# Mites Harmful?



## eric10686 (Jan 22, 2017)

https://streamable.com/2q95v
I have a bad outbreak, 
forgive me but its not letting me upload the url...


----------



## Entomologist210 (Apr 24, 2014)

No way of knowing without clearing them out and keying them under the scope. They appear to be Mesostigmata, but that's all I can really tell from the video. Do you have any more details about the infestation?


----------



## eric10686 (Jan 22, 2017)

Well, my terrarium houses an adult pacman frog and he usually stays buried and I dont see him much, The substrate is about 5 inches deep and is a mixture of eco earth and sphagum moss. I mist the tank once at night and they seem to swarm when moisture hits them. I dont think that my pacman frog is being affected by this because I have inspected him for bumps, redness, etc and he is very healthy. I feed him dubia roaches and pinky mice rarely with calcium/vitamins. I do have tropical springtails but it looks like the population is dimenishing. And I also have giant canyon pill bugs but they do not seem to be affected by this, Hopefully they eats some of these buggers. I would clean out everything and add new subtrate but I will be losing LOTS of precious pill bug babies and some springtails. My light is a non powerful LED that does not emit heat. Can't think of much else to say.


----------



## Entomologist210 (Apr 24, 2014)

I'd recommend that you, if possible, remove the frog temporarily and fumigate with CO2 to kill off the mites. They might be predators or they might be harmless to the isopods and springtails, but they have a good chance to outcompete them for food.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Or if you don't want to lose the isopods etc, transfer all of the substrate to a tote or other plastic storage container and then replace the substrate in the cage. You can transfer isopods back into the cage with the frog. 

If your getting an outbreak like this it means that there is an abundant source of food for the mites and this needs to be addressed one way or just letting it run it course. 

some comments 

Ed


----------



## eric10686 (Jan 22, 2017)

thanks guys!


----------



## salvz (Nov 3, 2014)

I'm no mite expert but over the 10 years I've been keeping vivs/frogs I've never had a mite issue that caused any harm I was aware of...typically any flush of mites would just seem to burn out on its own.


----------



## Entomologist210 (Apr 24, 2014)

As someone who studies Acari, I think that's a bad idea. Especially given the wide diversity among the Mesostigmata. It's like saying you don't need to bother with insurance since you'll never get hurt.


----------

