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Dammit! Little white thin sliver-type bugs!

T

tracy0416

Tracy
Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Thought I'd get all fancy and buy some of that shredded/chipped bark for substrate for a change. Well, I went to feed my corn and while he was in his feeding tub, I went to clean out his viv. I picked up a piece of pooh and there were little, white, thin bugs eating it! I figure they came from the bark as I have never had this bug problem on pooh before.

I took the whole tank outside and I hope the little bastards freeze to death. I'll clean out the tank outside tomorrow...it's cold out tonight.

They are about half a millimeter long and look similar to a sliver of wood in shape. Does anyone have experience with these bugs? I believe I have seen them on wood before and also in the dirt of some plants now and again. They are some Kind of mite but not the bad black ones. I will bath snakie and keep him on newspaper for the next 2 weeks or so and change it daily.

What else can I do?

Aside from black paper, which I can get but don't have on hand, is there any clever way to check for these little f#*&!^!s ????

Thanks all.
Tracy
 
tracy0416 said:
Thought I'd get all fancy and buy some of that shredded/chipped bark for substrate for a change. Well, I went to feed my corn and while he was in his feeding tub, I went to clean out his viv. I picked up a piece of pooh and there were little, white, thin bugs eating it! I figure they came from the bark as I have never had this bug problem on pooh before.
Click to expand...
They sound less like adult bugs than gnat maggots. The only way to get rid of the maggots is to get rid of the adults, which means moving all the living critters out of the room and setting off a bug bomb.
 
Good luck getting ride of these I seem to recalls a number of instances where people have had issues with bugs coming in their bark...Might as well stick with good old aspen!
 
I got maggots in a regurge once- but after I threw it away, they were gone. More recently I found a regurge that must have been a couple months old. It had tiny pepper-sized bugs eating it- they were tan colored. I just threw it away. Our houses and everything are filled with bugs- they just live there. Take dust mites for instance that live in our pillows and mattresses and carpets that live on bits of human skin that we shed! Yum! I'd just use aspen. Good reason to get rid of poo right away.

Nanci
 
Nanci: Ya, they do seem to have gone away. The pooh was only a day old and I have not seen them on and snake pooh before.

Sanebedlam: Seriously, no more bark! It's my own fault really. I should have baked it in the oven first anyway. It never even occured to me that it, like an other wood going inot a snake viv, should be sterilized. :bang::fullauto:

I'm just glad to hear that you guys think these are "normal" decomp bugs and nothing I should go all rambo on. Phew!

:flames::smash:
 
Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. When I had rabbits (caged outside over the summer), I would get those whenever I waited a little too long to clean the litter. It should be a problem, just some larvae. ;) Glad to hear that they're gone- they can become pretty gross...
 
so whats the best way to prevent these from coming in at all? and when you say bake the bark. on what temp and for how long? would you just put it on a cookie sheet or something?
 
4drbeemer said:
so whats the best way to prevent these from coming in at all? and when you say bake the bark. on what temp and for how long? would you just put it on a cookie sheet or something?
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Yup a cookie sheet would be fine. I usually bake branches/wood and rocks at 300 for an hour or so. I won't get the Repti-Bark again. It's not worth it.

I also use a 10% bleach solution when appropraite like on driftwood, fake foliage, general clean, and such. Ensure you rinse everything very well afterward.

Tracy
 
Nanci said:
Take dust mites for instance that live in our pillows and mattresses and carpets that live on bits of human skin that we shed! Yum! I'd just use aspen. Good reason to get rid of poo right away.

Nanci
Click to expand...


Gee cant I wait to dive into bed and go to sleep! LMAO:rofl:
 
OMGosh J9 that's GROSS!!

I wonder if our snakes can get dust mites?

I use the carefresh bedding (I think that's what its called), only b/c our first corn came w/ it & I just stuck w/ it. I like the look & it absorbs well etc.

I found a SPIDER in Cindy's cage like 2 mths ago! I was SO POed! I could not believe how it got in there, but then again we handle her often so the top is off & I had a window opened. It was a fruit tree type of spider. Kinda large. I was so mad I went flyin' in there squishing it! She was lying near it also. I was worried. Still have no idea why the spider wanted to be in her VIV. Bizarre...
 
None of these bugs are bugs that like snakes. There are mites that specialize in snakes, though. But dust mites only eat human skin, and aspen mites eat whatever they find in aspen.

Nanci
 
If you haven't already Identified them they may have been nematodes, which look like tiny white worms without any segments. Nematodes feed on the same food (compost) as my red wigglers in the worm bin and most species are harmless. If they have 8 legs they are mites (the red mites are carnivorous). Red mites are bad for worms but I'm not sure if they're bad for snakes. Most white mites feed on comp. too. If you collect a few you can take them to the entomology department at a local university and have them identified for future reference.
 
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