Worm disaster!

[Stl_Greaser]

So I went to check on my super worm beetle colony and there where tiny white mites all over the lid. They are all throughout the wheat bran, on the inside and outside of the container. And then I notice they are all over my super worm container, and both of my meal worm colonies.

What are they, under a 100x microscope they look like a mite of some sort with hairs all over.

Are my colonies trash? Should I throw out the entire colonies or sort the worms out and just toss the wheat bran?

And I should have been seeing my first baby super worms soon too, dang!

 

[acpart]

they are grain mites and they are a pain in the neck (only not the neck). Generally you end up having to trash your colonies to get rid of them. However, if your feeders are big enough you can try this (it worked with my crickets): remove the feeders and transfer them to fresh bedding. Wash out the container and lid with hot water. Keep checking the lid for more moving white specks and wash with hot water as needed. They tend to show up with the enclosure and substrate get too humid.

Good luck

Aliza

 

[gothra]

Search for "grain mites" in this forum, there are many posts on this topic. Basically, you get grain mites when humidity is too high.

 

[Quantumhigh]

Sorry about your colonies, I hope you can recover them. Maybe you can dry out the mite without killing the worms.