Ach! My S. alternans seems to have grain mites!

Ripa

Ripa

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
341
So this pede feeds on dead roaches (I can't get it to eat live unless I use crickets), and I guess that poses an issue since that and the heavily humid environment this species requires is pretty much asking for grain mite infestations. I try to pick out as many dead insect parts as possible, but I guess a few legs slipped me? I feed the red runners that I feed my other inverts fruit like apples and bananas and in that same bin, there's also sowbugs which can potentially eat up any extra-rotten stuff, but I suppose resounding mites can hitch rides onto the roaches and end up in the pede enclosure (but my other inverts that eat these roaches don't seem to have mite issues- vinegaroon and two S. polymorpha). Nonetheless, in the first two terga, is where the most mites have accumulated, however, it doesn't seem to be a substantial amount that the animals is either a) irritated or b) devoid of appetite, and I had to look extremely closely with a flashlight to actually identify them. With all things considered, how would I go about subduing this animal so I can properly remove these mites (I know a proper washing and brushing is the best method, as well as changing the substrate)? This is a reasonably sized animal- at this point, my size estimate puts it at 5.5+ inches long, and I don't really intend to get bitten or have it run away unless I have to.
 
W

wastedwoodsman

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 27, 2013
Messages
145
Ripa said:
So this pede feeds on dead roaches (I can't get it to eat live unless I use crickets), and I guess that poses an issue since that and the heavily humid environment this species requires is pretty much asking for grain mite infestations. I try to pick out as many dead insect parts as possible, but I guess a few legs slipped me? I feed the red runners that I feed my other inverts fruit like apples and bananas and in that same bin, there's also sowbugs which can potentially eat up any extra-rotten stuff, but I suppose resounding mites can hitch rides onto the roaches and end up in the pede enclosure (but my other inverts that eat these roaches don't seem to have mite issues- vinegaroon and two S. polymorpha). Nonetheless, in the first two terga, is where the most mites have accumulated, however, it doesn't seem to be a substantial amount that the animals is either a) irritated or b) devoid of appetite, and I had to look extremely closely with a flashlight to actually identify them. With all things considered, how would I go about subduing this animal so I can properly remove these mites (I know a proper washing and brushing is the best method, as well as changing the substrate)? This is a reasonably sized animal- at this point, my size estimate puts it at 5.5+ inches long, and I don't really intend to get bitten or have it run away unless I have to.
Click to expand...
To be honest i had a millipede that had these and i tried everything from washing to using a paint brush on them and they wouldn't come off. The only way i could manage to peel them off her was to use a piece of tape. Stick it to the mites and it lifts them off and keeps them trapped so they cant get away then i would burn the tape in my fire pit lol. But I never did get rid of them and my millipede still ended up giving me healthy babies and lives for over a year with them. So i am not sure how they will affect your pede but they really did nothing to my pede! XD I will try to find a photo of her with the grain mites. You can also see that she suffered from limb rot from the person that i bought her from...
Nessie With Grain Mites.jpg
 
LeFanDesBugs

LeFanDesBugs

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 14, 2015
Messages
574
Last edited by a moderator:
zonbonzovi

zonbonzovi

Creeping beneath you
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
3,346
If you want to try physically removing them and have access to CO2 knock it out and try the tape. Also, run a search for "hypopus stage" here as that sounds like the culprit...there are many potential methods that have been attempted. I would just change the substrate, treat the animal and add detrivores. I used Porcellio scaber in my alternans enclosure but some people are wary of them.
 
Ripa

Ripa

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
341
zonbonzovi said:
If you want to try physically removing them and have access to CO2 knock it out and try the tape. Also, run a search for "hypopus stage" here as that sounds like the culprit...there are many potential methods that have been attempted. I would just change the substrate, treat the animal and add detrivores. I used Porcellio scaber in my alternans enclosure but some people are wary of them.
Click to expand...
Yea, I use those same isopods in my roach bin and added a few to my alternans enclosure in hopes of at least decreasing the food of the mites to limit their numbers. I only put them in after I discovered trace amounts of mites in the enclosure, though. Unfortunately, I'm in a college dorm, so I don't know where I might find access to a CO2 container.
 
Last edited:
Ripa

Ripa

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
341
UPDATE-
Alright, so judging from the dull coloring and its reluctance to eat, it might molt soon, but I'm not entirely sure. The past few days, it didn't surface much during the night like I'd expect it to around 1 or 2 in the morning. I found this out after changing the substrate and moss, holding slightly back on the humidity, but not enough for it to be detrimental to its health. I also introduced a few more sowbugs, one of them being visibly gravid (distended marsupium), so hopefully they all get first dibs on any food in the enclosure before the mites do, for sure. I also relocated my polymorpha pedelings into newer, slightly larger enclosures for safe measure with new substrate and moss (and slightly less humidity, as well).

Anyways, before I go on a further tangent, the reason I bring this up is that I'm curious if the mites would affect the molting of this guy (today when I took it out, I saw a significantly lessened number of mites than previously on its terga). It's a good size, as I took a recent measurement and it's about 6 inches (maybe more)- the 5.5 was poor estimate. I also hope the sowbugs don't eat it alive (there's maybe 10-15 adults in there at the moment) considering how large it is. It seems to appreciate burrowing in all areas of the tank, where the sowbugs seem to only appreciate the first top half of the coconut fiber.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top