Help! I think we've got mites??

theboardwalkbody

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Hi! I know I haven't been around a while but school does that! Anywho I got a hatchling a few months ago and everything was perfect and dandy until this morning. I woke up and when I went to feed him I saw tiny white bugs swimming in his water bowl! At first I thought the grossest - maggots that must have shown up on a missed piece of poop or food or maybe the bedding (cypress mulch) got too wet from misting - but a closer look showed they were more like round sesame seeds, not worms. So I did some googling and there's a white mite that is a possibility with reptiles so I am assuming it's that. Sorry I didn't take a picture for identifying - I wanted them gone ASAP.

So here's what I did:

a) immediately removed the contaminated water bowl and threw it directly into the outside garbage.
b) scanned my tort for mites - I did not see any.
c) checked the cypress mulch bedding for mites - I saw one that was under the water dish - no bigger than the others - and it could have fallen off the bowl when I removed it. Under the dish was completely soaked, I'm thinking there may have been a leak in the old dish.
d) removed my tort from the enclosure. The best I could do in such short notice was put him in an old 10g tank which I had cleaned out prior to adding him in.
e) went to the petstore to buy new bedding and a new water bowl. I didn't know who else to ask so I asked an employee on what to do and here's what I was told:

1. remove him from the enclosure. Check.
2. put newspaper in for his bedding.
3. Wash EVERYTHING that was in the enclosure. Check.
4. Check him for mites, making sure to check his neck, vent, and feet. Check.
5. Wash the enclosure thoroughly. Check. (I used a diluted bleach + water mixture to wash the walls and floor. Then rinsed it and let it dry. It doesn't smell like bleach.)
6. Wait a few days to make sure there's no signs of mites - do not add any wood back to the enclosure until then.
7. Give soaks daily to wash off any mites.
So I went back home and added some ripped up newspaper to the enclosure so that he could burrow under it when he sleeps. I feel so bad though because I know he hates it. He doesn't like being in this small tank with no wood bedding. It's too small. he wants to get out, and I'm sure the newspaper is no help.

Is there anything else I can do? Is waiting a few days even necessary? I didn't see anything on him or in his enclosure when I cleaned it out. It was just the contaminated water. When he pooped today when I gave him a bath his poop was clean - no sign of worms or anything. Is the newspaper safe? Surely inks and dyes aren't good! And he wants to eat the stuff!

I don't even know where these bugs came from, he's never even been outside! The cypress bedding was only added at the beginning of the month, and his food is washed and washed and washed some more. Nothing new was added to the environment, either. Just the bedding under the dish was apparently soaked which I didn't know. I would also think - if it were mites - they wouldn't be swimming in the water dish? I thought water drowns them? I don't know. I really need some help. I'm worried about the little baby. I don't want anything bad to happen to him while I'm asleep. (I know he's sleeping right now, himself, but I'm still worried).
 

cmacusa3

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Sounds like springtails, I've heard they are hard to get rid of. You can sometimes put a clove of garlic in the soil to get rid of them. The best thing to do it just change the substrate. I've read they are harmless to reptiles though.
 

tortdad

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They are harmless. Take the substrate and either freeze it for 48 hours or bake it in an oven for 4 hours on 250. The eggs are in the soil when we buy it.
 

Tom

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What you have there are substrate flies. They are harmless detrivores which means they eat the garbage in the substrate. You don't need to "do" anything. They are harmless and they come from the environment. If you put clean sterilized substrate down with no eggs in it, these flies will still show up and start breeding within two weeks. In time they reach a balance if you leave them alone.

If you find them objectionable, you will need to boil, bake or replace your substrate every two weeks.

For future reference: Pet stores are notorious for dispensing bad info, and yours is no exception. Sorry.
 

theboardwalkbody

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Yeah, I never trust the petstore which is why I came here to ask to make sure. I wanted to be sure that what I've already done as a precaution wasn't harming him.

I just got spooked since I've had the tort several months now and haven't seen or heard of this kind of problem before so I didn't know where or why these things showed up. So since I didn't see any bugs on him would it be safe to put him back in his regular enclosure with new bedding? (I completely stripped the enclosure - washed it and threw out the bedding. I bought new bedding from the store today). Or will putting him back in now, even with new bedding and cleaned decor, bring these gross buggy things back?
 

Itort

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For future reference, reptile (snake) mites are dark colored resembling black pepper and would likely be found on the soft parts of the tort. They are rarely found on torts. For "sterilizing" substrate, freezing for a couple or three days will kill them as they are tropical. A product called Reptile Spray by Natural Chemistry works well (have used it on rescue snakes and lizards).All in all I don't see it as likely on torts. A side note I encourage springtails and isopods in with my herps.
 

Heather H

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For future reference, reptile (snake) mites are dark colored resembling black pepper and would likely be found on the soft parts of the tort. They are rarely found on torts. For "sterilizing" substrate, freezing for a couple or three days will kill them as they are tropical. A product called Reptile Spray by Natural Chemistry works well (have used it on rescue snakes and lizards).All in all I don't see it as likely on torts. A side note I encourage springtails and isopods in with my herps.
Why do you encourage them? Are they a benefit?
 

Itort

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Why do you encourage them? Are they a benefit?
Yes I believe they are beneficial in that they keep the enclosure substrate "sweet". Bear in mind I keep herps such as forest type torts, geckos, tree monitors, and blue tongue skinks all of which will eat some of the isopods and the substrates smell like damp forest soil.
 

Heather H

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Yes I believe they are beneficial in that they keep the enclosure substrate "sweet". Bear in mind I keep herps such as forest type torts, geckos, tree monitors, and blue tongue skinks all of which will eat some of the isopods and the substrates smell like damp forest soil.
Ok ty .
 

Tom

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Yeah, I never trust the petstore which is why I came here to ask to make sure. I wanted to be sure that what I've already done as a precaution wasn't harming him.

I just got spooked since I've had the tort several months now and haven't seen or heard of this kind of problem before so I didn't know where or why these things showed up. So since I didn't see any bugs on him would it be safe to put him back in his regular enclosure with new bedding? (I completely stripped the enclosure - washed it and threw out the bedding. I bought new bedding from the store today). Or will putting him back in now, even with new bedding and cleaned decor, bring these gross buggy things back?

Yes you can put him back. Those bugs will return no matter what you do. Either tolerate them or boil, freeze, bake or replace the substrate every two weeks. They are coming from the surrounding area. You did not introduce them and they did not come from eggs in your substrate.
 

Tom

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You could also try adding a competitor like rolly pollies or tropical roaches. These eat the same food and are equally harmless to your tortoise.
 

Tom

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Oh yeah. Harmless detrivores and great food for anyone with insectivores. They compete for space and food with the substrate flies. The tropical species can't live without the warmth and humidity offered by our enclosures, so no danger of infestation.

Shall I send you a starter colony right away? :D
 

cmacusa3

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Tom, Are you talking about Dubia roaches that I feed my geckos?
 

Heather H

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Oh yeah. Harmless detrivores and great food for anyone with insectivores. They compete for space and food with the substrate flies. The tropical species can't live without the warmth and humidity offered by our enclosures, so no danger of infestation.

Shall I send you a starter colony right away? :D
Sure ok. Not....I am not getting an insectivore. But thanks
 

Tom

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Sure ok. Not....I am not getting an insectivore. But thanks

Ok fine. Don't feel bad. I don't put them in my tortoise enclosures either. But there are some rolly pollies running around in there with the substrate flies... :)
 

Heather H

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Ok fine. Don't feel bad. I don't put them in my tortoise enclosures either. But there are some rolly pollies running around in there with the substrate flies... :)
I hate bugs .
 

Itort

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Ok fine. Don't feel bad. I don't put them in my tortoise enclosures either. But there are some rolly pollies running around in there with the substrate flies... :)
Sounds like my tort pens but I also have millipedes. No isopods(rolly pollies/ pillbugs) in with lizards, they ate them. :)
 
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