Are mites REALLY a problem if they cause no harm to frogs?

[BettaShawn]

I found a single dot sized mite yesterday. ONLY one, after a very close inspection. I took out a big piece of driftwood in the vivarium_a great place for possible others to hide, and now I don't see anything: phheewww! My frog doesn't have any mites on him, all my other animals are fine and healthy_so is it okay to just "let it go" with that one suspect? No harm no foul, ya' know?

[arielgasca420]

I would keep a very very close eye since mites breed like aphids. even though you only found one doesnt mean that there are more in there. If you can I would take out the substrate and bake it at 170 for safe measures unless you have any fibrous substrate. In that case I would just invest in a new coco brick

[mrzoggs]

could it of been a springtail?

[Jdnocente]

bake it @ 400 deg F to kill off all parasites (mmmm mud pies), i do this to my drift wood and all substrate for both my frogs and snakes.. works like a charm, havent seen any mites in any of my 3 55gal or my 2 20gal talls.

[arielgasca420]

be careful with baking though as putting wood or coco fiber in an oven at 400 degrees can be a very possible fire hazard. i was reading about one lady who baked hers and it turned to ash.
In horticulture they tell us that anything over 165 degrees with kill plant seeds, fungus, mold, and anything else living. this is how they sterilize soil and turn it into dirt.
for wood you can also bleach with a ratio of 1:10 bleach:water. soak for ten minutes and rinse thouroughly.
It does not seem like you have to take such routes in sterilizing until we know for sure what you have. I had beneficial mites and springtails in my worm bins and all I would do is let them swarm on melon rinds or potatoes (anything watery) and then toss them in a plastic bag and seal it up.