Mites

[sketchy4]

i found a little white thing crawling around inside my leos enclosure today and i thought it could be a mite or somehthing of the sort. can someon help me out on identifying what mites really look like?

[Gregg M]

Leos rarely if ever get mites due to the lack of overlapping scales..... It could have been some kind of bedding mite which does not feed on blood...... Reptile mites are almost never white..... They are for the most part black....... Some can even be a light brown to dark brown...... Reptile mites like to hide under scales and leos do not have scales to hide under.... I would not worry about it....

Oh, reptile mites are round bodied parasites with the head being almost not visable...... If you see them on a paper towel, they look like peper from a shaker......

[lisac]

I recently had the same problem in my frog tank. There was a few tiny white bugs running around. Being so paranoid, I completely disinfected everything in his tank. On closer inspection I realized they were just baby crickets. I had been on vacation for a few weeks and my boyfriend didn't clean out his tank. What a refief that was, mites can do some nasty damage.

Lisa

[DragnDrop]

Little white creepie crawlies aren't the blood sucking mites, so don't worry about your leo. Other than pinhead crickets which has been mentioned, it might be a hitch hiking mite from wood if you have any of that. Sometimes grain mites hide on crickets and mealies, but they're extremely small, not likely visible unless you've got eagle eyes. Springtails (also called soil mites) can be white, but they live in moist substrates, not likely to be found in a leo tank.

My guess would also be pinheads.

[sketchy4]

i have an old piece of wood in the enclosure that they usually like to lay on. after i saw that little thing crawling around i took everything out and washed it. thanks for your help!