theboardwalkbody
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2014
- Messages
- 21
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).
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.
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).