# What is this?



## Dartness (Mar 6, 2020)

I'm guessing they're mites, but what kind of mites?


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## cobe (Oct 10, 2015)

compost or soil mites... They feed on any left over food.. Had a load of them on a banana i left in the tank..


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## bssknox (Apr 24, 2017)

AKA frog snacks.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Globular, and somewhat translucent. Are they also extremely slow moving? 
If so, be careful that you don't let your fruitfly cultures get contaminated with them. They look a lot like what I personally call "slow mites". They were particularly problematic in my fly cultures. They bred fast, and seemed to overtake cultures faster than most.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

bssknox said:


> AKA frog snacks.


Yes, harmless in your viv. Pumilio candy. Froglets love em.


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## Stiles (Feb 24, 2020)

My zebra isopods were infested. the little bastards just came out of nowhere! my isopod culture is isolated from everything. 

What can I do to get rid of them?

so they are safe for the frogs? I was REALLY worried about that


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Stiles said:


> My zebra isopods were infested. the little bastards just came out of nowhere! my isopod culture is isolated from everything.
> 
> What can I do to get rid of them?
> 
> so they are safe for the frogs? I was REALLY worried about that


I'm pretty sure I learned this from Doug (Pumilo), but I've had good luck separating clean bugs from mite infested cultures, or isopods from springtail contaminated cultures with this process;

Materials: small spoon or scoop, 3-4 small deli cups or similar, calcium powder, CLEAN culture container and substrate to transfer your newly "de-loused" bugs.

1. Dump a small amount of calcium powder into your 2-3 processing cups, just like you are about to dust insects for feeding to frogs. 

2. Using your scoop or other method, remove several of your valued culture bug from their container and into a clean cup, trying to avoid bringing any food or substrate particles with the bugs if possible. This might require shaking them around lightly to dislodge any material stuck to the carapace.

3. Dump your separated isopods/flies/etc. into the first dusting cup and swirl them around a bit. Get them well coated, and maybe give them a minute to crawl around (but not so long that they desiccate).

4. Tilt this first dusting cup into the second dusting cup at a very slight angle, or even horizontally. The goal is not to dump the bugs and powder together, but rather to allow the desired critters to crawl into the next cup, leaving any mites, or other smaller undesirables "in the dust", so to speak.

5. Repeat the process another couple times for the sake of redundancy, each time allowing the bugs to crawl from a contaminated dust cup to a clean dust cup.

6. Dump your newly cleaned target bugs into your clean permanent culture.

That said, yes, grain mites and predatory Drosophila mites are relished by frogs.


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## Dartness (Mar 6, 2020)

Pumilo said:


> Globular, and somewhat translucent. Are they also extremely slow moving?
> If so, be careful that you don't let your fruitfly cultures get contaminated with them. They look a lot like what I personally call "slow mites". They were particularly problematic in my fly cultures. They bred fast, and seemed to overtake cultures faster than most.


Yes, they are extremely slow moving. I have no fruit fly cultures because this is my first viv, and I'm a few months out from getting any frogs. Just wondering how they'll effect my isopods and springtails? They aren't very established in the viv yet.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Dartness said:


> Yes, they are extremely slow moving. I have no fruit fly cultures because this is my first viv, and I'm a few months out from getting any frogs. Just wondering how they'll effect my isopods and springtails? They aren't very established in the viv yet.


First off, they are totally safe for your frogs. Pumilio candy...but without the dental issues!
They won't actively hurt your springtails or isopods. They are harmless detrivores. Problem is, they want to eat the same foods your isopods and springtails do. 

Thanks Dane, that is one of Ed's ideas I've repeated a few times. Typically, I use it for cleaning flies, and that's how Ed originally gave us the idea. I haven't tried it for isopods as there is one part to the technique that would make it a bit more wasteful than you need for slow breeding isopods.
When we do it with flies, you plan your culturing and frog feeding for the same time. Harvest way more flies than you need to culture with. Do the dusting process and shake em up good. The mites get knocked down to the bottom. Now you only harvest the top third or so of the flies. Those are the clean ones. The rest, as you get lower and lower, have a higher chance of that stray clinging mite. Those all get fed to Kermit. 

With isopods you have to separate them from the contaminated substrate, anyway. Any substrate gets through and you have mite eggs. Since you have to pick them out anyway, I do a double transfer, described here.


Pumilo said:


> *How to clean your Isopod cultures*
> 
> This is a little more time consuming. Put a small pile of flake fish food or whatever food your isopods can't get enough of on top of the culture. Give them overnight to be attracted to it.
> Get a pint sized deli container or some other container and put a damp paper towel on the bottom.
> ...


That is pulled from this thread. https://www.dendroboard.com/forum/f...clean-your-mite-contaminated-springtails.html At least check out the first post in that thread. It will show you one of your mites in great detail. It may surprise you how evil the little buggers look when you blow them up!

I am not sure how "slow mites" will compete with larger isopods. You might not have an issue. I have noticed repeatedly that isopods can sometimes out-compete smaller mites, thus cleaning their own culture. It has led me to wonder if some isopods may be eating mite eggs. This, however, is an entirely unproven observation. 

Because they will not attack or hurt your isopods in any way, you also have the option of watching and waiting. If you see more and more mites in the next couple months, then decide how you might clean them.

I prefer what I linked earlier. Save the adults and teens, the rest get tossed into a viv as feeders.


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