Moth(?) problem, strange... thing in one of my T's cages

[TheJuicyFruit]

I've been battling an ongoing battle with what I think are moths. They look like moths anyway, just smaller. Anyway, only one of my T's(Archimedes) has been having them. I've tried killing the humidity (Was already dry, just stopped filling the water dish), drilling more ventilation holes, but every day there's at least one in there. They've left my other T alone, haven't spotted one in Tesla's cage since i first noticed them, and they're only inches away from eachother. Today I was checking, and I noticed this weird, sugary resin type thing on top of Archimedes' hide. I tried to remove it with my tongs but that thing was SOLID. Like, shockingly solid. I basically i thought it might be some sort of moth egg spot and started trying to crush anything inside there, because i couldn't remove it. I took a picture before i jabbed in my tongs, the white spots on the hide are crystals that grinded off the thing trying to pry it off the hide. It's very small, barely wider than one side of the tongs. I'm sorry if this was worded poorly, I'm very tired and very anxious. Archimedes is webbing, which she only does before a molt, and she ate both times i fed her in the past two weeks. Any help would be great. I really hope I don't have to move her enclosure. I did that relatively recently and it was a really stressful experience for both of us.

EDIT: I forgot to put up the picture sorry im a mess right now

Originally it was all that orangish brown you see around the brighter spots, but when i was trying to pry it off, the shaved part became the brighter color near the hole.

 

[Tgotty90]

Honestly the best thing to do is probably rehouse it. I understand it can be stressful removing them but not worth the risk of if they're reproducing like that, could cause more stress on your T in the long run. I've had this problem before with my lizards I feed wax worms too, they'll escape, burrow and few weeks later I have moths flying everywhere. I've always just removed everything and started over. What kind of T are you dealing with?

 

[TheJuicyFruit]

snip

I was really really afraid someone would say something like that. I didn't feed Archimedes a wax worm since i first got her a few years ago, before a rehousing, so it's not that.

It's not like you said "moths everywhere" but there's at least one or two daily. I'm really apprehensive about something as extreme as rehousing, is there some other way I can try to handle this first?

 

[Tgotty90]

I was really really afraid someone would say something like that. I didn't feed Archimedes a wax worm since i first got her a few years ago, before a rehousing, so it's not that.

It's not like you said "moths everywhere" but there's at least one or two daily. I'm really apprehensive about something as extreme as rehousing, is there some other way I can try to handle this first?

Just try spot cleaning, try to remove that spot some how, must be attracted to the substrate or something in enclosure. If it's only a few more then likely not a infestation. Did you put new substrate or decore in recently? could be something to do with that.

 

[TheJuicyFruit]

Just try spot cleaning, try to remove that spot some how, must be attracted to the substrate or something in enclosure. If it's only a few more then likely not a infestation. Did you put new substrate or decore in recently? could be something to do with that.

No new substrate or anything, though tesla does not have a hide (Tried giving him a starter burrow and he just webbed over it) So that may be a factor. I have been spot cleaning as much as I see. Even when she went off food for a spell (I assumed premolt but she's eating again) and there were no crickets to generate bolus, they could be found. I'll see what i can do about getting this crap off the hide, maybe replacing it altogether.

 

[MassExodus]

No new substrate or anything, though tesla does not have a hide (Tried giving him a starter burrow and he just webbed over it) So that may be a factor. I have been spot cleaning as much as I see. Even when she went off food for a spell (I assumed premolt but she's eating again) and there were no crickets to generate bolus, they could be found. I'll see what i can do about getting this crap off the hide, maybe replacing it altogether.

Moths wouldn't be after boli, I don't think. I also don't think you should worry too much yet. Try taking the hide out, as you said, and see what happens. Interesting issue, keep us updated please

 

[TheJuicyFruit]

Update: Replaced the hide over the weekend, went to feed the T's this morning and no moths were found. Hopefully it was that mysterious brown substance that attracted them and I'm rid of them for good, but I'll be checking to make sure. Thanks for the help!

 

[MassExodus]

Update: Replaced the hide over the weekend, went to feed the T's this morning and no moths were found. Hopefully it was that mysterious brown substance that attracted them and I'm rid of them for good, but I'll be checking to make sure. Thanks for the help!

For what it's worth, spiders do enjoy a fat juicy scrumptious moth..wouldn't it be kinda funny if you were wiping out a perfect automatic feeder? Hehe. Could you send me that hide?

 

[Rivmage]

I've those type of hides in reptile cages and a few weren't 100% dry so had sap come out of them, I wonder if you were dealing with dried sap.

Scott

Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk

 

[kormath]

For what it's worth, spiders do enjoy a fat juicy scrumptious moth..wouldn't it be kinda funny if you were wiping out a perfect automatic feeder? Hehe. Could you send me that hide?

yep! my avic and my son's both go nuts for moths. all that fluttering and wing flapping drives the T's insane. Before my sp Peru Purple passed he would eat roaches and seem to be careful about his web tunnels. When a moth was given he'd rip through the tunnels to get to it.

 

[WolfSpider]

@kormath and @MassExodus : where do you get Moths from? Drop them in from outside??
I'd love to vary my Ts' diet, but I don't want to harm them.

 

[kormath]

@kormath and @MassExodus : where do you get Moths from? Drop them in from outside??
I'd love to vary my Ts' diet, but I don't want to harm them.

Yep, Moths are the only wild insect i'll feed my T's. I get one or 2 a summer that find their way inside my house. Once they do they go into a catch cup and are a treat for the avic. I'm hoping to catch one before the P. vitatta gets to large to enjoy them, see what it does when a moth enters it's lair