SDCPs
Arachnolord
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2012
- Messages
- 659
I recently transferred my remaining adult flameleg millipedes to a plastic enclosure with substrate that was baked in the oven at 250 F for 3 hours--several batches of substrate. Among the problems I experienced was an explosion in mold growth on some rotting wood that was also baked with the substrate, the death of an adult millipede, and the discovery of microscopic mites covering both the remaining adult and a few of the young I placed in this new enclosure. A video of live mites is below.
The adult is limpish and looks as if she will not survive. I do not believe this is because of the mites alone, I think there is some other problem. I have removed the millipedes from their enclosure. I also placed them in flour and rinsed them: the treatment did remove some of the mites but others held on. These seem to be parasitic.
The mites on the legs photos show the legs of the baby millipede in the previous photos.
I do not know what to do. How would I treat the millipedes? Can anyone identify these mites and confirm they are parasitic?
It seems that non-"sterilized" substrate comes with little critters that eat each other and balance things out. There is nothing to combat these critters in the recent setup.
Any information or suggestions appreciated! Never a dull moment it seems in millipede keeping.
[YOUTUBE]47VPmFxuosc[/YOUTUBE]
Photos following:
The adult is limpish and looks as if she will not survive. I do not believe this is because of the mites alone, I think there is some other problem. I have removed the millipedes from their enclosure. I also placed them in flour and rinsed them: the treatment did remove some of the mites but others held on. These seem to be parasitic.
The mites on the legs photos show the legs of the baby millipede in the previous photos.
I do not know what to do. How would I treat the millipedes? Can anyone identify these mites and confirm they are parasitic?
It seems that non-"sterilized" substrate comes with little critters that eat each other and balance things out. There is nothing to combat these critters in the recent setup.
Any information or suggestions appreciated! Never a dull moment it seems in millipede keeping.
[YOUTUBE]47VPmFxuosc[/YOUTUBE]
Photos following: