HELP!

[hanniebann]

I just found tiny white bug things all over my enclosure! Tiny things that you can barely notice until they move, thousands of them, all over the glass, everything!! What do I doo?? please give me input. they can't be mites can they??

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well I broke everything down, I'm taking out the substrate, and am bleaching everything in site... I found a few on my lizard :[
From what I can find they might be from the new substrate?

 

[montana]

Try drying the enclosure out a bit ..

Or take everything out and dry it off in the sun ...

Those are springtails and are harmless ...

They can only live in the enclosure and will not infest your house ...

Some reptile keepers actively cultivate them for frogs and small reptiles ..

 

[hanniebann]

okay, I'm not sure about springtails.. they're a bit smaller, slow moving and bleach and a mite spray i bought aren't killing them. I bleached everything, sprayed and wiped everything down several times... hopefully they go away. I found the majority of them where it was pretty hot in the enclosure, none around the water bowl. odd? someone suggested wood mites. does that sound plausible?

 

[Toby_H]

I suggest you reconsider springtails. They are very very common and completely harmless...

The google images photo selection make them seem much larger than and I've ever seen/had. The ones I see commonly are as small as the naked eye can see. They go completely unnoticed until they hop (which they do almost constantly).

I've had them on the surface of half of my many many fish tanks over the course of 20+ years. They also pop up in mulch all the time and thrive in vivariums, terrariums and all sorts of other enclosures. They can only survive in very moist environments and die as soon as they leave the enclosure.

 

[hanniebann]

I hope that's the case, I dried everything out, I found a few remaining live ones and squashed them.. will a mite, flea, and tick killer take care of them? or do I just have to keep it fairly dry?

 

[Toby_H]

I'd be very afraid that all the bleach and pesticides are going to harm your animal(s). Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease...

 

[hanniebann]

then what should i do? i have a "reptile friendly" mite treatment. should i do something else that rules out any potential harm to my monitor?

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i mean **is there anything else that is more reptile friendly?

 

[Toby_H]

identify them. it might not be worth doing anything

 

[Moondust]

I have them in mine as well. I posted a topic about it way back in october but everyone told me they were harmless and that they wouldnt hurt my tegu so I just left them. One day when she gets bigger I might just put the mulch in a rubber maid out in the sun to kill them. right now, its not such a huge deal.

 

[txrepgirl]

I had them before, too. They don't harm your reptile. You do have to worry about them if they are red. What I did is I put the mulch in my yard and bought some new one. I cleaned everything with strong vinegar, rinsed it out really good and let it air dry for a while. I haven't seen anything after that. I wouldn't use all the chemicals that you want to use. I also wouldn't keep the enclosure to dry because then your lizard will have some shedding problems.

 

[got10]

1 part listerine, 3 parts water. It works very well on all my cages and applied into bedding and let dry it works great

 

[thomasjg23]

I think you can bake the substrate in the oven to kill them.

 

[hanniebann]

I'd have a lot of substrate to bake, lol. I bought some of the coco mulch stuff, and they're still some bugs hanging around... I want to find something that can at least keep them under control. Wouldn't listerine or vinegar hurt my savannah? If not, I'd love to wipe down the glass and trim at least to keep them from crawling everywhere- it looks unsanitary :[ I'm glad they're harmless... but could they stress my herp out?

 

[txrepgirl]

Vinegar will not hurt your savannah monitor. You just have to rinse it out and then let it air dry ( because of the strong smell ). What I do is put some vinegar into the enclosure ( when it's empty ) and wipe every thing down. Then I let it soak in. When it's dry I use a hand held steam cleaner that had a cloth attached to it and wipe everything down with that. Then I let it air dry. Once I don't smell the vinegar I put everything back in there ( after I cleand the water bin/dish, rock .... ). This is the kind I use.

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