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General Tarantula Discussion
Tarantula mouth covered in mites
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<blockquote data-quote="MBullock" data-source="post: 215772" data-attributes="member: 33994"><p>not dangerous to tarantulas, grain mites have a phoretic form the become when population density reaches critical levels, triggering phoretic behavior. Its a common feature in mites, it's how they colonize new habitat.</p><p> </p><p>The only animals that suffer from grain mites are those that use spiracles to breathe as the phoretic mites can clog the spiracles and suffocate the host. tarantulas have book lungs rather than tracheae so they dont have spiracles to block. </p><p> its mostly millipedes/centipedes and beetle larvae that suffer the most, for tarantulas it just stresses them and annoys them. </p><p> </p><p>Dont bother purchasing predator mites- those only attack spider-mites and cannot attack the cystic phoretic state as it's covered in a shell to protect from predators and moisture loss. the only way to stop grain mites is to prevent them from happening in the first place. Baking substrate will destroy the eggs and mites.</p><p> </p><p>You will see less mites if you clean the mealworms with strong blasts of water, then toast some oats around 200 degrees to roast the mites and destroy any eggs hidden in them. discard the original container the mealworms were in. </p><p> I stopped using carrot for mealworms because it causes mites. dried prunes are a good moisture source and wont trigger mite explosions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MBullock, post: 215772, member: 33994"] not dangerous to tarantulas, grain mites have a phoretic form the become when population density reaches critical levels, triggering phoretic behavior. Its a common feature in mites, it's how they colonize new habitat. The only animals that suffer from grain mites are those that use spiracles to breathe as the phoretic mites can clog the spiracles and suffocate the host. tarantulas have book lungs rather than tracheae so they dont have spiracles to block. its mostly millipedes/centipedes and beetle larvae that suffer the most, for tarantulas it just stresses them and annoys them. Dont bother purchasing predator mites- those only attack spider-mites and cannot attack the cystic phoretic state as it's covered in a shell to protect from predators and moisture loss. the only way to stop grain mites is to prevent them from happening in the first place. Baking substrate will destroy the eggs and mites. You will see less mites if you clean the mealworms with strong blasts of water, then toast some oats around 200 degrees to roast the mites and destroy any eggs hidden in them. discard the original container the mealworms were in. I stopped using carrot for mealworms because it causes mites. dried prunes are a good moisture source and wont trigger mite explosions. [/QUOTE]
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Tarantula mouth covered in mites
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