help, mites!

[Leah]

My snails keep getting these little white mite thingys. I don't know where they came from. I can be rid of them for ages and them they suddenly appear agian and I can't think how there getting in. they're tiny, white and are usually in the food bowl or the water.

[dagger]

I get them around my Horned Frog tank (they may have migrated from the snail tank..)

Take the snails out, and disinfect the tank with very diluted disinfection liquid, i use pet cleaning spray (for rabbits), use hot water as these little buggers can swim, and this should kill them.
I found that when i used soil as a substrate i was overrun with them, but now i'm using capillery matting and moss, the problem seems to have disapeared.

Hope this helps,

[(¯`·._.·[Samm]·._.·´¯)]

Argh bugger, ive just spotted these too, not go any disinfectent, will hot/warm water and soap work?

-Samm

[Paul]

Hypoaspis miles predatory mites solved my problem once and for all. They hide inside the pneumostome (breathing hole) so no amount of cleaning is ever likely to get rid of them completely.

[Leah]

So that ex[lains why they keep appearing from nowhere. I use boiling water to kill them.

[LisaLQ]

Have to agree with Paul - they must live in their breathing holes, as no amount of cleaning, disinfecting, bare tank quarantining or capillary matting gets rid of them.

I still haven't ordered my hypoapsis yet, but if Paul's success is anything to go by, then it will help a great deal. I've just put my snails back on coir, as no substrate I've tried has worked long term for me - the moss being the worst. Thing is, my margies prefer moss to any other substrate. Just out of interest Paul - do you have to use compost/coir with these predatory mites - or will they be happy on moss?

www.defenders.co.uk/sciarid_fly_control.htm

[trundles off to see what payment methods they take]

[(¯`·._.·[Samm]·._.·´¯)]

Hey, Thanks, i saw them all over the snails, so i wondered if they were inside there shell... over time i shell evict them

-Samm

[ness]

Hi, I left the following post on another thread. It may be of use to you if these mite thingies are around 2mm long, thin and wriggly. If this doesn't fit the description of your pests then please ignor the following. Either way, good luck xx

These are sciarid flies (probably), also called fungus gnats. The eggs live in certain types of forest bed soil purchased at pet stores and other peat based soil. The eggs hatch when you add water to the soil. They live off snail food, especially old snail food but are completely harmless, that is, until you try to grow seeds in your house. The larvae of these gnats have killed off almost all of my Lythops (Living Stones) and Astrophytum (species of cactus) seedlings. These critters don't attack older plants and they don't bother with any animals, so unless you are trying to grow mushrooms or seedlings it's perhaps best not to worry. Or you could try using John Innes soil, apparently the flies don't like this (though I've not tried it with my snails so please don't blame me if the snails don't like it either). Hope this helps, good luck everyone xx

[erica]

ness said:

Or you could try using John Innes soil, apparently the flies don't like this

i thought that stuff had fertiliser in it? i was given some when i first got Isaac and he wouldn't go near it (fortunately i soon realised and rescued him)