I’ve never seen anything like that looks like it’s got a necklace on .
I've never seen this before either, hence posting here lol My first thought was mites, however I'm fairly sure it's not mites, as it's had this since it last molted. The white bits don't move, haven't changed in any way, and aren't anywhere else on the sling
Hoping someone with more experience can shed some light on this, coz I'm stumped!
Thanks! I hope so too
I lost one of my other slings to a bad most, but, aside from the weird white things, this one seems to be doing well
No.... they are much bigger and much less see through, I would still try the mushroom trick just incase but if it doesn't work it maybe time for bio warfare, they aren't like anything I have seen before.
Mites. Big ones.
The cucumber (or other bait) may help, but only if the substrate is wet enough for the mites to be willing to leave the sling. This will be tricky with an arboreal sling that probably doesn't spend much time on the substrate. I know @Charliemum successfully battled a serious mite infestation recently, so I'd take her advice.
Ok, thanks! I'm lucky enough to never have had to deal with mites before, so any advice is very much appreciated!
If NMT's says mites then I will bore you with my saga.
gl to you both.Thank you so much for getting back to meIf NMT's says mites then I will bore you with my saga.
About a year ago I was sent a psalmopoeus irminia with a split in her side and infested with mites. I consulted people on here and got a plan of action.
1. Use a temp viv , put your t in a smaller viv , my 3 inch girl went into a viv on the smaller side 3x3x7 inches so I could keep close eye on her and her mites. I gave her bark and lots of moss which helped with keeping the sub damp enough for the mites to be happy to leave. (They hate dryness)
2. I stopped feeding my t , mites climb on for free food they won't leave while they can eat what your t eats.
3. I read up on mites and they love fungus so I used mushroom to attack them , they seem to like this better when it's on the turn then when fresh. (I used baby portobello as it was what I had in the fridge at the time.)
4. Change the mushroom every morning and at night before you go to bed. The constant changing removes the mites that have been attracted to the mushroom and makes sure they don't take a trip bk to your t.
5. Patients, it may take a few days for this to work , especially if your t has recently eaten but be patient and they will leave your t .
6. Soon as all the mites have left your spood get rid of the old viv n everything in it n move your babe to a new viv with all new stuff and that will hopefully be the end of those mites.
I have had 2 cases where t's have come to me with mites once the story I told you an established irminia but second time was a tiny 0.5 cm Davus sp panama sling and both times this trick worked.
I will say it took longer with the sp panama sling but they did eventually leave.
While your not feeding as your t is only 2inchs watch the abdomen size if it shrinks to much feed the t . It will set you back with the mites but it is more important your t doesn't starve while you remove mites. So just keep an eye and make sure the waterdish stays full aswell. Even if the sub stays damp it's still important.
If you have any questions or if I missed something out just ask and I will answer as soon as I see it
Yes I would put in moss it will help hold the dampness in the sub, you want it to be damp enough to hold its shape but not so damp it drips.Thank you so much for getting back to me
So, I've re-housed the sling into a clean, fresh enclosure, with spiderlife substrate, bit of cork bark and a water dish. I have some moss, should I put some of it in too? I have a bit of cucumber in at the moment, but will get portabello mushrooms tomorrow if they prove to work better. Do I keep the substrate just damp or really wet it?
I haven't fed the sling for several days, as she's a little on the plump side, so not feeding her for a while shouldnt be an issue, but obviously I'll keep an eye on her. I've also moved her enclosure to a corner of the room away from the rest of my spiders. Is there anything else I can do? Again, thanks so much for your advise!
any more questions I am here. Please keep us updated on little ones progress, I look forward to seeing little one mite free Fab, thanks, I have put some moss in now too. Yes, I had a low-key meltdown when I saw them! The sling is sooo small, roughly the size of my thumb nail, and the mites look huge on it when seen thru the macro lens! I'll let you know how we get on. Thank you so very much again for your helpYes I would put in moss it will help hold the dampness in the sub, you want it to be damp enough to hold its shape but not so damp it drips.
Tbh idk if the mushroom works better then cucumber as I only ever used the mushroom, it worked so I never changed it
You have already done everything you can you've sorted out the viv, the mite food , and moved your little one away from your other spoods all you can do now is change the mite food and wait.
It's np I remember how much I panicked when I got a spood with mites and honestly there's not much out there on getting rid of them so I am more then happy to share my experiences and help others with theirs
