# Predatory Mites



## arielelf (May 23, 2007)

I have been trying to raise a few containers of Isopods that I collected from my in-laws back yard(they never use fertilizers or pesticides of any kind) and tonight I discovered a lot of very fast moving brown mites in the cultures. I looked them up since I had read of predatory mites in a few other threads and it does seem that that is what they are.

I don't exactly know what to do, I don't want to infest my springtail cultures with them, even though they are in another room. On the other hand, they look like they would be a great feed for froglets. I would be using them for my tank at work, and don't want anything that will get out and infest my office, does anyone know if these guys can survive outside the tank, and will they kill off my other "bugs"
Or are they something I shouldn't worry about and feed them to my frogs?


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## mikebell (Mar 4, 2011)

You don not need to worry about feed of frogs. I am also searching about it, whenever I will get the exact information about it, I will share here.


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## bakaichi (Jun 27, 2009)

They can't Survive in dry condition for long, Your iso culture probably wont be affected by it.

I use to have predatory mite in my iso culture and springtail, but in the only Iso are left in their cultures after their population establish.

But you do want to watch out about these guys getting into your spring tail cultures. They are not like grain mites, they will prey on your spring. Depending on what spp of springtail you have, they might be able to competes with the mite by their fast reproduction. But for the slower reproducing spring, you will eventually find your self a culture of mites~


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## johnyrocks (Jun 25, 2011)

I've had mites, I woul d never feed em to my frogs. EVER. Infact, my very first tank, I brought in moss from my backyard. and I had a mite infestation. I ripped down the whole tank and threw everything in it away, then washed the tank out and let it sit in the baking sun for weeks. Mites=bad


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

Mites aren't all bad... They make up a significant portion of most dart frog's diet it the wild. Detrivore mites are *extremely* common and will almost certainly be found in a vivarium from time to time. They are beneficial & not something to be removed. The majority of mites found in fruit fly cultures are grain mites - another non-issue for frogs. (Bad for the cultures, of course)

As for predatory mites... The risk is not so much to the frogs as to the springtail & fruit fly cultures. I don't think I've personally ever seen actual predatory mites in FF cultures, tho.

Edit: If you are starting cultures for feeding/seeding... Especially with something like an Isopod or a Springtail... Just order them online (From a source who only sells CB) and avoid the hassle & worry of wild caught bugs. That being said - you will probably see _detrivore_ mites eventually in your own breeding cultures of isos. Pumilio (a user on Dendroboard) usually has both springtails & isopod species available.


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## wesleybrouwer (Apr 17, 2010)

I feed mites to my frogs, especially the metamorphs go crazy on them.
Like MeiKVR6 says, in the wild mites take up a large portion of the frogs diet.
Why take it away from the diet when they are readily available for you?

A healthy frog brushes a mite of easily.
Just watch out you don't get an invasion of mites,
this might stress them out what might cause them to die.

Just witnissed it only once with some azureus in my viv.
Over night the mites just took over the entire viv,
everything was covered by mites in just one night.
The frogs probably hid in the water and drowned.
Cause of the mite explosion afterwards, seemed to be a dead frog all the way in the back of the viv.
I already missed him for a couple of days, but didn't tear down the entire decor.

Maybe the fear about mites started because they will be on a dead frog almost instantly, seeing this might just give the idea the mites killed the frog.
It's just a result, not a cause in my experience.


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## arielelf (May 23, 2007)

Thanks for the info guys! I have bought some iso from you Doug. I just wanted to test out growing the wild caught ones. I keep them in seperate rooms, the wild ones are reproducing pretty quickly. I am getting addicted to growing feeders!! My wife says I was born a farmer, which makes sense since pretty much ALL of my ancestors were farmers. I guess it's in the blood a little


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