killing mites

Greg Pelka

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 29, 2005
Messages
525
Few months ago I bought some S. cingulata, specimens from Cypr. Everything was fine till.. two my other specimens (young Ethmostigmus sp. and S. subspinipes "Mai Chau") died during molting:( I have no idea what was wrong, till I foun them:
foto
I took all my pedes into boxes only with wet cotton-wool, change it everyday.
What else can I do? Anyone know how to kill it? If I don`t kill them first, they`ll kill my pedes:(
For today 2 specimens of S. cingulata have plenty of mites, another 7pedes (S. cingulata, S. subspinipes mutilans, E. trigonopodus) are plague-sticken:( I`m panic :wall: Please help me...

Cheers. Greg
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 4, 2005
Messages
8,982
That is one of the best pictures of a mite infestation that I have seen. Great pic. Bad news but good picture. Do a "search" for 'mites' and 'centipedes'. There's a whole lot of info about this problem on this site. I lost allot of pedes and gave up the hobby for years because of mites. Back in again for about 8 months with pedes and no visible mites thanks to this website. I wouldn't listen only to me. Do more research. But here's what I would do. I would cool the infested pede in the fridge to slow it down to make it predictable and make a bite less likely. Then I would wipe most of the mites off with something like a cotton swab. Maybe you could break one and use a stiff 'stick' end to get around the tergites. Info from this site says that the mites need moisture and soil to reproduce. So I would put the pede on bone dry sand. But be sure to put a water dish in there with it so it can drink water. I read how long the mite life cycle lasts. It's only a matter of weeks but I can't remember how many weeks. Two? Three? I just can't remember. They will die off since they don't have the moist soil to reproduce in. The cotton and moisture you have it in is probably creating a good environment for the mites. Another thing I have changed is where I get food for the arthros I have. I get wild caught crickets, moths, grasshoppers, etc. Crickets and mealworms at the pet stores are usually riddled with mites. Atleast they are where I was buying them. I'm not real experienced with this like some other people on this forum, so you might want to wait and see if someone corrects my approach or has something else to say. Yea, and DO A "SEARCH"! Good luck! That sucks when that happens!
 

danread

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 5, 2002
Messages
1,717
Greg,

thats the worst mite infestation i've ever seen. Unfortunately you took the wrong approach in putting the pede in to a more humid environment. The answer is to put it in a completely dry container with good ventilation and a full water bowl present at all times. The dry conditions should kill off the mites, and the pede can get all the water it needs from the water bowl. I'm not sure if a pede could recover from such a severe infestation, but it's worth a try.

Cheers,
 
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