tort mites?

LParkey

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A few months ago I moved my little sully out of the tort table and into her own 120gal glass aquarium. Her substrate is coco coir and reptile moss I ordered off amazon from Josh's Frogs, mixed with play sand. I keep it pretty moist in there to help with humidity, not soaking wet but moist. This last time I added water to her cage these tiny white bugs came crawling out of the substrate mixture. I'm not sure if they're mites or what? She seems in perfectly good health, nothing out of the ordinary, still eating well but growing slowly (which is normal for her). I have snakes and have had mites before and they look nothing like those. They're bigger than snake mites and are an off white color. I checked her out and saw 2 on her. Any ideas/suggestions?
 

StarSapphire22

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They're snow fleas (I think that's the name). Harmless to your tort, just ugly to us. It probably came in with your coir...that's where mine came from, and they like it wet. You can freeze new bags of substrate...freeze for two days, thaw for two days, freeze for two more. This will kill off any bugs or eggs. As far as getting rid of them (if you want to, like I said, they're harmless)...remove your substrate and replace it with new stuff that you froze. Or, buy isopods to put in there to eat them. Those are pretty much your only options other than leaving them be.

Also, on a side note, please remove the sand...it's very unsafe and can cause impaction if ingested. Pure coir, or coir and organic topsoil is just fine.
 

LParkey

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Where can I get the pill bugs and will those bother her at all?
 

TortsNTurtles

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LParkey said:
Where can I get the pill bugs and will those bother her at all?

No, they won't. If you live in a warmer climate they are outside. If you are in the middle of winter Carolina Pet Supply carries them. They will keep the enclosure clean.
 

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