help bugs

[redtort]

hello, can someone please help my 4 year old male redfoot has these very tiny, greyish bugs crawling over him. the bugs are hard to catch so not sure what they are but keep coming back even after cleaning. I am using cypress mulch and the feeding dish usually caries the food all day. It is washed evryday

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Do they seem to be living mostly on him or just are in the cage and are getting on him? Because it could be either from a group of bugs that feed off animals blood! or that eat decomposing vegetation. Some solutions: Remove any live plants, clean the entire closure very very thoroughly, including all of the objects inside. Second wash your tort (if they are blood suckers you may need to take your tort to the vet) and place it in another container to monitor for a few days (place them on news paper). If the tortoise seems to be free of bugs for a week or so, and the enclosure has been thoroughly cleaned (and everything you can throw away, thrown away) you can start over by filling your enclosure with new substrate (cypress mulch is the best option), etc.

 

[redtort]

Thanks Jordan.

I definitely think they are from the food. They are really tiny like dots, and when you try to touch them they disappear. They are on him almost all the time. I will put your suggestion into play.

Can you also help me out with a cypress mulch concern. My guy always goes to sleep deep in the mulch after digging into it. When I pick him up he usually has a lot of mulch all over his mouth. Can he accidently swallow this, what is the best way to avoid this from happening.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Torts tend to not consume too much substrate and don't seem to find it particularly tasty for the most part. My best advice would be to add some Zoo Med Eco Earth Loose Coconut Fiber Substrate mixed into the mulch on that side (or have it layered with the coconut under about an inch to 2 inches of cypress), as well as some moist sphagnum moss on top and you may find they come up a little cleaner and may not borrow as deep. Of course do all these changes after you have ensured that your enclosure and tort are mite free, or else it will all be in vain and have to be discarded for a 2nd round of cleaning. And if you have the money it never hurts to capture a few of the mites in a ziplock and take them to your vet to ensure that they are not bloodsuckers. Good luck! Just let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

[llamas55]

mites, wondering, they sound like it....if so, then what?

 

[Madkins007]

I believe these are 'springtails' or 'snow fleas'- small insect-like creatures that feed on decaying vegetation, like the materials in damp cypress mulch. They feed on plant matter, not on the tortoises and if this is what they are, they are not a hazard to you or the tortoises- they may be a risk to some plants in large numbers.

They can be easily killed by dehydration or with a variety of common bug killers if you feel you need to. Finding something that works near tortoises may be tricky, though.

They are fast and jump like crazy, but don't fly. The small flying bugs- like crosses between skeeters and tiny flies- would be fungus gnats. Also a harmless nuisance that like damp soils and mulches with similar control measures.