Is this normal?

[GrifTheGreat]

His substrate is new, from a bag. They look almost like baby sow bugs which I do have in there. They only come out when there's waste or mold to eat. I have live plants in his tank...I got a closer look at the bugs and they look orange which is the same color as the sow bugs I put in there. I got them the same time as Jr at the expo because the vendor said they would eat the mold that grew in his tank before it became a problem for him. Since having them, I've had no mold, but he's being used as home base for the babies eating the nasty stuff stuck on his skin from the water or dirt. I'm worried about the plants because they've worked their roots all around the tank and even made a "root bowl" around the water dish. I was told they'd drown if I put too much water in the substrate. I think I'll get him out of there and into a good soaking container for a bit while dowse the tank in hot water. I tried to get him out of his dish, but he waddled backwards back into his dish before i could get it out. I'll try him again after I clean the soaking tank.

Keep us posted on his progress.

[Guenhwyvar]

Well, I gave him a good warm soak and ended up keeping him in his bath for 2days because he had a sewage smell about him. The mites are gone as far as I can tell. I boiled his tank and was horrified at the extent of the infestation. the surface of the water turned white with dead mites. He refused to eat, but I left him alone with a cricket for a few hours and he finally ate it. After I put him back in his tank and he had settled in a new burrow, I dangled a worm in front of him, but he refused to eat it. The second it dropped he grabbed it. I also got a good pick of his pads forming, so he's male but he hasn't started calling yet. How old do males have to be before they start calling? He'll be a year in July and I'll have had him a year in August.

[HornedFairy]

omg, sorry to hear about that infestation. Good to hear you cleaned the tank out and he's eating again now, that's great. I'm glad you put such a good picture up of the mites on his back, at least I know what to look for if mine ever has a problem. yea it's best to spot clean his tank on a regular basis, then do a complete clean out every couple of months, should help with any future problems.

[KingCam]

Many animals instinctually soak in the water when they become infested with mites (Yes, mites. That's what those were, I guarantee it!). They do this in order to drown the mites.

There are orange springtails, and those are good, but there are also orange mites, and those are BAD BAD BAD. Springtails will not swarm an animal like that, mites will.

Many new bags of substrate can be carrying mites, especially if they came from a pet store! Pet store bags of substrate are notorious for harboring mites. It is recommended to bake any substrate, store bought or not, before adding to a terrarium. (I almost never do this, and so far have been lucky enough not to get infested)

Keep a CLOSE eye on your frog, mites are incredibly hard to get rid of in some circumstances. Just when it seems like they're gone they will come back in full force. Mites can and will kill your animals if they get out of control.

[GrifTheGreat]

Well, I gave him a good warm soak and ended up keeping him in his bath for 2days because he had a sewage smell about him. The mites are gone as far as I can tell. I boiled his tank and was horrified at the extent of the infestation. the surface of the water turned white with dead mites. He refused to eat, but I left him alone with a cricket for a few hours and he finally ate it. After I put him back in his tank and he had settled in a new burrow, I dangled a worm in front of him, but he refused to eat it. The second it dropped he grabbed it. I also got a good pick of his pads forming, so he's male but he hasn't started calling yet. How old do males have to be before they start calling? He'll be a year in July and I'll have had him a year in August.

Good to hear he is doing better Guen. Males will start calling anywhere from 5 to 8 months of age. You may be able to coax a call out of him by playing videos of Ornate males calling. Sometimes that gets them going. Keep an eye on him. Mites are bad news and their eggs can sustain hight temps and bitter cold so you'll need to watch to make sure they don't return.

[Guenhwyvar]

i'm watching him closely. What worries me at the moment is I'm going out of state for a week and my mom will be watching him. She wasn't able to see the mites until I showed her the pic. Her eyes are just that bad. I found the source of them is the crickets I got from a petstore I'm now boycotting because of puppymill/BYB deals. The crickets are covered in them. I'll redo his tank again when I get back. He may not be calling just yet because of the stress the mites caused him. He's eating like he's trying to make up for lost meals now. He's loving his earth worms, which is good because I couldn't get my mom to touch the crickets, but she'll catch worms and in the summer katydids. We have a pot outside for the worms. Why not have them benefit our plants then my froggy?^^

[GrifTheGreat]

i'm watching him closely. What worries me at the moment is I'm going out of state for a week and my mom will be watching him. She wasn't able to see the mites until I showed her the pic. Her eyes are just that bad. I found the source of them is the crickets I got from a petstore I'm now boycotting because of puppymill/BYB deals. The crickets are covered in them. I'll redo his tank again when I get back. He may not be calling just yet because of the stress the mites caused him. He's eating like he's trying to make up for lost meals now. He's loving his earth worms, which is good because I couldn't get my mom to touch the crickets, but she'll catch worms and in the summer katydids. We have a pot outside for the worms. Why not have them benefit our plants then my froggy?^^

He's probably so relieved the mites are gone that he wants to show off his appetite Lol! Watch feeding wild caught foods though. They can have fertilizers/other chemicals/and parasites. Better off to buy night crawlers. Rather than catch them yourselves. Or do you mean she will catch them from a store bought container?

[Guenhwyvar]

UPDATE!!!
I went to so cal for a week and left Jr in my mom's care. She was too afraid of the crickets to feed him any of those, but she went worm hunting in her plants(which are in pots). We grow our own worms outside in big pots, they help our plants grow big and strong then they get fed to my big and strong pac^^ He loves his worms now and has even denied his crickets. Mom gave him tap water and let his tank dry out almost completely even though I gave her instructions and showed her all his stuff. He's fine now, but he's not very happy with me. I took him out and gave him a warm soak in treated water. I boiled his tank and got rid of his old bedding, so far the plants seem to be coping just fine after their hot soak too. I needed to make sure the mites weren't in the plants too. I'm using a new coco fiber and I'm not sure he likes it very much because it's not as fine as the stuff before. Those mites were hard to get rid of, if they come back now I have no idea what to do next....
I almost forgot! his weight is up to 2 and 1/8 oz now. When I got him back in August, he weighed less than .5oz

[GrifTheGreat]

I don't think he likes it when you leave him with your mom Lol! That's probably why he is unhappy with you. I'm glad he is doing ok though. You can buy earth worms and night crawlers to use as his staple food source. I use Night crawlers for a staple for my frogs and they won't eat crickets anymore either.