Slight Mite infestation?

I've done a little research on the topic and I know the general solutions I just wanted opinions on what's most effective and how this problem could occur. I have relatively fresh substrate, less than two months old.. I clean up cricket rains regularly, and I let the substrate dry out for short periods. Is it a possibility the mites could have came in on a live cricket? Maybe I missed a cricket corpse but with how fresh the substrate is I don't imagine it could happen so quickly..

My E murinis has been hanging out on the sides of the cage lately(last two days). I found it odd because the little guy loves his burrow. I popped off the top of the critter creeper to observe the odd behavior and I noticed a couple itty bitty black bugs. They might have had wings, I don't know my eye sight is pretty horrid. While the infestation is not major, but its obviously bad enough my little guy isn't happy on the substrate. I figure tomorrow ill go through and change the substrate in every enclosure just in case. Although I have two critters that are just about to molt and I'm not sure its the best time to stress them out.. I'm considering predatory mites like H miles to solve the problem without tearing down hides and stressing my little ones out.

Could this issue have came from a live cricket? I've owned creepy crawlies for over two years and have never seen this issue in person. Are these bugs I described mites? How effective/expensive are predatory mites? Will they over run the enclosure?

Black with wings? Definitely not mites. KKs have lots of openings for small gnats or flies to get into, are you sure you're dealing with an infestation?

Well, I'm in Utah and the little bugs I saw weren't fruit flies, regular flies, or gnats. They didn't look like anything I could identify. I'm honestly not even sure about the wings. Like I said I'm a tad bit blind. There wasn't a whole ton of them, but a handful from what I saw. Its very possible I'm tripping out lol.

Were they crawling on the T? Does the T have a burrow?

Nope, they were a few on the dirt a couple inches below him and I saw 2 near his burrow.

The mites that usually infest invert cages are tiny, round and white, and no wings, (no mites have wings). They are caused by a build up of leftover food. It seems like you saw some insect, possibly fungas gnats or phorid flies. Maybe the substrate is too moist? Also, don't get predatory mites, they could stress out your T just as much as the grain mites would.

Are you sure they aren't pinhead crickets? Females can lay eggs in the sub, especially if moist.

so your eyes are bad
but can you take a picture?
might be easier for us to understand

the mites that I encounter are beige color, they are all over the leftover food item. or anything stinky. you can use a piece of cheese to lure them and keep removing them until most are gone.

I KNOW for sure mites come from crickets and even roaches.

if you get some isopods, specifically Trichorhina tomentosa, and grow up a good culture and inoculate all your tanks and you wont have issues.
well..you will still have some gnats and their maggots in the soil but they are harmless. cant be perfect but those isopods do great job eating up the remains and any mold/ fungus

in my opinion, your situation seems okay?
doesnt sound like infestation at all. a few bugs in there with your T.
check the T's burrow, maybe there are left over food items. real mites under there or mold etc.

orionsXlight said:

Well, I'm in Utah and the little bugs I saw weren't fruit flies, regular flies, or gnats. They didn't look like anything I could identify. I'm honestly not even sure about the wings. Like I said I'm a tad bit blind. There wasn't a whole ton of them, but a handful from what I saw. Its very possible I'm tripping out lol.

Click to expand...

Scuttle flies, perhaps. That's my inclination, anyway.

Little, black bugs? Mealworms pupate into such, too. Fed some of those perhaps?

At any rate - please take a couple pictures and post them here, that way we can stop speculating and may be able to give better insight. But black = not mites! Mites are tiny white dots usually.