or all coconut substrate for all of my t's.

 

[Telson]

I think I overdid it last time I hydrated the substrate in a couple of the enclosures. We had a heat wave and I wanted to make sure no one dried out too bad.

I only saw one or two teeny tiny little gnat-like flys in one of the enclosures and thought I'd drop a post because this has happened repeatedly in the past.

As for cleaning out the "remains" of crickets, I really never see any. My T's all seems to suck them completely dry and masticate them to such a tiny little dot of pulp before dropping them that there is nothing findable to remove.

 

[MizM]

Originally posted by wsimms
I can't get the link to open.
I also use the coconut stuff (not sure of brand), and have never had any critters show up in it when used by itself. In a mixture of it, peat, and potting soil, I have had the usual scallywags, which I attribute to the potting soil. I'm about to switch my Emps to pure coconut stuff for that very reason. It's distressing to hear about your problem. They aren't scuttle flys are they?

W

O.K. it works now. I'm not very good at adding links!

 

[willywonka]

One thing that you might want to try is getting some of those rollie pollies (or pill bugs) from your yard and toss them in your cages. I haven't tried this but I have heard that they will eat up the remains and the tarantulas will leave them alone.

 

[Telson]

rollie pollies

Sow I think I've heard them called, or pill bugs... There's 2 types I've seen and only one of them really rolls in to a little ball.

2 reasons I don't try that:

1- I think the T's might just eat them in which case they won't help.

2- If the T's DO eat them I might have some dead T's as the pesticides used around the building might be passed through them to my T's.

I've always read/heard that it is VERY bad to feed prey items from around the house to your T's specifically for that reason.

 

[wsimms]

I have read that it's OK to do the pillbug thing...I think it was in Marshall or Schultz and Schultz. For some reason, the T's supposedly don't eat them. This was presented as the ONLY animal that can cohabitate with a T. I haven't tried it yet, but I would if I had a problem. Pillbugs are too small for my T to even eat. If those are scuttle (phorid) flies, I'd do something.

W:?

 

[Telson]

I was planning on just replacing the substrate.... but what ARE scuttleflies and what is it that makes them such a threat?

Originally posted by wsimms
I have read that it's OK to do the pillbug thing...I think it was in Marshall or Schultz and Schultz. For some reason, the T's supposedly don't eat them. This was presented as the ONLY animal that can cohabitate with a T. I haven't tried it yet, but I would if I had a problem. Pillbugs are too small for my T to even eat. If those are scuttle (phorid) flies, I'd do something.

W:?

 

[MizM]

I have used "roly-poly" bugs often to get rid of the mold. I thought someone said they don't eat the bits and pieces left over from cricket dinners though. (Code Monkey, was that you?) In any event, the little grey rolys worked great for me. I get them under rocks in my front yard where they were born and raised. I use absolutely NO chemicals of any kind in my yard, so they are safe!

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Telson
I was planning on just replacing the substrate.... but what ARE scuttleflies and what is it that makes them such a threat?

Two things:
First, with a recently moulted or weakened Ts, it has happened that the scuttle flies lay their eggs on the Ts and it gets consumed alive by the maggots. Get enough maggots eating your T alive and ceases to be alive.

Second, these sort of flies are the leading suspect for the vector that the fatal nematode infection is being transmitted.

 

[Telson]

Thanks for the info.

I put my A. seemani in a temp enclosure and nuked all the bed-a-beast and sterilized the glass tank. That was the only tank I'd seen any of these little buggers in recently. Gonna get new substrate this payday and redo all the tanks. Thinking I'll likely pick up a big bag of peat from OSH.