Help! Mites???

[GeckoMamaArle]

One thing after another for sure. Today I noticed tiny white colored mites (I know they aren't springtails) in all my enclosures. Climbing the glass inside and out, all over the soil. I don't know if they are soil mites or harmful mites but how to I get rid of them in bioactive naturally planted enclosures without harming my day geckos???

 

[GeckoMamaArle]

One thing after another for sure. Today I noticed tiny white colored mites (I know they aren't springtails) in all my enclosures. Climbing the glass inside and out, all over the soil. I don't know if they are soil mites or harmful mites but how to I get rid of them in bioactive naturally planted enclosures without harming my day geckos???

If there is anyone who has advice, please. I'm thinking of adding more springtails and isopods to eradicate the mite population so that I don't have to use any pesticides that may harm my animals or the existing isopods and plants, and using a pesticide for mites specifically around the outside of all the enclosures?

 

[acpart]

They could be grain mites, though if they're in your enclosure and not in your grain, it's hard to imagine. You could start by getting a paper towel or cloth very hot with water and then wiping down the sides of the enclosure as low as you can go. That will kill the ones climbing up (and there's nothing that will harm the gecko). I guess you could even pour small amounts of hot water onto the substrate since that won't cause a problem for the gecko either. Hopefully repeated treatments will ultimately kill off the mites.

Aliza

 

[GeckoMamaArle]

They could be grain mites, though if they're in your enclosure and not in your grain, it's hard to imagine. You could start by getting a paper towel or cloth very hot with water and then wiping down the sides of the enclosure as low as you can go. That will kill the ones climbing up (and there's nothing that will harm the gecko). I guess you could even pour small amounts of hot water onto the substrate since that won't cause a problem for the gecko either. Hopefully repeated treatments will ultimately kill off the mites.

Aliza

Thank you, yes I went through yesterday and cleaned the outsides of the vivs with hand sanitizer and hot water, and same thing inside of the enclosures and then sprayed them down with water really well. And then sometime this week I'm going to get some fresh isopods and springtails and see if they will outcompete the mites. I also got a mite spray and sprayed the room and the outsides of the enclosures with it but I didn't use it inside of the enclosures.