# Mites and Oatmeal....



## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

You know how ya try some adjusting.....some alterations....some modifications with yer media......now an again?


Well....I'm thinking oatmeal is either a perfect media for mites or perhaps...

They are in the oatmeal in a high concentration ALL ALONG 

Enjoy your Quakers in the morning!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Philsuma said:


> You know how ya try some adjusting.....some alterations....some modifications with yer media......now an again?
> 
> 
> Well....I'm thinking oatmeal is either a perfect media for mites or perhaps...
> ...


I would not be surprised if they are in there in high numbers all along as small pieces of grain are perfect for grain mites.. (which is why they like flour so much) but it could also be a good media for them. 

Have you seen how they do if you microwave the cultures when you make it and keep them well away from the other cultures? 

Ed


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

I've been looking to culture some mites. What kind of oatmeal is it, how was it being kept and how high of a population density did you get?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

mark- didn't I just pm you about these?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If they are grain mites, if you get the conditions right, it might look like brown foam coming out of the top of the cultures.... 

Ed


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## atlfrog (Dec 31, 2006)

Philsuma said:


> You know how ya try some adjusting.....some alterations....some modifications with yer media......now an again?
> 
> 
> Well....I'm thinking oatmeal is either a perfect media for mites or perhaps...
> ...


I have noticed while doing some cultures before with other insects, other than ff's, that the mite counts were intolerable and they infested everything else i had been working on. When I got away from using it, I had literally no mite out breaks or infestations of any kind. Just an observation while playing around with some media mixtures.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

This is why I do not keep my newer fruit fly cultures even in the same room as any other insect cultures. Most of the medias are a haven for at least grain mites. 

Ed


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## atlfrog (Dec 31, 2006)

Ed said:


> This is why I do not keep my newer fruit fly cultures even in the same room as any other insect cultures. Most of the medias are a haven for at least grain mites.
> 
> Ed


Luckily I only had a few occasions with problems with mites, but what a headache those little things can be.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

markbudde said:


> I've been looking to culture some mites. What kind of oatmeal is it, how was it being kept and how high of a population density did you get?


seriously? Why?


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

Well it seems that mites can make up a significant proportion of a frogs diet in the wild. Recently I've been interested in how to supply more mites to my frogs, since they seem to have eaten most of the ones in the viv. I guess it would be a better idea to culture a species which isn't so prone to infecting everything else, though.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Grain mites would be too small as a feeder insect, I would think and your'e right.....why culture something that's a little too dangerous in the house.

I'm sure frogs eat a variety of mites in the wild but I would also think that they are larger size......could be wrong here.


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

i don't know what kind of mites i was dealing with, but they looked like the white FF type. when i was new to bean beetles i tried putting in water soaked cotton balls for the beetles to drink off of. in the end it molded over all the beans, which halted beetle production, and then an explosion of mites. i put the culture in an auratus viv and they covered everything and were crawling all over the tank and stand.
if i wanted to produce mites i would go back to see if it was the beans or dead beetles the mites were eating, and then culture them that way.
food for thought.


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Thought I would bump this thread instead of starting a new one...

About 4-5 months ago I noticed that one of my bean beetle cultures had been infested with some form of mite/insect, etc, which were about the size of a runted ff (melanogaster). However, no other cultures were infected. At the time the bb culture was booming so instead of tossing it I moved it to another room to keep it in use but away from my other cultures. About a month later, once the bb culture ran its course, I still noticed a significant number of the invaders. I decided to toss the old beans and unknown bugs into an airtight tupperware with a few pieces of cardboard to see what would happen. Well, after about two months the "culture" is still doing well and I've been feeding out to my mantella froglets from it. It is kept next to other cultures and I have not seen any additional bb or ff cultures (new or old) develop a colony of these unknown insects. 

Thoughts on this? I suspect grain mites but do they get that big? I've seen white and brown mites before on my old cultures and these look nothing like them at all. They sort of resemble the insect available at the link below (which I believe is a grain mite). Either way, my frogs seem to relish them so...

http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/images/12499.jpg


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Nevermind, they are booklice, not mites. booklice - Google Images


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

OMG

I have @ 20K worth of collectable hardbacks alone!!

HIDE YER BOOKS !


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