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View Full Version : Wanna get rid of grain mites...


Linds
03-02-04, 06:38 PM
... but don't want to trash all of your colonies and have to start from scratch? This method works for mealie colonies, but it isn't an instant fix. Let the colonies eat ALL the substrate without replacing any, allowing them to get right down to living in the dust (poo) and only providing nutritious veggies and fruits for them to eat. You will want to steer clear of the veggies that are low in nutrition, but work well for moisture, such as carrot and potato for this period since the worms will not be gutloading themselves with any substrate ingredients. Once the substrate has disappeared the grain mites no longer have any purpose left, and you will notice them disappear ;)

Just thought I would share this method, as the only advice that seems to be out there is to trash it all and start over, which can be a pain if you have a large, established colony with many mouths to feed :rolleyes: This method worked well for me.

drewlowe
03-02-04, 06:51 PM
Linds i've never had any problems YET lol i stress the yet. What are grain mites????

drewlowe
03-02-04, 06:52 PM
never mind i did my own search.

Linds
03-02-04, 08:12 PM
Well, for anyone else that doesn't know what grain mites are...

Little brown bugs that may develop in grains after they have been left around for a while. Completely harmless, but who really wants bugs crawling all over the place? I refused to trash my colonies, and instead tried sealing them in to existing colonies with bands of vaseline or whatnot, hoping that would contain them while I started new colonies with fresh ingredients in different rooms... stuff like that... all attempts failed however. I've had them for well over a year until the above method got rid of them :)

Lisa
03-05-04, 10:23 PM
i wonder if the mites that eat mites would have worked in this case?