small bugs

ballpython2

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I just went into my walk in tarantula closet and on the outside of my L. difficilis enclosure was a bunch of REALLY small bugs really light in color crawling on the outside of it. So i got a damp paper towel and just wiped off all of the ones i could get...Can someone possiby tell me what these are? inside the enclosure is just crickets (Still alive a small water bowl filled with water...its a bottle cap)....any help would be great...are these the kind that help? I think they are pill bugs..
 

Moltar

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I keep seing these quetions (and asking them too, lol) I had tiny bugs once and it was baby crix. Another time they were in the water bowl and it was springtails. Dunno about bugs OUTside the cage...

Springtails magnified:


These were so small they looked like very tiny worms to the naked eye. Apparently springtails are beneficial as they consume organic waste.
 

Moltar

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PS: If they are baby pillbugs i'll take a few off your hands...
 

By-Tor

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hey john pill bugs curl up into balls when you touch them, are these doing that?
Could they be baby crickets that found their ways out?
 

ballpython2

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hey john pill bugs curl up into balls when you touch them, are these doing that?
Could they be baby crickets that found their ways out?
they arent pill bugs because they dont do that..... and they arent baby crickets because they dont jump..they look like a super small spiders light in color. the size of a really small crumb piece
 

KaineSoulblade

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they arent pill bugs because they dont do that..... and they arent baby crickets because they dont jump..they look like a super small spiders light in color. the size of a really small crumb piece


Like spider mites?



 

KaineSoulblade

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it could be those but these guys are so small I'd need a microscope to properly give you details...so I'll say yes for now
Sounds like we have a suspect then. These guys are small, about .8 millimeters.
They feed on plants so if you have any plants around or in any substrate in cages, that's why they would be around. They are actually related to spiders and spin tiny silk webs. Bloody pests.
 

ballpython2

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Sounds like we have a suspect then. These guys are small, about .8 millimeters.
They feed on plants so if you have any plants around or in any substrate in cages, that's why they would be around. They are actually related to spiders and spin tiny silk webs. Bloody pests.
may not be them lol....Because i have no plants anywhere near my Ts. however it was really humid in my T walk in closet when I found em...back to the drawing board lol.
 

Alice

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i still vote for mites - light coloured, big population, in humid environment - sounds like mites all right. look for them on your ts, for they can actually harm a t if the numbers are large enough. you might see them as dots between the chelicera or at leg joints. drying out the cages should do the trick and get rid of them, but if there are too mayn on the ts, you might want to tranfer them to icus and change the moist paper towels every few hours. so you get rid of all the mites that leave the t for the water.
 

Moltar

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If hey ARE spider mites, perhaps you could put a small succulent plant near the cages to draw them away from the T's?
 

Lorgakor

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Probably not spider mites but some kind of predatory mite. I have had them in my cages before. They move fairly quickly for a bug that size, and though they are creepy to have around they are actually harmless. They will feed on leftover prey remains in your cages and can travel quite a distance. I changed out all my substrate when I had them in my cages as I didn't know what they were at first and they grossed me out lol! I had quite a large amount of them crawling over cages, even tiny sling containers, but never once did I see them on the spider, and the spiders were not bothered by them.

Of course that may not be what you have, but it sounds likely. I've never seen spider mites anywhere but on plants, they make webs as well. So if you see no webbing chances are it is not spider mites, which are also more orangey red in colour.
 

Daniel_h

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i have just noticed a few small white things in my tank....they are very small and jump when i put the heater bulb close to them to try and dry out the bit of substrate..

i really dont think its baby crickets though because the only time crickets have been in the tank it was one at a time and its a blondi so they only lasted about 3 seconds in there

any ideas of anything else that is small ....looks silvery/white and jumps?
 

Cockroach_PL

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any ideas of anything else that is small ....looks silvery/white and jumps?
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/2982/collemb28nw.jpg

Do they look like that? If so, they are harmless to spiders. Theese bugs even help keeping your tank clean. They are like cleaning service, gettind rid of the food remainings. They are saprotrophs.
According to Lubbock its Collembola order. I think in English they are called springtails.
Check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collembola
 
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Elytra and Antenna

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Sounds like grain mites. They feed on a ton of different things including dead cricket pieces. They're found everywhere (realistically impossible to exclude -- though not impossible with the use of mite paper and extreme fastidiousness) and can be a real pain. Be careful not to overfeed with crickets. A population explosion is followed by a stage where they cling to invert exoskeletons (for transportation) and they can stress animals and partially block air passages.
 

Daniel_h

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http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/2982/collemb28nw.jpg

Do they look like that? If so, they are harmless to spiders. Theese bugs even help keeping your tank clean. They are like cleaning service, gettind rid of the food remainings. They are saprotrophs.
According to Lubbock its Collembola order. I think in English they are called springtails.
Check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collembola
that might be them they do look similar

are they the ones that have a little lever type thing on their tails that flicks them into the air when in danger?

if it is then it is probably them because these do that when i put the heat bulb close
 

PDX_Tarantulas

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Once I had a tank full of crickets to feed my T's. After a while, I noticed there was what appeared to be mold or mildew on the glass of the tank. Over the next week or so, the entire inside of the tank was covered with this and it seemed to be moving. Upon closer examination (really close with a magnifying glass), I discovered the stuff was baby crickets, millions of them.

Don't know if this is any help, just my 2c worth. CDB
 

Tacoman

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Wow that would be creepy. Ihate crickets as it is i couldnt imagine millions of them. I quite enjoy when they get ate.
 

Elytra and Antenna

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Once I had a tank full of crickets to feed my T's. After a while, I noticed there was what appeared to be mold or mildew on the glass of the tank. Over the next week or so, the entire inside of the tank was covered with this and it seemed to be moving. Upon closer examination (really close with a magnifying glass), I discovered the stuff was baby crickets, millions of them.

Don't know if this is any help, just my 2c worth. CDB
Those were grain mites, baby crickets aren't that small and they don't cling to glass.
 
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