Help! Tiny white bugs in my skink cage!

[Toxique]

Well, I've had an incling in my gut that something hasn't been right with Mortimer over the past few days, he's not been attacking his food with his normal vigor which is very strange for him.

However the biggest thing that's bugged me is his poos are pretty soft and not well formed like a normal skink poo, likewise there have not been some very well formed urates in his poo. But I just found the most disturbing thing, tiny tiny little white bugs crawling in and around his tank. I can only see them when they're on his basking tank, they're small, very small, only about the size of a pinhead, and are really quick.

What can I do about this? As a first time skink owner I just had a big spike of fear lash through me, and a full on tank cleaning session is scheduled for tomorrow ASAP, but are there any other things I can do to clear this up besides a vet visit?

(Would prevent-a-mite or any of the mite killers work you think? I'll check with my local pet supply to see if they have any there)

EDIT!: his loose poo http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x204 ... rtipoo.jpg

[Lauriek]

It sounds like you (rather Mortimer has mites). Have a look in the care sheet for mites, and what to do about them.

[Fatal_S]

I've had mites 2x, and they were always black, and could be found on the lid of the bins and on the skink (eyes/nose/ears/armpits). Those are the dangerous ones I believe.

These mite be the harmless type that comes in on some substrates. I'm not an expert. Regardless, provent-a-mite or similar should kill them off.

[Toxique]

Oh thank god, but could they be the ones effecting his loose stool?

However I will be noted that all of his tank accessories are soaking tonight, I'll be getting a new substrate for him tomorrow, and those that can are going through the soapless dishwasher. Though I will be asking the petstore tomorrow what they know about any mite killing issues and if they can snag me some.

Also I've got him on newspaper and with temporary (cardboard!) decor for his tank right now, I'll go pick up some other kind of substrate tomorrow and pitch the crappy cypress mulch I have currently. Checking the lists for mite solutions now too.

[ExtremeJustin]

I had that problem too with what I thought were mites. They went away when I changed the substrate and never showed up on the skink herself. I found out from Ray that what I had in the tank were Springtails and were harmless to the skink. That might be what you have as well.

[Fatal_S]

Generally stool issues are caused from diet or internal parasites. What is his diet like? High in fruits or egg can cause loose stool easily. How many odd stools has he had? If it's just one or two you're generally okay, but if it continues he may need to visit a vet. Is he gaining weight? Internal parasites often cause a drop in weight (or no gain) even when the skink is eating a lot.

Now given that, it could certainly be caused by stress as well if the bugs are bothering him. I didn't have that problem, but I don't exactly have a wealth of experience.

Freezing or baking substrate will usually prevent any outside bugs from getting into the tank. However in general the bugs from most substrates are not bad (springtails or helpful mites). It's more likely to get bad mites from places like pet stores or other places that have reptiles.

[Toxique]

Hmm, he's gotten quite a bit of mashed banana (no one else eats it up but the skink), now that I think back to his diet on what he's gotten. I'll be sure to watch him and give some more accurate food for that. As for weight, he's not his chunky self (but then again, he's not been porking down food like his usual) so I'll see if a decrease in fruits will give him some help. If not a reptile visit is 40 mn away from me.

[Fatal_S]

I would cut fruits entirely for now, stick with something basic (meat/veggies) and see if that improves his stool in a week or so

[EvoSolley]

I too am a fairly new skinker but I think I might have some insight on your 'mite' problem. If,u search my posts, under my name u should see some videos and picture threads I took of these tiny white bugs. I had the same problem a little while ago. I think they are called 'book lice' reason being I discovered them in my hermit crab tank as well and they are notorious for living in a crabitat. Anyways book lice do not hurt the animal but is actually beneficial by feeding on rotten stuff like food and poo in ther tank keeping it clean. These aye what people, refer too as the good bugs lol. I still find them occasionally in the tank but they never seem to bother raptor and he could care less lol. Hope this helps. Also when was the last time ur skink shed?? Shed time or even a couple weeks before shed turns raptor into a completely different skink behavior wise. Could be getting close to shedding??

[Alioop]

http://bluetongueskinks.net/forum/viewt ... pringtails

This is a thread from my mite experience. Turned out to be springtails, but there are some fairly good photos to compare them to what you've got.

[ExtremeJustin]

...Freezing or baking substrate will usually prevent any outside bugs from getting into the tank. However in general the bugs from most substrates are not bad (springtails or helpful mites). It's more likely to get bad mites from places like pet stores or other places that have reptiles.

Fatal_S: I've got the freezing part down...how do you usually "bake" it? Is it literally in an oven or microwave?

Toxique:
I used to use newspaper for temporary situations until I read on the forum about the ink coming off on the feet. I switched to paper towels and they work much better. I froze my cypress mulch for about 24 hours before using it and haven't had any springtails show up this time. You could try switching to aspen and see how that works out for you.

[Fatal_S]

Justin, you can bake some substrates in your oven. I've never bothered with it myself, but it's along the same lines as when baking driftwood pieces, which I have done. Put the substrate in an oven-safe container (say a cake pan) and bake for a couple hours. I would bake at 250-350 degrees, not above 400 (wood generally needs to hit 450 to ignite). Don't leave it unsupervised obviously.

[Toxique]

Morti shed not to long ago, he does get a bit bi-polar during his shed times but it should be to the point where he's getting out of it.

They did almost look like book lice, now that I've seen pictures (That could also explain why I only found them around his Fecal Matter as well). However I still don't like having nasty icky creepy crawlies in my lizard's tank, so I'll be on the obsessive cleaning stage for a while to come.

However talking to the local pet store, they did offer a solution and I was wondering if anyone here found it legit? She said that, to cure mites (the kind that get beneath their scales and feed on them) you've got to basically baste your skink with cooking oil. She claims that the oil will stick to the skink, will be okay if he licks a bit of it, and in sticking to the lizard will suffocate the mites?

Does that sound like a viable option to anyone? These aren't the body sticking mites, so I don't know at all.

[Alioop]

I had a very knowledgeable and experienced reptile rehaber/rescuer tell me that you could use Pam cooking spray to suffocate the mites. Not sure if it would work any better than the sprays made specifically for mites, but she's been in the business for decades so I do trust her advice.