Tiny white bugs...mites? Baby pilbugs? Or beneficial soil bugs?

Mrs_Gal1981

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Few days ago saw this teeny tiny white almost clear bugs crawling on Enzo when I took him out to soak. I wash them off and came to do some research. Someone mentioned harmful mites are usually black and that the white ones usually come with the soil and help break out decomposing matter. Is this not something to worry about? My bug obsessed son who has had a roly poly farm said it looked like a baby pillbug. Would they stay on him though? I am trying to post a video but not sure how to do that. He doesn’t seem “infested” nor bothered. He is an outside tort so I’m not even sure how I would get rid of them. Today I took a time lapse video of him eating and you can see one crawling around him. If someone can instruct me how to post video I will but here is a screenshot for size reference. When I say tiny I mean TINY! If he was lighter in color you probably wouldn’t see them.
His enclosure has top soil, cypress mulch and his house has those 2 plus sphagnum moss.
Any help will be greatly appreciated ??
 

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Hamiltondood

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maybe they're springtails..? i dont think they could harm him. a lot of people see tiny white bugs too in the substrate, those bugs are actually springtails. some people actually add pill bugs and spring tails in the enclosure to help clean up some of the old food.
 

Mrs_Gal1981

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maybe they're springtails..? i dont think they could harm him. a lot of people see tiny white bugs too in the substrate, those bugs are actually springtails. some people actually add pill bugs and spring tails in the enclosure to help clean up some of the old food.

Just looked them up. I mean I’d have to get one and put it under the microscope to be really sure. Hopefully is nothing problematic. When should I worry about “mites” then? White ones are definitely not harmful mites?
 

KarenSoCal

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The reason you are unable to post a video is because that capability is a perk of financially supporting the forum.

If you go to your profile page and click on "account upgrades" it explains it.

Just FYI...
 

Hamiltondood

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Just looked them up. I mean I’d have to get one and put it under the microscope to be really sure. Hopefully is nothing problematic. When should I worry about “mites” then? White ones are definitely not harmful mites?
im not sure if they are spring tails since spring tails are usually easy to see, theres a chance of them being mites but im not 100% sure..
since red foots are a tropical species, the enclosure if probably very damp/humid
you can probably upload a video to youtube and send a link.
google : What are White Mites? White Mites are a species of spider mite and are a tiny insect known to infest outdoor garden plants and house plants but can also infest areas of the home. White mites is also used to describe Wood Mites, a type of mite known to frequent damp wood.
still not sure what they really are since ive only seen springtails in my enclosure.
 

Mrs_Gal1981

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im not sure if they are spring tails since spring tails are usually easy to see, theres a chance of them being mites but im not 100% sure..
since red foots are a tropical species, the enclosure if probably very damp/humid
you can probably upload a video to youtube and send a link.
google : What are White Mites? White Mites are a species of spider mite and are a tiny insect known to infest outdoor garden plants and house plants but can also infest areas of the home. White mites is also used to describe Wood Mites, a type of mite known to frequent damp wood.
still not sure what they really are since ive only seen springtails in my enclosure.

I see. I found a YT video called “Tiny white terrarium bugs” and they look like those. You definitely see them walk around, just ridiculously tiny, I’ve seen 1 at a time on his shell. They are very similar to freshly hatched Pillbugs. The YT video says they are “hypoaspis”. Just wondering when people actually need to worry and do something about “mites”. How would I even know the difference. I’m an overthinker and tend to worry about my pets to the point of losing sleep :( not cool.
 

Hamiltondood

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I see. I found a YT video called “Tiny white terrarium bugs” and they look like those. You definitely see them walk around, just ridiculously tiny, I’ve seen 1 at a time on his shell. They are very similar to freshly hatched Pillbugs. The YT video says they are “hypoaspis”. Just wondering when people actually need to worry and do something about “mites”. How would I even know the difference. I’m an overthinker and tend to worry about my pets to the point of losing sleep :( not cool.
ah, i dont think they would bother him very much. if they bite, if probably wouldnt hurt.
 

Mrs_Gal1981

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Ok so I saw them again today (on him! ?) and was able to take a quick pic with my phone’s macro lens so this is the best I could do. If anyone is able to identify that’d be great. They bother me probably more than they bother him, but I just want to make sure we aren’t dealing with a bigger more threatening problem here. J worry so much about this little guy, it’s not even fun ?
 

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Mrs_Gal1981

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If you first upload your video to YouTube then copy that YT URL to a post it will work. Just a few simple steps.

I got those macro pics which I think help see them better than a video would. I am reading more about springtails, at first when someone mentioned them I was conflicted as in all the pics I saw they were black, but I googled “white springtails” and they look exactly like it. I know it’s probably not a problem but I am honestly hating the thought of them crawling all over him at all times :(
 
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