# So are mites really pests?



## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

After OneTwentySix posted the American toad diet analysis, the studies on pumilio getting their toxins from certain soil dwelling mites(so mites probably make up a significant portion of their diet), and also an old post mentioning putting mite ridden cultures in for their darts(auratus) to pick clean are mites really the pests we often consider them to be? Sure, they get in the way of FF cultures which we need to provide sizeable food items to are frogs...but seeing that they could be great food for tiny froglets...no one ever talks about mite cultures. They might be easier for froglets to catch than springtails and you certainly can raise them both together. Just need to find a species the frogs like first.

I haven't found any studies of what darts eat in the wild...but I doubt Drosophila are high on the list.

Comments?


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

I know of some people who have had their frogs "attacked" by the mites in their tanks. I have heard off at least 2 frogs who have died after such an attack, probably not from the attack itself, but from the stress it caused.

they do bite the frogs, like they bite you so you should be carefull. I know there are a lot of different types of mite so some maybe more harmfull to frogs then others.

I personally feed my frogs mites too. if I have a springtail culture that is infested with mites I just feed the mites to my frogs, but I don't put the whole culture in the tank, I try to catch the mites and feed them, so you do have some control on the amount of mites you put in the tank.

specially de pumilios love the mites. here they seem to prefer the smallest food possible so mites are great.
I haven't tried culturing them but they always tend to show up in one of my springtail cultures after a while.

in the thread about pumilio eating mites there has already been a discussion on culturing mites if I remember correctly.

I could personnally do without mites. my face is getting itchy only by thinking about them.

kind regards,
Nathalie


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

It really depends on the context, and the specific mites involved. In general, mites are considered pests because they either directly attack something we like (like spider mites on my jewel orchids, or mites in FF cultures) or in some cases, can outcompete what we are trying to culture (some compost mites that get into springtail cultures).

Some problems with culturing mites... first off, keeping them out of your other cultures that you don't want them in... and containing them for that matter. Predatory mites need something to feed on, and thus make culturing harder, as you have to culture what they feed on too. I'm more hesitant to say they attack frogs... the only time I've seen a mite covered frog it was an animal that had died from choking on a food item, and it was covered by mites in short order. It had had mites crawling around the tank for months with no apparent issues. It's hard to tell if this is a legitimate concern or not, but those are still not the mites you'd want around, if only due to what they do to your insect cultures.

Compost mites would be the way to go, and I have had a somewhat decent culture going. It's nearly worthless to try and get them in mass. Only the predetory mites seem to occur in the larger numbers. They would be a valuable addition to a refugium tank tho. It's easier just to make an extra FF culture, let it get infested, and feed that to give them the mites.


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

Would anyone be willing to try and identify these? They are in my spring culture and I _think_ they are compost mites. They are like tiny pink ballons that move VERY slowly, and they only seem to compete with the springs for food (ie: flakes and yeast).

Here they are more individual:









And here they are in the more commonly seen groups:


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## Jungle_John (Feb 19, 2007)

hmm i have those in my tank i just set up. no frogs or anything are in these tanks yet but ive seen a few moving around and was thinking of breacking down the tank. now im worried


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I think the key to mites in the tanks is to limit them and if the frogs eat them or enough of them to keep them in check. I have recently lost a frog to what I think were mites. Its not that they may not eat them but that in a small take they can not get away from them.


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## thekidgecko (Oct 30, 2006)

The same thing happened to me as well Kyle...in a 30 gallon :shock: They can take over fast!!!


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## lacerta (Aug 27, 2004)

Mites commonly found in insect cultures are normally food storage pests that compete with your culture for mold, yeast, and the moist medium. My guess from the photo is one of the _Tyrophagus_ species. Here is an informative link on common stored-food mites:
http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th7g.htm

George


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

I've also read that a large portion of darts' diets in the wild is comprised of mites.

I think one potential problem with them is that I think mites excrete something that I think people end up getting allergic to. Also, if you're allergic to dust (dust mites) or shellfish, you're likely to also be allergic to grain mites.

They're also horribly invasive. If some mites get into a FF culture, then they'll eventually take over and out-compete the flies. And the problem here is that you'll have lost a reliable food source to an unreliable one.

In short, as far as the frogs are concerned, the vast majority of mites are tasty food, not pests. But as caretakers of frogs and their vivariums, people often find that mites are bothersome/pests.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

I also have heard of mites that can cause the death of some froglet. Last year I used mites to feed my frogs: I put a strip of paper towel in FF culture infested and then I gave the mites to frogs. The frogs loved mites! But they were in small quantities. I know they can cause allergies, so I'm careful now.


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## Hibiscusmile (Jul 29, 2008)

I use mite paper all the time, my roach bin gets them all the time, to much moisture, but the paper keeps them from spreading, don't know what I would do without it, as they multiply faster than roaches or rabbits!


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