A question concerning mites

Herpgrrl

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
45
I have noticed that the enclosure housing my Pampho sp Ecuador II has become infested with mites. Totally my fault as he loves his moisture, I have caught him "swimming" in water dish numrous times, and apparantly got overzalous in my moisture applications.
Here is my question: I constructed a custom backdrop for the enclosure and it has live and dried moss, along with other silk plants and wood, attached to it. Do I need to rip out the backdrop to ensure the mites are gone after changing the soil or is there a way to avoid this? My T's well being is main priority, so if the backdrop has to go, I'll cry a bit on the inside then take it out.
 

eldondominicano

Arachnobaron
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
421
I have noticed that the enclosure housing my Pampho sp Ecuador II has become infested with mites. Totally my fault as he loves his moisture, I have caught him "swimming" in water dish numrous times, and apparantly got overzalous in my moisture applications.
Here is my question: I constructed a custom backdrop for the enclosure and it has live and dried moss, along with other silk plants and wood, attached to it. Do I need to rip out the backdrop to ensure the mites are gone after changing the soil or is there a way to avoid this? My T's well being is main priority, so if the backdrop has to go, I'll cry a bit on the inside then take it out.
IMO you need to rehouse and kill the possibility of mites altogether. What did you use for substrate. I've had issues in the past with this
 

lalberts9310

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 9, 2014
Messages
1,083
I'd take out the back drop, throw away the old sub, put the T in a temporary enclosure, and wash the other enclosure in a bit of bleach diluted in water.. rinse it thoroughly though, leave it set for a day or two, if you still smell bleach, rince it thoroughly again and leave it set for another day or so.. you can wash the decor also in the bleach water and leave it to dry, wood decor can be left in the sun or rinsed in water and popped into the oven, since mites can't live in dry conditions.. I know some cross-ventilation helps avoiding mites and mold, also I would not wet the enclosure too much (I don't know the care requirements of the above species). You can take a paint brush to remove any vissible mites from the T.. that's my opinion, hopefully more experienced keepers can chime in and give advice.. I don't know what you should do with live plants and moss in this situation though..
 

Sam_Peanuts

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
408
Personally, I'd rehouse her temporarily for a week or two so you can remove the sub and let her mite infested enclosure be bone dry for at least a week(it's an estimate, I seem to remember mites die fairly fast when it's dry, but don't know the exact time it takes although I think it was a couple of days) to kill all the mites and then put her back in with new sub.
 

horanjp

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
141
If your backdrop is bake-able or microwave-able, either of those devices would deliver swift death to mites......:)
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
Mites die rather quickly in high heat and low humidity, take the t out and try to wipe of as many mites you can with a soft paintbrush and house her on dry sub for 3-4 days up to a week..make sure the temp enclosure has a large water dish.
For her old enclosure toss all the sub... I personally won't use bleach on a ts enclosure for any reason( I'm not saying not to but I won't)..
Rinse/scrub the tank plants and back drop in very hot water...put every thing minus the t back into he enclosure. Grab your hair dryer and set it to high and pass it over the enclosure, backdrop ,plant and every nook and cranny until you feel you have cooked every mite and egg in its enclosure..if the surface you are putting heat to doesn't feel almost to hot to touch you didn't heat it enough and the mites may survive...repeat this every day or every other day for the time that the t is in its temp tank..
I have only had mites once it was a WC g.rosea this is how I treated her enclosure and it worked well...I had a customer that ended up getting mites in several of her enclosures and I told her of this method and it worked well for her also...good luck mites suck!
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Hair dryer great idea!

You have to remove everything

Also you can purchase predatory mites too if you really aren't sure. Those guys will only eat those pain in the rear mites!
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Thanks! Its been whispered in some circles that I am an idiot savant! More often than not though people just whisper that I'm an idiot! Lol!
Man, that's the funniest thing I've read all week on here!!!!! Hilarious!!!
 

Ellenantula

Arachnoking
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Messages
2,009
I read somewhere you can just freeze the whole enclosure and all the mites will die off. Obviously take the T out first.
Is this accurate?
Sure sounds easier than cleaning and replacing everything and would resolve the issue of the backsplash.
But this is anecdotal, I don't know how accurate the info is. Mites may simply go dormant in cold.

PS -- love the hairdryer idea
 

eldondominicano

Arachnobaron
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
421
I read somewhere you can just freeze the whole enclosure and all the mites will die off. Obviously take the T out first.
Is this accurate?
Sure sounds easier than cleaning and replacing everything and would resolve the issue of the backsplash.
But this is anecdotal, I don't know how accurate the info is. Mites may simply go dormant in cold.

PS -- love the hairdryer idea
I've done this to kill mites effectively.. Note that my nighttime lows are well below zero lol
 

Ellenantula

Arachnoking
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Messages
2,009
I've done this to kill mites effectively.. Note that my nighttime lows are well below zero lol
Ah -- outside. I didn't even think of that-- I was picturing putting whole enclosure in a freezer. lol
You're thinking outside the box and I am not apparently.
It was 24°F here last night. And this is eastern NC. (shudder) But if I had mites, I'd have used the freezer -- duh on me.
 

eldondominicano

Arachnobaron
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
421
Ah -- outside. I didn't even think of that-- I was picturing putting whole enclosure in a freezer. lol
You're thinking outside the box and I am not apparently.
It was 24°F here last night. And this is eastern NC. (shudder) But if I had mites, I'd have used the freezer -- duh on me.
LOL your funny, either way this "freezer" method whether outside or in a freezer- your onto something. Its worked for me
 
Top