Small white bugs in drinking bowl

[laMort]

Lately my rosie has had very miniature white bugs in her drinking bowl, but I haven't seen them anywhere else around the tank. I've washed the bowl with hot water but they still keep coming back. Help?

 

[Josh]

They're probably coming from the substrate or from somewhere other than the water and then going to the water to reproduce/drink/die. Have you tried replacing the substrate?

 

[laMort]

I replaced most of the substrate today, seemed like they were coming from the wet fibre under the drinking bowl. Do you know what are these things and do they harm my T?

 

[Sabeth]

They could be mites. Sometimes you will find them floating in the water dish because they are seeking water. You can find out for sure if you have mites by checking in the middle of the night. Don't turn any big lights on...use a flashlight and shine it into the tank and look closely. If you see tiny specks crawling on the walls, substrate, décor, etc., you probably have mites. If this is the case, you should give your tank a thorough cleaning.

Take the T out, get rid of all the substrate. Wash the tank with warm soapy water and rinse well. You should also wash the décor. Add fresh substrate and redo your set-up. Finally put the tarantula back in. In about a week do another mite check and see if the problem is resolved. It's a good idea to do mite checks about once a month.

If a mite infestation is left unchecked, they could hurt your T. Mites can be prevented by keeping your T's substrate dry (only the babies and the swamp-dwellers require wet sub) and by regularly cleaning up food remains, old, dirty webbing, etc.

 

[laMort]

Thank you really much! I will do it first thing tomorrow.

 

[Sabeth]

Btw, unless your T has mites literally crawling all over it, you don't need to do the cleaning in the middle of the night!

 

[laMort]

Just checked the tank with a flashlight in a dark room. Didn't see any white bugs this time, is it possible that changing the wet substrate helped?

 

[Sabeth]

Yes, very possible. You most likely threw out any existing mites with the wet sub. They're drawn to moisture because they dry out very quickly without it, so keeping your sub dry as much as possible goes a long way in mite control.

 

[laMort]

Little bit off topic, but how about the T's who need high humidity? Are they more likely to get mites?

 

[Sabeth]

Yes! Mite checks for these Ts should be made more often, preferably once a week. Since constantly wet conditions almost guarantee a mite problem despite your best efforts, when you have a swamp-dweller it's a good idea to have a spare cage ready, kept dry until an emergency arises, at which time it can be moistened and the T switched to it. Babies are less of an issue since they're not on wet sub all their lives (usually just until they reach about 2 inches), although they still need to be monitored for mites/fungus. I recently had to completely change my genic sling's sub when I noticed a tiny tuft of mold. Catching such things early is the key.

 

[laMort]

Thank you really much!