White bugs???

DeadlyDesires · 04-24-13, 10:14 PM

OK so i was looking at Demon today and i noticed that he has several little white bugs crawling on him??? this confuses me because im sure mites are black (the ones i've seen) and he doesn't sit in his water or anything?? they are itty bitty like the size of a needle tip and they are white? is it possible that they are just the bio-active bugs that are in the soil? or should i start to worry?

i do have wood in there as well possibly wood mites?

DiscoPat · 04-24-13, 10:20 PM

Look really close, they may be baby crickets.

I had a ton of baby crickets in my old cage that were so tiny you could barely see them.

DeadlyDesires · 04-24-13, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiscoPat

Look really close, they may be baby crickets.

I had a ton of baby crickets in my old cage that were so tiny you could barely see them.

lol let me explain how tiny they are..... if i get any closer to try and see them better, i may lose my nose lmfao :P.... i dont know how tiny baby crix are though :-/ these guys almost look microscopic though so i dont know what they look like that small really. but he hasn't had crix in his enclosure for months so is it still possible?

the sarcastic comment was just a joke by the way wasn't trying to be rude just thought it was funny :P ...

mykee · 04-24-13, 10:54 PM

They're wood mites.

DeadlyDesires · 04-24-13, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykee

They're wood mites.

thats what i was thinking too, just wanted to ask and make sure i dont want anything that could potentially harm him :-/

Pirarucu · 04-25-13, 05:55 AM

Gonna go with wood mites, it's nothing to worry about.

mykee · 04-25-13, 06:22 AM

Quote:

"Gonna go with wood mites, it's nothing to worry about. "

Unless your snakes are wood.

Trollbie · 04-25-13, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiscoPat

Look really close, they may be baby crickets.

I had a ton of baby crickets in my old cage that were so tiny you could barely see them.

How did you know they were crickets?

Starbuck · 04-25-13, 07:21 PM

crickets dont metamorphose; the babies look like very tiny versions of the adults, minus the wings and ovipositors. Baby (just hatched) crix are about the size of a mechanical pencil tip, 0.1cm x 0.05cm, and have very clear antennae and dark eyes, and easy to see legs, though not as adapted to hopping as the adults.

Wood lice will have a flabbier appearing body, less prominant antennae and eyes, and the legs will be very very small and grouped toward the front of the animal. They are about half the size of a baby crix.

As a diagnostic tool, you could take a piece of scotch 'magic' tape and trap a few on the sticky side (i think 'magic' tape is less sticky than the clear, shiny kind), then look at them under a microscope/magnifying glass to confirm.

Trollbie · 04-25-13, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starbuck

crickets dont metamorphose; the babies look like very tiny versions of the adults, minus the wings and ovipositors. Baby (just hatched) crix are about the size of a mechanical pencil tip, 0.1cm x 0.05cm, and have very clear antennae and dark eyes, and easy to see legs, though not as adapted to hopping as the adults.

Wood lice will have a flabbier appearing body, less prominant antennae and eyes, and the legs will be very very small and grouped toward the front of the animal. They are about half the size of a baby crix.

As a diagnostic tool, you could take a piece of scotch 'magic' tape and trap a few on the sticky side (i think 'magic' tape is less sticky than the clear, shiny kind), then look at them under a microscope/magnifying glass to confirm.

Well, that explains the mystery bugs in my tarantula's cage. Thanks lol

Toothless · 04-25-13, 09:18 PM

Are you sure their not just springtails? Look a photo of them up on google and see if they look like what you have.
I noticed a ton of white bugs in my enclosure a while back, and after thinking I had mights, realized they were actually springtails. They keep my enclosure nice and clean as they're nature's little decomposers.

Trollbie · 04-25-13, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toothless

Are you sure their not just springtails? Look a photo of them up on google and see if they look like what you have.
I noticed a ton of white bugs in my enclosure a while back, and after thinking I had mights, realized they were actually springtails. They keep my enclosure nice and clean as they're nature's little decomposers.

I don't know

l changed the substrate and cleaned the cage so no bugs anymore.

jhinton6932 · 04-26-13, 12:19 PM

yep have them also. i just let em be. they dont ever escape and they make the big piles of lizard crap disapear, they are quite useful

Toothless · 04-26-13, 03:30 PM

I have springtails, darkling beetles, baby crickets, and superworm beetles in my soil. My enclosure smells like outside and never stinks. Its also really interesting to sit there and watch all the little buggies going about their business

.

**lady_bug87** · 04-26-13, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhinton6932

yep have them also. i just let em be. they dont ever escape and they make the big piles of lizard crap disapear, they are quite useful

No..
They don't. Pretty sure wood mites eat wood.

And by pretty sure I mean that I have researched this out the bum (haha) and have found no evidence of Coprophagia among mites of any variety