Little Critters in Enclosure.

[AndrewZ757]

So i have a P. Regalis that i am assuming o be in premolt. She has enclosed herself in her cork bark hide with a mixture of web and substrate. Nowhere is the and opening. She has been enclosed in there for nearly 2 weeks, maybe a little more than. I have checked on her a few times and shes always just sitting on the side of the bark. Today, i noticed very small, what i thought to be mites, zooming around the glass inside of her enclosure. I saw 4 tops. I forced one out of the enclosure and it flew away. so it may be fruit flies? Anyway, i use a mix of potting soil and vermiculite and i have a live plant in the enclosure. Are fruit flies, or whatever these tiny flying things are, be a danger to a spider in pre molt?

 

[AndrewZ757]

So i just located a dead cricket that burrowed itself into the ground wedged between the glass and the bark. i cannot remove it without disturbing the molting process. Unless there is immediate danger to the spider, then i would do so.

 

[Gavin van den Berg]

Hi Andrew,

what size(DLS - Diagonal leg span) is your P. Regalis at the moment? When last did you feed it and did you see it eat it's last meal that you fed?

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Remove the dead cricket or just ventilate her enclosure well so the smell doesn't build up and attract other insects. Your spider is soft, moist and will have some kind of smell right after molting, those bugs might try to taste your newly molt

 

[AndrewZ757]

It about 4 inches. It was feeding. Im guessing it didnt eat its last meal in preparation to premolt, about two weeks ago.

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Or you could probably cover that dead cricket with some substrate so it could dessicate quickly and disperse the smell

 

[AndrewZ757]

ok so idk if i wasnt looking hard enough the past few times i checked, or if she just did it, but i just confirmed the molt. I covered the cricket with substrate as i could, it really chose the worst place to die. Im not seeing anymore fruit flies at this point.

 

[HungryGhost]

Those tiny flying bugs you're seeing are probably fungus gnats. They are pretty common house plant pests that arrive in potting soil. I don't think they pose any health threat to you're T.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05584.html

 

[GTarantula]

I've had those. I air things out for a day or so and they go away. They never bothered any reptiles I've kept in the past so yeah like Hungryghost said...They won't pose a threat. They don't even bite.