Mites??????

[Asherb]

Hi Everyone,

I have taken a video of some mites that are in the substrate in my BTS vivarium. They are very tiny, almost transparent. I have seen pictures of both substrate mites and reptile mites but they don't look like either enough to be 100% sure. I think they are just substrate mites as they just live in the orchid bark, don't crawl on my lizard as far as I can tell and seem to be concentrated in one area mainly.

Can anyone confirm what they are?

Video here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSsdnG2BWas

[NickBrahz]

I know nothing about mites but i strongly recommend getting your skink out of the enclosure into a safe clean one until experienced people can help you if you haven't already.

[Asherb]

I know nothing about mites but i strongly recommend getting your skink out of the enclosure into a safe clean one until experienced people can help you if you haven't already.

Why make that comment if you don't know what they are? Lol. I put a thread on a larger reptile forum. and the majority of people tell me they are some sort of springtail species and definitely not the parasitic mites that pose a danger to the reptile. Springtails I am told are actually beneficial because they eat mould and stop it forming on the substrate.

[NickBrahz]

Because i found the most prudent thing would be to put the skink in a safe place until the mites could be confirmed to be harmful to them or not.

[alichamp]

I have treated for mites in the past and these ones you have don't look like snake mites to me, mites tend to have a shorter rounder body than the ones here. I don't know what they are exactly, they are probably not harmful, but my concern is that there are so many of them, in such a concentrated space!! Do you really want that many little insects wandering around? If it were me, I'd be getting rid of them too, like Nick said. But that's me.

Let us know what you find out and what you decide.

[Asherb]

I have treated for mites in the past and these ones you have don't look like snake mites to me, mites tend to have a shorter rounder body than the ones here. I don't know what they are exactly, they are probably not harmful, but my concern is that there are so many of them, in such a concentrated space!! Do you really want that many little insects wandering around? If it were me, I'd be getting rid of them too, like Nick said. But that's me.

Let us know what you find out and what you decide.

I'm never going to find out exactly what species they are unless I get them under a microscope and I don't have one. I'm just relieved they are not the parasitic mites.

It looks like there are lots because they are all concentrated in that area for some reason. I checked all the viv and they are all in one area. I have only just spotted them last few days so I guess they have been breeding for a while. I am going to clean out all the substrate and disinfect everything. If they come back however I won't be too concerned. I don't really like the idea of lots of bugs crawling around in there, makes me itch lol.

I clean out once every 3 weeks anyway so numbers shouldn't get out of control.

[alichamp]

By the way, signs of mites to look out for are the little round bugs on your BTS especially around head and eyes, slightly raised scales (they burrow under) and little white spots over the body especially along the back, this is the mite poo.

[Asherb]

:thumbs:

By the way, signs of mites to look out for are the little round bugs on your BTS especially around head and eyes, slightly raised scales (they burrow under) and little white spots over the body especially along the back, this is the mite poo.

Ok cool. I have seen videos before of the round mites on the animals. My first instinct was that these were not parasitic but I looked at photos of springtails and they didn't look exactly the same, so I was just stumped.

Thanks for the tips on signs to look out for. I'm hoping I never get the parasitic mites as I hear they can be a nightmare, hard to get rid of the eggs, spread to other reptiles quickly as your probably transferring eggs before you have even noticed you have mites.

[alichamp]

Thanks for the tips on signs to look out for. I'm hoping I never get the parasitic mites as I hear they can be a nightmare, hard to get rid of the eggs, spread to other reptiles quickly as your probably transferring eggs before you have even noticed you have mites.

Yes, this is true, I have dealt with them before luckily I have just the one reptile though. The trick really is to continue treatment for the entire life cycle of the mites. This is one of the reasons that quarantine is so important for any new reptile addition. Other reasons are internal parasites and other unknown illnesses that can spread.