Mites?! Help!

[John]

even plant mites are good for your frogs. If i were you i would redue your cage. spry your plants with a mite spry rise the plants with clean water very well. and then let them dry. and then check them and then redue the hole cage. thats what i would do

Mites are virtually impossible to exclude from frog enclosures in the long run. It's not something to worry about.

[offroad537]

i would worry about it. because frogs are post to be your pet or your friend and you should care alot about them. and keep them happy. If i have mites in my cage with my frogs. I dont care what kind of mites they are i well change my cage and ground change the plants and make sure theres not mites.

[John]

Nice sentiment. Tell that to the millions of dust mites that live in your bed with you at night. Non-parasitic mites are ubiquitous - the fact is that most people don't have the eyesight to spot them running around their frogs' enclosures.

[Kurt]

I had mites in my fruit fly cultures recently, still I fed the flies out to my frogs, no problem. Sure mites probably went with them, but no big deal as they are harmless to the frogs and die off because there is nothing for them to eat in the frog's enclosure.

[John]

Well the issue is that there are so many kinds of mites, and most of them can't be identified just by looking at them with the naked eye. Most of the ubiquitous mites are harmless and free-living. It's those that are parasitic that should concern us. However I don't recall ever seeing anyone post about finding parasitic mites on a frog. How about you Kurt?

I challenge anyone who has substrate a month or older in their frog terrarium to take a magnifying glass out and go over it very slowly and methodically, and not find a mite.

[Kurt]

I don't remember any mention of exo-parasites in this forum or elsewhere for that matter. The only parasitic mites I personally know of, attack reptiles, birds and mammals. Mange is caused by mites. Never heard of any attacking amphibians. Not to say they don't exist, I have just never heard of them. You would think I would've by now if they did indeed exist.

[Malduroque]

I challenge anyone who has substrate a month or older in their frog terrarium to take a magnifying glass out and go over it very slowly and methodically, and not find a mite.

So true. You just are going to find some little creatures if you look hard enough. As long as they are not a)harming your animals or b)over-running the setup or c)leaving the enclosure and setting up shop in your house in large numbers, it shouldn't be anything to fret over, especially in a peculiarly ungrammatical fashion.

Awhile back in my toad setup, I was seeing these little creatures scurrying across the enclosure. Once I focused in with a magnifier, I could see that they were tiny baby crickets. One of the feeders must have laid some eggs before being consumed. Since there really wasn't anything for them to eat, they eventually died off and I haven't seen their like since then. Nice thing was if they did thrive and continue to grow they would have become another meal for the toads.

[offroad537]

i guess i would worry because my snakes had mites and i didnt get to them in time so my snake died because of it. Now im a little more picky about mites.

[Kurt]

Snake mites are parasitical. They are also easily treated. If it happens again, assuming you still have snakes, soak the snake in tepid water for about twenty minutes, then add some betadine and let him soak for another twenty minutes. I use Rubbermaid boxes to soak snakes in. They have lids, so the snake can't wander off.
While the snake is soaking clean out the cage. Throw out all substrate. Then clean the cage with a bleach and water solution. Plastic and ceramic cage furniture can also be sterilized in this way. Rinse thoroughly, before setting the cage back up. Wooden items, like half-log hides, cannot be cleaned in this manner. So, scrub down any wooden items in the sink, than bake them in the oven at 200F for about an hour or so. Let cool before placing them back in your snake's cage.