Bugs all over my meal worm enclosure

[thegrandpoohbah]

First I had a problem with fruit flies in my meal worm tank (a 10G w/ screen top). Seems they like the pototoes and carrots I put in there. Last night I noticed that there were very tiny white bugs crawling all over the glass and the screen top. There must have been dozens if not hundreds of them. I transfered the contents of the tank to a clean one and bleached it out. This morning however there are again tons of these little white bugs crawling all over the new tank! My first guess would be fruit fly larvae. Has anyone had any experience with this before? How do I get rid of these bugs without poisoning the mealworms (and consequently, my geckos)?

 

[dmreptiles]

bugs

i got this when i was using potatoes for moisture now i only use carrots

 

[thegrandpoohbah]

OK, did a little more reading here and it seems like I have grain mites. I guess I will have to ditch everything and start over. That sucks because I had finally gotten my mealworm population to the point where my geckos weren't eating them faster than they reproduced.

Questions:

1. are they harmful to my geckos?

2. Some are on the shelf. If I miss some while cleaning/bleaching, can they survive long without food and take over again?

3. Will switching from potato to carrot help?

Thanks!

 

[dmreptiles]

bugs

i can answer third question i switched from potatoes to carrots and now have not had a problem the other thing i do is microwave my bedding

 

[thegrandpoohbah]

How long do you microwave it for?

 

[Gecko Euphoria]

Hey bud I got bad news the best way to get rid of them is to throw away every thing and start over they just dont go away cause they are probably all around the enclosure by now and thats why they came back plus they get all over your mealies and they will eat them to. They are called wheat mites and they are the worst I just started a colony over cause it got hit by them I tried every thing to get rid of them. Finally just chucked em. Its very hard I had over 100,000 mealies had to chuck but it was the only way. Sorry you are going through this. I have been now bakeing my bran then freezing it till I use it and never leave more than a potatoe in in the enclosure over night the humidity is what helps them hatch. Sorry for the bad news I hope it goes well for you.

First I had a problem with fruit flies in my meal worm tank (a 10G w/ screen top). Seems they like the pototoes and carrots I put in there. Last night I noticed that there were very tiny white bugs crawling all over the glass and the screen top. There must have been dozens if not hundreds of them. I transfered the contents of the tank to a clean one and bleached it out. This morning however there are again tons of these little white bugs crawling all over the new tank! My first guess would be fruit fly larvae. Has anyone had any experience with this before? How do I get rid of these bugs without poisoning the mealworms (and consequently, my geckos)?

 

[nats]

I had the same problem with little flies getting into my mealies and waxies.
I open the lid, and a bunch of nats fly out.

I solved the problem by putting the boxes it cloth snake bags.

 

[thegrandpoohbah]

Thanks for the advice. I've thrown them all out and am now bleaching everything. I'll start a new colony and this time will only feed them carrots, not potato.

 

[gothra]

Good luck in getting rid of them. I had been through all these; I noticed there are 2 types of grain mites, one type tend to stay in the oat bedding, they are slightly larger and have a brownish tint, these are easier to get rid of. The other type is extremely small, white dust like. These ones can climb vertical surfaces and so they will be all over the shelf. Its very hard to get rid of them completely. Now I use smaller tubs for my mealworms, and put a dish of water underneath it. So if I have these mites again, they can not spread to my shelves or other tubs. I also use thin slice of carrot only, better to keep humidity to the mimimum.

 

[tryme]

Are they harmful though?

 

[nats]

They are little maggots for the fruit flies (or w/o being able to see one, this is what I think!).

They are not harmful, but the reason they are there needs to be found and corrected.
Are you putting fresh vegies in there regular?

If you dont have a cloth bag, use a pillow case or even old t-shirt to cover them.

If they are grain mites, I still do think they are harmful.

 

[tryme]

I haven't noticed any buigs in my mealworm cultures as of yet.