# Little white tiny bugs in substrate .... Small dots



## GeoGpp1012 (Mar 19, 2013)

What are these? I just noticed them crawling in the substrate ..are they harmful to my tort?


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Mar 19, 2013)

Your picture did not come up, but a few days ago on another thread, I believe it was member Neal that said he puts his coco coir substrate in a bucket and pours boiling water on it, let's it sit until cooled, then strains and reuses. I believe it was to both clean it and get rid of bugs. He said he has had the same coco bark/coco coir for over 2 years doing this maintenance. If memory serves me right, he does this once (?) a month ... hope this helps.


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## GeoGpp1012 (Mar 19, 2013)

BeeBee*BeeLeaves said:


> Your picture did not come up, but a few days ago on another thread, I believe it was member Neal that said he puts his coco coir substrate in a bucket and pours boiling water on it, let's it sit until cooled, then strains and reuses. I believe it was to both clean it and get rid of bugs. He said he has had the same coco bark/coco coir for over 2 years doing this maintenance. If memory serves me right, he does this once (?) a month ... hope this helps.



Yes thank you ill try this now since I have some time...appreciate your response


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Mar 19, 2013)

No problem. And your baby GPP is darling!


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## MikeCow1 (Mar 19, 2013)

It is coco coir, right? Probably wood mites in the coir. I'm trying freezing mine first before soaking it. It doesn't take long for them to really infest it. Harmless to your tort, though


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## GeoGpp1012 (Mar 19, 2013)

MikeCow1 said:


> It is coco coir, right? Probably wood mites in the coir. I'm trying freezing mine first before soaking it. It doesn't take long for them to really infest it. Harmless to your tort, though



Yes it is coco coir and I always freeze it but good to hear they won't hurt him that's a relief


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## LLLReptile (Mar 19, 2013)

Wood mites, or spring tails. We commonly recommend adding spring tails to frog enclosures to help eat the feces and other detritus from plant matter. Removing feces and old food as quickly as possible helps keep spring tail populations down. They're actually a popular food item for small dart frogs, and we sell cultures of them for amphibian keepers. 

In moderate quantities, they're harmless to your tortoises. Even really large numbers of them are pretty harmless, unless your tortoise has an injury/open wound (and I am sure yours does not!). Letting the enclosure dry out some and ensuring there isn't much for them to eat in the cage will also help keep numbers down.

-Jen


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## GeoGpp1012 (Mar 19, 2013)

LLLReptile said:


> Wood mites, or spring tails. We commonly recommend adding spring tails to frog enclosures to help eat the feces and other detritus from plant matter. Removing feces and old food as quickly as possible helps keep spring tail populations down. They're actually a popular food item for small dart frogs, and we sell cultures of them for amphibian keepers.
> 
> In moderate quantities, they're harmless to your tortoises. Even really large numbers of them are pretty harmless, unless your tortoise has an injury/open wound (and I am sure yours does not!). Letting the enclosure dry out some and ensuring there isn't much for them to eat in the cage will also help keep numbers down.
> 
> -Jen



Thanks I panicked when I saw them...I'm super protective of my little guy...I cleaned out all the substrate today just to make myself feel better ..think I'm gonna make a habit of doing this every 2 to 3 months ....I've only had him for 8 weeks


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