baking to get rid of little bugs?

[clementine]

so i looked in my gecko's tank and saw that there were little brown bugs crawling around on his dry-hide (made of a natural gourd). i washed it in hot water, but now i want to make sure the little bugs are all gone. i'm going to scrub down the whole enclosure to be sure, but i'm wondering, what's a good temperature/amount of time to bake the gourd to make sure it's dry and bug-free?

thank you!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

What substrate are you using? They could be baby crickets.

 

[clementine]

no, they're not baby crickets, they're oval-shaped... the size of an apostrophe (') and light brown. they move in a continuous gliding kind of way, like an ant moves.

but in the tank there's sand substrate (yes, i know it's not the best substrate and i'm aware of the all the issues- the fact is, it's technically my brother's gecko and he's insisting i use up the rest of the bag of sand before i go buy reptile carpet. it's almost gone.) and there's some moss in the hides. i've had cricket eggs before, but they've never hatched.

 

[jakemyster44]

I think they are probably mites, I have no idea if you should be using a gourd as a hide honestly. I have found them a few times in bed-a-beast after a few weeks. I think the moisture must triger eggs to hatch (that are in the brick)... from what I have heard they arnt much of a threat, and just seem to be anoying, so what I did is before adding the bed-a-beat was zap it int he microwave for a minute or two (after being soaked in water, and expanding) and I have not had any problems with them ever since. There is a spray on the market that is supposed to kill mites, I forget what it is called. Also, I suggest switching from sand imediatly to the repti-carpet beacuse there are gonna be mites and/or eggs in the sand as well. You may have to take out the gourd as well. did you purchase the gourd at a pet store? I would google heat treating wood or something to find out the temp and length of time you need to bake wood, if you really want to save the gourd. Any questions?

 

[Kilikina]

i had similar little bugs last week. i just changed the paper towells and rinsed off her hides and dishes, and haven't seen any since.

 

[clementine]

i actually grew and dried several gourds myself (they're corsican hard-shelled gourds). we've had the same bag of sand that we're using up for several months, and i think it will be one more substrate change before i can switch to carpet. believe me, i intend to switch, but it has to do with keeping relative peace around here- my family already hates how "obsessive" i am because i care about the wellbeing of the animals.

i think i figured out where the mites (yes, i think they're mites) came from- we recently brought in some outdoor potted plants, and i'm finding the mites elsewhere around the plants as well. microwaving's a pretty good idea. since i didn't find an answer about temp/time, i just ended up baking them at 175 until they were dry.