Tiny white mites?

[Wonderella]

I just found some very small white mites in my millipede tank. They're too small to take a picture with my phone, but they're less than a millimeter and I found them in the spot where I usually put the food. I saw a few on one of the pedes as well, and I had one pede that's been picking at it's legs for the past couple of days, not sure if that's related as I didn't see any on him.

Are these mites harmful, how can I get rid of them?

 

[Camden]

Sounds like grain mites, they don't harm your millipedes, just more of an annoyance than anything. You could hold back on the misting and let things dry out a little and see if that helps, they are attracted to damp places and love your millipedes food! If they really get to be bothersome, you could change the substrate and keep it a tad drier, and make sure you remove food after a few days.

 

[Wonderella]

Thanks, hopefully you're right and it's not something harmful! It was about time to change the substrate anyway so I've cleaned out the tank and we'll see how it goes.

The substrate was mostly dry so I was misting it daily, how little moisture do you think I can I get away with for ivories? Whenever the soil is really moist they seem to love burrowing so I'm not really sure.

 

[Camden]

Well really the only species I know of that can handle more dry substrate is Orthoporus ornatus, so I would just poke some holes in the lid for a tiny bit of air flow. My general rule of thumb is to have the substrate semi-moist. Like what earth soil feels like.

 

[HairyCelt]

I've had minor infestations of these mites in my more humid tarantula tanks in the past and had some level of success by letting the substrate dry out completely, though this wouldn't be such a good idea with 'pedes due to their higher dependency on moisture.

I've also had success using predatory Hypoapsis mites which will eat the grain mites - they're available online and are regularly used to control spider mites in horticulture. (Again this was in T enclosures and I can't comment on how safe they are for use with 'pedes - I'm sure someone with more experience than me will clarify)

As far as I know, the only way to completely eradicate the mites is to strip the enclosure completely and wash out with a dilute bleach solution. Note that the tank must be thoroughly rinsed and allowed to air for a day or two to ensure all trace of chlorine has gone.

 

[Camden]

I've had minor infestations of these mites in my more humid tarantula tanks in the past and had some level of success by letting the substrate dry out completely, though this wouldn't be such a good idea with 'pedes due to their higher dependency on moisture.

I've also had success using predatory Hypoapsis mites which will eat the grain mites - they're available online and are regularly used to control spider mites in horticulture. (Again this was in T enclosures and I can't comment on how safe they are for use with 'pedes - I'm sure someone with more experience than me will clarify)

As far as I know, the only way to completely eradicate the mites is to strip the enclosure completely and wash out with a dilute bleach solution. Note that the tank must be thoroughly rinsed and allowed to air for a day or two to ensure all trace of chlorine has gone.

I have seen people say that they let it dry out nearly completely between each misting in their pede tanks to prevent mold and mites and such. I think it'll be fine