# I'm feeling itchy, any ideas??



## Guest

I've noticed little tiny.. mite-like things all over the ghost wood in my tank, sometimes in the soil, sometimes on the glass of my terrarium. there seem to be several different kinds. some REALLY tiny that move slowly, and sort of more roundish than the others, some about 2 times the size of those, but still REALLY tiny that move a bit faster and are more elongated, and it may be the same kind, or something different, that actually kinda, jumps... at first they were all in the soil, but now i think a lot have migrated into the wood. now i'm feeling all itchy, but i don't know if it's in my head or if they somehow got on me!!! I know these little bugs are probably very natural for a terrarium (no frogs in there yet) but I'm a beginer with my first tank, so maybe someone can help me through this... Anyone have any idea what they might be? I wanted to take a picture, but they are way too tiny for my digital camera to capture. I think they are way too tiny to be springtails. I'm just feeling very itchy, and wondering if it's all in my head or if they are really getting out of the tank and getting all over me! Also, I think they were heading towards the light, when they were on the glass. But I think that's with most insects.... My dad's an entemologist, but now that he's older, and his eyesight isn't what it used to be, he can't tell me what the heck they are. His response to my question was "well, you know, there are tiny little mites all over your body right now." Thanks dad.... Hah! Any input would be appreciated.
-Sarah

*edit* Seriously guys, I'm loosing sleep over this, I'm feeling REALLY itchy.


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## Michael Shrom

The fact that they jump makes me think they are springtails and should be good frog food. Take a benadryl, aveno bath, or just chill to get rid of the itch. Hopefully you don't have a fruit fly allergy. I know this one bioligist that is allergic to the fruit flies and or their cultures. I know he sneezes and think he gets itchy from them.


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## Guest

Haha. Well, I looked for pictures online for springtails, there was a picture of them next to a penny, these were much smaller than the pictures I saw online. I didn't really think they were springtails in the first place. And I haven't begun culturing FFs yet, and I have no frogs. I have some tiny itty bitty baby sundews in there, but I don't think they are gonna cut it. I felt so itchy I had to take a shower in the middle of the night cause I couldn't sleep, but still feeling kinda itchy. Aveno sounds like a good idea right about now. Maybe it's something else making me itchy, I haven't seen any of these things on me, although they are very small.. I think I should change the sheets today.

Anyone else have any ideas on what they might be and if they bite? Or if it's all in my head?


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## Michael Shrom

I'm still betting on springtails. The younger ones are smaller and their are many different types of springtails.


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## Guest

I don't know, the more I look at them, the more I think they aren't springtails. My dad said maybe spider mites for the little tiny round ones, but I thought those spun little webs, and I'm not seeing any of that. I used to see the things in question fall into the water of the bromeliads and they would try to get out, they'd kinda jet across the water, crash into the side, then jet across to the other side. I know springtails float, so I thought maybe... But I really think they are just too small. And I keep staring at them, their bodies just don't look the same as all the pictures I've been looking at. I'm going to go ask my dad again. He has a bunch of books around here, if I bug him enough, maybe I can get somethin out of him, hah. I see them most in the wood, but I know they are in the soil because I saw them when I was planting the terrarium, just not as many of them in this sort of concentration as I'm seeing now in the wood. The little tiny round things I saw in the wood though, I didn't really notice them in the soil.

Hah, my dad gave me some lanacane. =P


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## Guest

He says they aren't springtails. He gave me some books. And although I still don't know what these bugs are, these books do list some biological predators for many of the other pests people have been finding in their terrariums. (Scales, mealy bugs and stuff like that). I myself was wondering how these predatory insects would survive after eating all the pests, but it answered that too. Apparently you can suppliment a food for the insects called "Wheast" that's sugary and will keep the good bugs from starving. Interesting books. (My dad's in the pest control business)
-Sarah


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## Scott

I know the bugs you're talking about.

They're definitely not Springtails - but they are harmless. Not traditional springtails anyhow. May be another extremely small species, but I doubt it.

Every tank you ever build will get them. Either immediately or eventually.

s


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## Guest

Thanks Scott, puts my mind somewhat at ease. Any idea on the small, more round looking one? That one normal too? They are so slow moving I'm not worried about them getting on me. But still wondering about them. But gosh, I just got in this room and I feel itchy again.. Hah!


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## Guest

Not in ALL but in most cases, if its not toxic, and the frog and eat it... it shouldn't be too harmful. Though i know when i first saw them i paniced. I never seen what a frog mite looks like and hope never to but still...


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## andersonii85

Believe it or not some mites can jump. I have recently noticed that I have these little brown mites that are the same size of the smallest springtails and they sort of jump when I come close to touching them. I found them mostly outside of my terrariums. When I touch them I get really itchy and irritated. My face gets a little red. I can't figure out what they are. Until then, I will be itchy.

Best

-J


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## *GREASER*

andersonii
Wow thats really weird cause sometimes whem im messing around with some of my frog stuff mainly cultures I get really itchy on my arms and face also. It just started this summer.


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## c'est ma

Sarah,

By now you've probably learned a lot about mites from your Dad's books. Of course you know mites are arachnids. My handiest bug book states that there are "more than 30,000 known species of mites worldwide with probably at least a million more still to be identified" and also that "only a specialist can reliably identify mites."

They also have a huge range of "lifestyles:" they can be herbivores, detritivores, parasites, even aquatic. Most of the time you can expect only certain types to appear and multiply in any given area--obviously you aren't going to get an outbreak of, say, reptile mites if you have no animals in your viv.

I am always happy to have the substrate mites appear in my vivs because over the years I have observed them congregating on herp feces and the bodies of dead insects, so I assume they're helping these items to decompose. When they get overabundant, however, possibly some management practice could be changed. Many mites, esp. the red spider mites that infest plants, are quite sensitive to moisture levels. 

My PDF viv is too new to have mites yet (at least in visible numbers) but none of the ones from my chameleon, FBT, or tarantula tanks have ever transferred to me. If they get so out of hand that they crawl on your animals, however, they can be just a physical irritation to them.

HOWEVER--the main reason I'm writing is to share my experiences with mites that DID transfer to my skin! Once, several years ago, I noticed that a bluebird box I was checking was swarming with minute mites. Not unexpectedly, the nest had been abandoned. But as I was leaning over to check inside some of my hair brushed against the box and in no time whatsoever I could feel zillions of them crawling around my scalp. I had to head straight for the shower--fortunately a normal shampoo got rid of them. Later I read a story about a family that had a colony of cliff swallows that nested under the eaves of their house. One year their whole house got infested with bird mites and they had to fumigate it. Before that the mites were crawling over all the residents.

ALSO--when my daughter was only 3 or 4 our family was having dinner at a fairly fancy schmancy restaurant on Lake Michigan. We were strolling around admiring the view when I noticed the wooden window sills were crawling with mites. About the same time my daughter, who had put her hands on the sill, began to scream that something was crawling on her. Nothing could be seen but I put two and two together, grabbed her arms, and started rubbing them all over with my hands. (Eventually I COULD see the tiniest of dark specks moving on her skin.) Happily I managed to crush/rub off all the mites before they got into her hair. 

But--not to worry--  --we've already determined that you wouldn't have parasitic mites in your viv. I would agree with the poster who suggested that you just might be especially sensitive to them. My son has PDFs and his ff supplier used to occasionally give us mite-infested batches. The older the culture got, the more obvious the mite infestation. You could tell they were infested by the way the culture container felt when you picked it up--kind of grainy. The mites would crawl right out of it onto nearby surfaces. They did not bother me but my son always said they made HIS skin itch. 

Since your set-up is new I would expect that the mite populations would reach a sort of low-level equilibrium after a while, if you're patient, as various cycles run their courses. If the mites are crawling out onto nearby surfaces and you are supersensitive to them, you might try to find some kind of a stand with legs for your viv, and put the legs in cups of water. (Although I discovered that Drosophila mites just walk or float right over the surface and crawl right out the other side.)

And I'm sure I've read that PDFs eat at least some species of mites--maybe yours will too.

Probably more than you ever wanted to hear about mites! Good luck!

--Diane


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## Guest

Thanks for the awesome reply, Diane, and the interesting stories! The itching has stopped for the most part. Most of it was probably just in my head. Either that, or the only things I've been itching now are all those mosquito bites from the 4th of July! (I really can't help itching.) I'm still seeing tiny little things crawling all over my ghost wood, mostly on the part with green (algae maybe?) growing on it. It looks quite pretty. But all the little buggers go running when I mist, which I think I've mentioned somewhere, is entertaining. Sometimes I see drowned ones in my broms. At first they are alive and trying to skim across the water but they slam against the side of the brom and I guess they eventually drown. I am very curious as to whether or not frogs would bother to eat these things, or if they are just too small. I've also found other things in my tank, I found a little millipede (I think), a tiny little slug, the kind I've never seen before, but have seen posted on this board so I exctrated it and put it down the sink imediately, and I found 2 cute little snails, which were SO cute, but I knew they could stay, so I put them outside. They were really itty bitty, and not shy at all. I picked them up and they came right back out of their shell very quickly. I also found a small mealy bug on my glass the other day, I got it out, but I'm worried about whether their might be more. I haven't seen any, but I'm keeping my eyes open. The humidity seems pretty high in my tank, condensation all over the inside of the glass, my brother complained you can't see much. I can see just fine though, so bah on what he says. No spider mites that I can see. =D


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## c'est ma

The invert fauna can get so interesting that it's almost a shame we have to police it for the sake of the plants and, sometimes, the frogs. 

Each year when I set up water gardens on the deck, I wait till the mosquito larvae are just about to pupate before adding the fish, as so many insects, crustaceans, etc. appear. Of course, they disappear as soon as the fish go in.

Another fun thing is to see what comes up from your moss sheets. My son's viv is full of volunteer ferns of more than one species..

Guess most everyone in this hobby is basically a curious naturalist at heart. BTW, your tank shots in the other thread are beautiful. I look forward to seeing it inhabited.

--Diane


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## melissa68

Ok...just reading this thread made me very itchy!! lol


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## Guest

Oh yeah! With the moss, looks like there is some lichen growing on top of it! And also, there are these little things, they look like stems or inverted roots, they are white and are maybe a half inch long, but no leaves or anything else, I doubt i can get a pic, but I'll try a little later. no idea what they are, but they sure are neat! Also noticed a few things coming out of the ghost wood. It's all quite interesting (I'm a bio major) =P


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## Reef_Haven

Old Thread I know.
But, I watched Josh's Frogs Video on FF culturing and heard him mention "You'll know if your FF cultures have mites cause your face will itch".
Well... I was cleaning out one of my first old cultures today. It was started 1/28. I know your suppose to get rid of them by 4 weeks, but it still had tons of flies and I hate wasting em.
Since I'm new, I've been starting 2 new cultures every week; just to make sure I don't screw up and run low.
Anyway... My face did start to itch, so I'm wondering if they actually got on me or I'm just sensitive to something in the air from them? I didn't see any, but didn't really take the time to get a good look either. I'll start the mite spray on paper towels tomorrow. Tried to find the pestcontrol shelf paper a few weeks ago, but didn't have any luck; so I just let this slide till now. 
Lesson learned.


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## Ed

You could also be having a reaction to the flies.. or other things growing in the cultures. There are actually studies that demonstrate the development of allergies to fruit flies by those that work with them. 
Unless you have been working with flies that have been cleaned of mites under a microscope, you will have mites in your cultures. The best you can do is manage them. 


Ed


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## Catfur

Ed said:


> You could also be having a reaction to the flies.. or other things growing in the cultures. There are actually studies that demonstrate the development of allergies to fruit flies by those that work with them.
> Unless you have been working with flies that have been cleaned of mites under a microscope, you will have mites in your cultures. The best you can do is manage them.
> 
> 
> Ed


Even if you are working with flies that have been cleaned of mites under a microscope, unless you are also working with sterile culture medium, sterile excelsior/coffee filters, and sterile and mite proof culture containers... you will have mites in your cultures.


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## Roadrunner

These are different mites and you can get rid of them. Do you have a red buildup around the edge of your cultures? Try dusting w/ calcium each time you make new cultures. I can't remember if I started over or if that worked. I can't remember if I couldn't get rid of them when i had rugs but now that I have linoleum i don't even use mite sprays, bug paper or anything for mites and haven't had any problems w/ production for ages and those red mites havent come back. I may still have some type but not the red ones. I also keep my cultures on a countertop and wipe down the countertop and mop semi often. They sucked and i luckily only had them once.


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