water dish...mites?

[katiekatelyn]

I put a light tan kidney-shaped water dish in my larger l.parahybana's ten gallon tank yesterday and noticed today something floating in it. Closer inspection revealed it to be the tiniest little floating bugs I ever saw in my life, a lot were clinging together which is the only reason I even noticed them. Is this cause for a freak out? What are they, and can they spread to my other tanks/enclosures? The substrate is less than 2 months old and I'm pretty good at spot cleaning. I'd appreciate some feedback. I just did three tank changes yesterday I'm out of substrate (and my car is dead so the pet store is currently out of the question).

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Hello
Those are possibly mites, as soon as substrate is dry they try and drink from the water bowl and drown. You could take your T out,wash the substrate with hot water and dry it out again. This should eradicate the mite issue,its a bit of work but the best option.

 

[Sabeth]

Hi...

Do a nightly mite-check for starters. Either in the middle of the night or after the lights have been out for a few hours, get up and shine a flashlight into the cage. (Don't turn on any big lights.) Look at the walls, sub, water dish, and any decor. If you see tiny points of light moving around, you've got mites. In this case I'd throw out the sub, wash out the cage, and put in fresh sub. Give the decor a good cleaning, too, if it's safe, or replace it. Unless you're housing a baby T under 2 inches or a swamp-dweller, keep the cage dry, with the exception of the water dish.

 

[katiekatelyn]

Is eco-earth safe to bake in the oven?

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Hello again
I just use hot water,and trust me that works. Mites are not hardy specimens,they will die off without water and certainly won't withstand hot water. Baking substrate,I've not tried that before.

 

[katiekatelyn]

It just sucks that the substrate is fairly new and already there's something wrong with it. I could take Charlotte out, pour steaming hot water in it, and let it dry out before returning her. She just molted yesterday (on my birthday!) so I want to give her a day or two of rest before I do all that.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Hello
Depending on size,I'd give a few days. Then heat up that substrate with hot water,pres the substrate to get excess water out. Since always running to buy new substrate isn't always an option, and mites are easy to kill.

 

[katiekatelyn]

It's not an option for me right now! My engine blew on the fourth of July and you'd be amazed at how suddenly no one wants to be around when you're the one needing help instead of giving it!
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Its all a pleasure, that's why I thought doing it my way would be better.

 

[Prudance]

Oh wow what bad timing. Thought I'd chime in with how we regularly dry our eco earth in the oven for you. We process our substrate in large batches and then store it in airtight containers to have ready at any moment. Storing it wet would invite problems so we dry it out in the oven first.

Start with wetting the substrate with boiling water like Martin said and ring out. Then spread out on a shallow baking sheet like a bar pan. We have pans specially for this in our house but you can line yours with aluminum foil to prevent cross contamination. Then bake in a warm oven (200-250f or 90-120c). Check and stir frequently. It will dry on the outside quickly and get vet steamy in the center so stir to evenly dry out.

I hope that helps.

 

[katiekatelyn]

Thanks, that helps a lot! Once Charlotte feels stronger I'll bake her substrate. Today I thought she was dead, she was completely collapsed with her legs flat and I didn't see her abdomen moving so naturally my heart stopped. -_-

 

[Grammostola]

Somrthing that has worked for me is if the mites are in the tank empty the water dish but leave it in the tank along with everything else including substrate hide everything but the spider. And put it in the freezer or if it is winter and you live in the north leave it in your garage or in an area where the weather wont get to it overnight. put the spider in a container with either clean fresh substrate or a moist paper towel or something that will keep it comfortable over night. And bring the tank back inside or out of the freezer. This has worked for me just wait another night after you do this so the tank can warm back up.

 

[katiekatelyn]

Wow yeah that's a good idea, I could totally do that. It's been two days since her molt so I'm sure she'll be okay if I bother her.

 

[Scoolman]

No worries. They are spring tails. A very beneficial critter. They will actually help to control mites, as they compete for the same resources.