Bugs in the Tub

[StudentoftheReptile]

I'm starting to notice little bugs in my redfoot's tub. I'm having a hard time figuring out if they are just normal little "wood lice" that often live in terrariums with natural substrate like cypress mulch, etc...or if they are actually baby cockroaches (ICK!).

I do my best to remove uneaten food from the enclosure as well as spot-clean but no one is perfect. Curiously enough, I do not find them in the sulcata habitat, although they are next to each other and I would imagine access is no object.

Any thoughts?

 

[dmarcus]

If you have live plants or even grass growing in the enclosure you will tend to have the little bugs sometimes there is just nothing to prevent them. Depending on what kind they are, you shouldn't have an issue. I just recently dumped the soil in my Hermanns enclosure then completely cleaned it out and replaced the substrate to get rid of the bugs because they were getting out of control and I haven't seen any since the change but time will tell if they return, I have my fingers crossed that they don't.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

See, I have no live plants or grass in there. I've had natural terrariums with live flora before and these do not look like the little detrivore lice I'm seen before...which kinda (unfortunately) leads me to believe they are baby roaches. : P

 

[dmarcus]

See, I have no live plants or grass in there. I've had natural terrariums with live flora before and these do not look like the little detrivore lice I'm seen before...which kinda (unfortunately) leads me to believe they are baby roaches. : P

That would not be good if they are baby roaches, hopefully you will get it figured out and cleared up...

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Michael:

Can you take a picture of them?

 

[wellington]

I had the little flying bugs. Got rid of all substrate and replace with coir. No more bugs and the grass/weeds grow just fine in the coir. If they are cockroaches, all I can say is you will have to clean way better and more often. That is a bug you don't want for your health and theirs.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

Is the coconut coir better at keeping those bugs out? Or is it just a matter of making sure I remove food a lot sooner?

 

[wellington]

Is the coconut coir better at keeping those bugs out? Or is it just a matter of making sure I remove food a lot sooner?

I read earlier last year someone else had problems with little flying bugs like I had and also little crawling bugs. Someone suggested the coconut coir , that they used it and never had the bugs. I switched and I don't have the bugs either. I believe it has more to do with the coir itself. I feed my tort 2 times a day and I leave the morning unearth until the afternoon feeding. What he doesn't eat at the second feeding then comes out. If you have problems in your area with cockroaches, you may need to clean food up as soon as they are done eating. I hope this helps, good luck

 

[Len B]

My guess is, if you are seeing them crawling around they are not cockroaches, as soon as a light is turned on, cockroaches disappear quick, they hate light.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

My guess is, if you are seeing them crawling around they are not cockroaches, as soon as a light is turned on, cockroaches disappear quick, they hate light.

I didn't think about that. Kinda hard to say, really though, since they're not exactly crawling around except when I disturb the substrate a little or remove the water dish for cleaning. And I'm not seeing a lot, maybe 3-4 at a time at most, although I imagine there's probably more deeper in the cypress. They actually start crawling up the sides of the tub sometimes when disturbed, even toward the light. Now that you mention it, I would think a cockroach would immediately attempt to burrow deeper into the substrate. Of course, roaches are erratic, unpredictable vermin (I hate roaches, if you can't tell already!) so you never really can predict their movements!

I will have to say, my wife and I decided to recently terminate our pest control service and are active looking to doing our own pest spraying in and around the house. Any ideas? Seems the common suggestion around the web is a mixture of borax.

 

[ascott]

I let a couple daddy long legs set up in the corner that my two RF enclosures go up to...after about 2 weeks---no more little buggies...and from what you describe---they are likely just the soil bugs. Although kinda not so great for us---not harmful

 

[pdrobber]

I've had both little gnats/fruit flies that snack on decaying food and poop and springtails that are attracted to the fungus/acidity in the substrate I believe. I've had them both in all substrate types.