Tiny White Bugs crawling all over enclosure.

[Zman181]

I'm sure all of you have seen this in your enclosures one time or another. When I leave dead prey items for my slings overnight these tiny white bugs appear all over. Are they harmful? How do I go to prevent this from happening? I do maintanance on them daily. I keep them as clean as possible.

[BorisTheSpider]

Can you post a pic ? They could be one of several things .

[shanebp]

You most likely have mites.

[Zman181]

I will post 2 pics when i get to work. It's most likely from uneaten food.

[Zman181]

I hope not.

[Shaka]

Tiny white bugs sounds likes mites, clean the enclosure, you don't want them finding a nice little home in the booklungs of your T and eventually suffocating it. They also multiply like mad, clean clean clean. My 2 cents.

[PhobeToPhile]

It could also be springtails.

[JamieC]

It could also be springtails.

My thoughts too.

Springtails are white, about 3 - 4mm in length and jump great distances. These are beneficial as they eat mold/fungus. I deliberately place them in my enclosures. If they are springtails, no need to remove them.

[xhexdx]

They're probably mites. Just remove the bolus and you're good to go.

[gromgrom]

mine mostly ALWAYS come in my B. Jacksoni container. Every single cricket leaves them and it really grinds my nerves. Its the only container that gets them so bad.

[Zman181]

Thanks everyone. Here are 2 pics of them. Another question, I once heard that pill bugs are beneficial in you T's enclosure. What are your opinions on this?

[xhexdx]

Those are mites.

[ZergFront]

Those do look like mites. I do keep baby isopods in my enclosures to help clean up(except the GBB; too dry for them). I used to put in adult isopods but the psalmopoeus keep eating them.

[Zman181]

Thanks for your replies. I'm stressing now. I don't want these mites to kill my Slings. I back tracked and came up with a cause of this. I used a piece of Bark from the park without baking it.

[PhobeToPhile]

To paraphrase Schultz and Schutlz, mites are everywhere. You probably had some in there already from your feeders, and the conditions became right for them to undergo a population boom. Depending on the species of the slings, letting the viles dry out might just be a viable option.