BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello everyone, I recently discovered some bugs on my skink while handling him and I also noticed some inside his enclosure, underneath a log . I have been looking around this forum and have seen many threads about bugs and from my understanding a mite would be black and slow moving, a book lice would be tanish-brown and quickly moving, and a spring tail would be white and would jump around. The bugs that I found are more of a light brown and when I blow on them they run kind of fast but not too fast, so I'm pretty sure they are book lice. The only reason I am worried is that I have seen them gathered around my skinks eyes which I know is common for mites, is there anything else I can look for to tell they are mites? or does anyone know more about book lice. I have not seen any raised scales and his behavior seems normal. I did a full clean on his cage and got new substrate which I microwaved before putting it in the cage. I also microwaved the log that I found the bugs on and all his other furnishings are soaking over night. I washed him as well and did a full inspection of him and could not find anymore bugs. Any information would help as I'm obviously worried, thank you.

Pick some of them out, especially ones you find on your skink and put them on paper towels. If you squish them and blood seeps out, they are reptile mites.

mb606587 wrote:Pick some of them out, especially ones you find on your skink and put them on paper towels. If you squish them and blood seeps out, they are reptile mites.

Thankfully I have not actually seen any more of these bugs inside the enclosure or on my skink since cleaning it and him . Thank you for the tip though, I will definitely do this if I see any more pop up.

What type of BT do you have? If from a pet shop or expo it's more than likely an import and mites are a possibility. Can you post a picture?

splashy07 wrote:What type of BT do you have? If from a pet shop or expo it's more than likely an import and mites are a possibility. Can you post a picture?

I have a Merauke that I got from an expo about two months ago, I'm pretty sure that he is captive born and the mother was wild caught.

Being its from an expo there's a possibility. Take a damp paper towel and rub down your skink with it. See what may be crawling around, and crush them as previously mentioned. They're quite small but if they're black and around the eyes, ears and 'armpit' areas they're mites. A coconut oil rubdown will reveal if any are under the scales, where you cannot see them.

splashy07 wrote:Being its from an expo there's a possibility. Take a damp paper towel and rub down your skink with it. See what may be crawling around, and crush them as previously mentioned. They're quite small but if they're black and around the eyes, ears and 'armpit' areas they're mites. A coconut oil rubdown will reveal if any are under the scales, where you cannot see them.

Thank you for all the info, like I said earlier I haven't seen any more since cleaning the enclosure but I will save this info in case this happens again.

Hello to the community, I'm new here but I would like someone to look into these little white bugs I've found which look like springtails, but still I won't take any chances. I've just found about them recently and got a few pics n a vid, was wondering if someone could tell me if they're mites and yes I inspected my skink and so far I see nothing crawling or attached to her. I've actually already seen these things before in her cork bark some months ago but I ignored them until now since I discovered about reptile mites, but as of now and the past they are only very few in number and are only on the cork bark, and by my observations barely in the substrate and so far none on my skink.
Hoping someone can shed some light on this.]

They appear to be springtails. They're everywhere in one of my bio cages. Harmless, and actually beneficial as they clean up scraps and whatnot.

splashy07 wrote:They appear to be springtails. They're everywhere in one of my bio cages. Harmless, and actually beneficial as they clean up scraps and whatnot.

Thank you splashy07, I was kind of panicking since Im not able to deal with mites as of this moment, I've heard they're hard to get rid off.

Yes, they're the nemesis of the reptile keeper, and the reason I no longer take in rescues from unfamiliar sources and do not buy at expos.

splashy07 wrote:Yes, they're the nemesis of the reptile keeper, and the reason I no longer take in rescues from unfamiliar sources and do not buy at expos.

I still get a wave of panic now even just reading posts about them... they are the devil!!!

Me too. And I have an expo this weekend. I'm always afraid one will crawl on me from another table.

splashy07 wrote:Me too. And I have an expo this weekend. I'm always afraid one will crawl on me from another table.

Yup, i don’t dare ever return to the shop I got Ventress from cuz I’m terrified this will happen! Hope the expo goes well... not really sure what happens at one, none anywhere near where I live! Get pics!! Lol x