What are these white bugs?!

Eden Exotics · May 5, 2015

They don't seem like mites to me. Also I don't see them on the tarantula at all. They really look like just white dots. Their legs must be really tiny...

DVMT · May 5, 2015

What species of tarantula are you keeping in this enclosure and is it always that moist?

Angel Minkov · May 5, 2015

They should be mites. I can see their legs on the pictures. By the looks of it, you should dump the substrate, wash the enclosure thoroughly and use new, less soggy substrate, regardless if they end up mites or not.

DVMT · May 5, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
They should be mites. I can see their legs on the pictures. By the looks of it, you should dump the substrate, wash the enclosure thoroughly and use new, less soggy substrate, regardless if they end up mites or not.

And I agree with Angel here. They do look like mites. Also, can we get a pic of the entire enclosure? Is ventilation adequate?

Pokie Master · May 5, 2015

They are mites. Those kind are not harmful to T's. They come when there is too much moisture and left over food or feecies.

Formerphobe · May 5, 2015

They're cleaner mites. Not usually of any concern. What IS of concern is how wet that substrate is. Most cleaner mites will die off if the substrate is allowed to dry out. Or at least confine themselves to any damp areas in the enclosure.
What species is that? Can you post a pic of the enclosure?

Austin S. · May 5, 2015

Def mites there. I've had the same species in my enclosures before. I have as well had them inside my egg sacs, and destroyed each and every developed egg. Whether or not they're considered clean up mites, get them out of there and look over your T.

Blueandbluer · May 5, 2015

Austin S. said:
Def mites there. I've had the same species in my enclosures before. I have as well had them inside my egg sacs, and destroyed each and every developed egg. Whether or not they're considered clean up mites, get them out of there and look over your T.

Yikes, that's scary. If they'll eat eggs, there's also a chance they could hurt an immobilized T, like one that was molting.

I agree with everyone else. Dry out that substrate, or even better, change it out and keep it drier from now on. Regardless of what species it is, that's too wet for any!

lalberts9310 · May 5, 2015

Looks like mites, that substrate is way to wet, throw it out, clean the enclosure and put in new substrate? What T is kept in there? Can you provide a picture of the whole enclosure?

RamRod · May 5, 2015

Get that substrate out and rehouse the T . . . I just purchased 4 T's (2 Gbb, 1 Lv, 1 P. Regalis) and should have inspected them thoroughly the Regalis is all good but the 2 Gbbs had them all over after a few days. I Rehoused them and pinched grabbed them and began to remove the mites with a small pair of tongs. Luckily they are both okay and doing great. These mites will attack the T especially when its molting. I had thought the Lv (Lampropelma Violaceopes) was also mite free but was sadly mistaken! Noticed its carcass yesterday, full of mites and they look exactly like this. They will also go into other T enclosures so make sure to quarantine this one from the rest of your collection until your sure its mite free.

Formerphobe · May 5, 2015

RamRod said:
Get that substrate out and rehouse the T . . . I just purchased 4 T's (2 Gbb, 1 Lv, 1 P. Regalis) and should have inspected them thoroughly the Regalis is all good but the 2 Gbbs had them all over after a few days. I Rehoused them and pinched grabbed them and began to remove the mites with a small pair of tongs. Luckily they are both okay and doing great. These mites will attack the T especially when its molting. I had thought the Lv (Lampropelma Violaceopes) was also mite free but was sadly mistaken! Noticed its carcass yesterday, full of mites and they look exactly like this. They will also go into other T enclosures so make sure to quarantine this one from the rest of your collection until your sure its mite free.

You seem to be talking about two different types of mites. There are mites that live on the tarantulas which need to be manually removed and change the sub stare out immediately upon molt to try to eradicate them.
There are cleaner mites that live in the soil and are no threat to a healthy spider. Cleaner mites are scavengers and certainly opportunistic when something is dead or dying - boluses, fungi, sick tarantula, bad egg sac, etc. Cleaner mite populations will explode in damp environments.
There are a myriad of other types of mites as well. Some keepers purchase predatory mites to get a handle on other mite infestations.

I see cleaner mites in my tropical enclosures fairly regularly. Isopods keep their numbers in check. On rare occasion when I see cleaner mites in my dry enclosures, invariably they are under the water bowl. I move the bowl to let that area dry out, the mites die off. I've never changed out substrate because of cleaner mites. They are very manageable without stressing the spider with a rehouse.

cold blood · May 5, 2015

If I didn't see the spiders leg, I'd have guessed it housed a salamander. Wow that's wet

tisha · May 5, 2015

I'd clean it out!

I once received a couple of versi slings and one of them had mites(?) attached to it's abdomen (see pic below) and it died the following day.

The mites on my versi looks similar to what is in your enclosure, not saying its the same though.
I'm not sure if I could have done something for the sling if I noticed it earlier, I just reviewed the pictures I took of if the day I received the Ts.

Eden Exotics · May 5, 2015

Dang it ok. Well I'll do that then.
I took some substrate from my roach enclosure and that had them (I used it because it had springtails in it). And no, it isn't always that moist.

Exoskeleton Invertebrates · May 7, 2015

I hate mites! Any type of mites to me is harmful to spiders. The only living animal that should live in the tarantula enclosure should only be the tarantula. Any other form of insect, should be exterminated!

Jose

Misty Day · May 7, 2015

crypticmonk said:
Dang it ok. Well I'll do that then.
I took some substrate from my roach enclosure and that had them (I used it because it had springtails in it). And no, it isn't always that moist.

What t are you keeping in there?

Sana · May 7, 2015

We recently discovered what appear to be small white mites in several of our enclosures and on a couple of the tarantulas. After reading some of the threads here we put the effected tarantulas into clean completely empty enclosures with a lot of ventilation, a dry paper towel, and a very small water dish. The ICUs are all in a 29 gallon tank that we're using as a quarantine area away from the other enclosures. Within a couple days we started finding dead mites in the bottom of the dry ICUs and not on the tarantulas. We also got a bunch of H. miles (predatory mites) and we are adding them to all enclosures that weren't effected. In the next couple days we will be moving the first of the effected tarantulas into an actual enclosure with substrate, hide, water bowl, and a health dose of H. miles. We weren't willing to take any chances with what type of mites we were dealing with and fortunately we seem to be having success in getting rid of them without any losses so far.

Ellenantula · May 8, 2015

Sana said:
We recently discovered what appear to be small white mites in several of our enclosures and on a couple of the tarantulas. After reading some of the threads here we put the effected tarantulas into clean completely empty enclosures with a lot of ventilation, a dry paper towel, and a very small water dish. The ICUs are all in a 29 gallon tank that we're using as a quarantine area away from the other enclosures. Within a couple days we started finding dead mites in the bottom of the dry ICUs and not on the tarantulas. We weren't willing to take any chances with what type of mites we were dealing with and fortunately we seem to be having success in getting rid of them without any losses so far.

Wow -- sorry to hear about all this happening. I hope you'll keep us posted on if this is a complete success or not. I hate mites!

Sana · May 8, 2015

I don't want to hijack a thread but I'll keep everyone posted.

What are these white bugs?!

Eden Exotics

Arachnosquire

DVMT

Arachnosquire

Angel Minkov

Arachnobaron

DVMT

Arachnosquire

Pokie Master

Arachnosquire

Formerphobe

Arachnoking

Austin S.

Arachnoprince

Blueandbluer

Arachnobaron

lalberts9310

Arachnoprince

RamRod

Arachnopeon

Formerphobe

Arachnoking

cold blood

Moderator

tisha

Arachnopeon

Eden Exotics

Arachnosquire

Exoskeleton Invertebrates

Arachnoprince

Misty Day

Arachnobaron

Sana

Arachnoprince

Ellenantula

Arachnoking

Sana

Arachnoprince