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BUGS in Leo Geckos Tank :( Help!!!

K. Rene

K. Rene

Cozmic Cornz
I was cleaning out the leo geckos tanks today and discovered some tiny little bugs running around in all three of my female leos tanks but not in my males tank. They are all kept on white washcloths (that I can clean and bleach real easy because I don't like throwing away paper towels) I snapped a picture of the bastards which were gathered around an oat meal grain in the calcium dish I feed the geckos meal worms from. We buy our meal worms from a local insect farm and haven't had any problems in the past two years, but since they are all fed the same thing why would the bugs be in just the females tanks?

I didn't see the bugs near any fecal droppings or on the geckos themselves, even used my magnifying loupe dealy. They were just crawling around in the tank. I bleach cleaned each of the tanks as well as everything that was in the tanks and the washcloths are soaking in bleach.

Any advice on what the bugs are and how to prevent them is appreciated. I'm so scared for the critterz, I thought I took such good care of them only to find bugs of all things! The geckos all look healthy and are eating fine and acting normal. Not sure if the bugs affected them or would have if they had gone noticed for longer, sure glad I did notice them :/
 

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Looks like a termite or maybe a tiny ant species. At any rate, I'd be very surprised if they were parasitic or would hurt your reptiles in any way. My bet is they came in with the mealworms, though why they'd only be in one enclosure is anyone's guess. I'd endeavor to get rid of them, but wouldn't take any drastic measures like with mites.
 
Kinda thought they looked like tiny termites.... (does that mean they are still a kind of mite?) You think the bleach was drastic enough?
 
Snake mites are an arachnid and tiny. A leg count would clear up if they are an insect... Yeah, I think bleach is plenty drastic! I'd look through the oatmeal the worms come packed in and see if you find any next time. It's easy to get little hitchhikers, as long as they aren't dangerous, it's a minor annoyance. I'm still 1/2 expecting someone to correct me and inform me that's the one species of ant that bores into snakes or something, lol!
 
I agree with the "termite" look... but without clear close ups, couldn't be sure. However, I don't foresee them to be a major problem... I'd just clean out the cage and visually check the food source to see if that's where they're coming from. If you've got a good relationship with the food supplier, ask them if they've seen these guys around. My guess would be yes.

I used to grow meal worms... and never saw these guys... but as I said, I don't think they should be a major problem.

Good luck and let us know what happens and if you find out what they are. :)
 
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