TINY INSECTS IN SUBSTRATE

[mrlax]

Hello,

I just noticed very tiny pale colored insects/critters in our pancake Oscar's indoor enclosure. They seem to be clustered and wandering through the substrate, and the plant matter within (I recently planted wheat grass in the enclosure but Oscar ransacked it), and in examining the tortoise, I saw just a couple on his shell. We do bathe him in warm water for about 15-20min each day.

I'm guessing this insect is some kind of mite- any suggestions on what to do to eliminate them and are these harmful to the tortoise? He has had no exposure to any other tortoises since we got him summer of 2012 (or any animal for that matter), so I am guessing they pre-existed in the organic soil we use. They certainly look different from parasites that I have seen in the past when I had boas, which they seemed to inevitable catch from their rodent food items.

Any advice on this would be very helpful.

Thanks
ANDY

 

[ascott]

They are likely springtail....not harmful to your tort nor to you...they are a decomposer ....so they will do their work on any waste left in the enclosure.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springtail

Be sure to read the entire write up....if you stop half way through you will miss the good stuff

 

[mrlax]

Thanks for the advice, ASCOTT. I tried reading that wikipedia link but understood basically none of it and fell asleep midway. But I trust your analysis, it sounds spot on, and was also consistent with what I was told when I called the breeder (East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley, CA). They called them 'soil mites'

thanks mucho!