Someone tell me what this is?

[Sheazy]

I was taking pics of my avic and when cropping them I noticed something strange looking (at least to me), on and around the chelicerae. I have no clue what it is and have never noticed it on any others. It looks like little yellow beads, or eggs...something like that. Anyone have any idea? It is currently 0.75" legspan. I can get a better pic once I get home if this isn't clear enough. Thanks!

 

[Becky]

Mites... Definately 100%

You need to try and brush them off with a fine paintbrush. Looks like they're on the pedipalp too?
It can be tricky, and people with more experience can give u more info but they need to come off... asap. They can do damage...

 

[Talkenlate04]

Oh wow that is mites and a lot of them. What I do to remove mites is place the T in a container with moist paper towels and then somewhere dark and warm. Check back a few hours later and some of the mites should have migrated to the wet paper towels, now change the towels and repeat.
That guy is so small I don't think he's going to let you do the paintbrush method but you can try it works great on bigger less defensive T's.

 

[Sheazy]

Oh boy...well, the little avic is too small to try the paintbrush method, so I will try the moist paper towels and see if that helps.

I have only had him about a week. How long do mites like this take to show up and what from? Will one or two of them reproduce a whole bunch if I dont happen to get them all off? He is so small I can't even tell where they are unless I am looking at an enlarged pic.

Alright, well off to re-stock on paper towels. Thanks Becky & Talkenlate04.

If anyone else has anymore info, or tricks to eliminate them please let me know.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Odds are those were there when you got her.

Oh I forgot to mention, once a bunch have walked off into the paper towel there may be a few that refuse to move off the T, if that is the case then return her to a small tank that is 100% dry with a small water dish for the T. Don’t offer any prey because that will just give the mites more food to thrive. The remaining mites should die from it being to dry.

Worst case, the mites remain and the T will molt, when she does molt she will cast off the remaining mites and you will have to remove the old molt skin as soon as you see its off. After a few days you would then rehouse the T in a fresh setup.

Oh and keep her away from your other Ts. Mites can spread readily.

 

[Sheazy]

Alright, I have her in a small container with moist papertowels, and placed her in my dark garage where the temp is about 10-15 degrees higher than in my house. Is this too much warmer? It is dark and I just finished washing and microwaving her corkbark and threw away the old substrate. I have extra containers so will transfer her in a couple hours to another like you mentioned. She just ate 5-6 small crickets about 4 days ago, so I know she will be good on food for awhile. I will see how the paper towel trick works and then if there are still some left I will move her to a dry temporary habitat so they can die off.

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

 

[syndicate]

drying the tank out prob isnt gonna work.ive tried this before and it doesnt help.make sure u keep this spider away from the rest of your collection as they can and will spread.to get rid of them all your gonna have to actually remove them yourself.u can use a q-tip or a fine brush with some vasaline

 

[Talkenlate04]

drying the tank out prob isnt gonna work.ive tried this before and it doesnt help.make sure u keep this spider away from the rest of your collection as they can and will spread.to get rid of them all your gonna have to actually remove them yourself.u can use a q-tip or a fine brush with some vasaline

Have you tried the q tip method with something that small before? Just wondering cause I never have.

 

[syndicate]

your right that is a pretty small spider.im half asleep lol
removing those i imagine would be quite tricky

 

[Sheazy]

Even with a q-tip or fine paintbrush...there is no way I can hold the T in place, or at all for that matter...it's too small and super fast.

You dont think that cleaning and drying out the tank will work? She has been in ICU twice (two different containers completely) for about 2hrs each time. I can tell some have jumped ship...but not all. Like I mentioned above...she ate about 5 or 6 small crickets about 4 days ago, so feeding her and them isn't an issue. She can out fast them right?

And yes, I already moved all my T's, and wiped everything down including washing my tongs.

 

[Sheazy]

I took too long to reply...but yeah...lol. It is pretty small. I am about to put it back in the habitat shortly.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Keep switching tubs like that, every one you can get off is a good thing. And yes she can out fast them. Its a big plus she is well fed before this was spotted.

I took too long to reply...but yeah...lol. It is pretty small. I am about to put it back in the habitat shortly.

Not yet keep her in that setup, leave her overnight and check to see where you are at.

 

[syndicate]

another thing u may wanna try is wait until she molts and pull her out of there asap very carefully and u might be able to get rid of alot of them.with an avic this small they should molt every month or so

 

[Sheazy]

Keep switching tubs like that, every one you can get off is a good thing. And yes she can out fast them. Its a big plus she is well fed before this was spotted.



Not yet keep her in that setup, leave her overnight and check to see where you are at.

Alright, I just moved her to another ICU....good thing I kept all these little containers..lol.

She's in the closet.


If the ICU, and dry cycle dont work then I will be watching her like a hawk to grab the old skin once free and clear.

Does anyone have any info or experience with the predatory mite Hypoaspis miles? I know this is probably better for someone with a bunch of T's, but it is a sure fire thing either way. I remember reading they will eat the other mites and will even stick around to eat other possibly harmful things before dying off.

 

[Taceas]

While I have no experience in the matter, I personally would wait for her to molt then snatch her up and put her in a fresh new environment, rather than leaving her and removing the molt. I would be too afraid that as long as the molting process goes a few would jump ship and be in the area around her even after the molt is removed.

She will be delicate after molting, but I would feel better about it than leaving her be and only removing the molt. Plus, all of my Avic's were really slowed down after molting, so you may be able to put her in an ICU container and pick any mites off that you see before transferring her to a new container.

I wish you luck, mites and nematodes are something I have no desire to experience first hand.

 

[JohnxII]

Make sure the sling is fed well and had drunk plenty, then submerge the whole thing (yes dunk the whole spider) in baby powder, then dust off excessive powder with a small paint brush, then let the spider groom itself. Repeat if neccessary.

And generally, keep things drier and make sure the enclosure is well ventilated. Good luck!

 

[versiphil]

oh men.Please don`t dunk your spid in babypowder! Mites hate dryness and love humidity.
So, simply put your little T in a really dry cricket-box with dry paper for about two days and the mites will just fall off.

And well vetilation for her next home. That`s all. avics like it well vetilated and humid, but not sticky...

good luck

 

[JohnxII]

oh men.Please don`t dunk your spid in babypowder!...

I agree, but let me just add that the above is the last resort for a badly infected case. If the spider's healthy, you should follow other's less extreme treatment and your spider should do well enough.

 

[Lorgakor]

Dunking the whole spider in baby powder would probably cause more harm than good. The book lungs would become clogged with the stuff which is so fine it could get into every orifice.

If you cannot get them off with a brush, then I agree with the opinion of leaving it in a dry container with no substrate (but it must have a water dish) until it moults, once it moults, pull the moult out as quickly as you can and get the spider into another clean container until you can inspect it and see if the mites are gone. I have done this method and find it works well, though it can take more than one moult to be rid of them completely.

 

[cacoseraph]

ok

so those look like our good friends the grain mites.

as Michael Jacobi has told the boards a number of times they can go into a hypopus stage were they harden up and become VERY resistant to dessication. if mites are leaving the spider for the humid paper towel i would keep doing that.

otherwise if you try to dry them out and off you will pretty much HAVE to wait till the spider molts to have a chance of getting them off

oh, and those aren't actually vampiring your spider. more like, hitching a ride.

edit:

to further entice the little soandso's you can try keeping a little piece of over ripe fruit in the icu with the spider. that is probably goign to make thigns messy... but those mites are in hypopus and i suspect increased humidity and presense of food they are interested in will reactivate them and get them off the spider