Hello, everyone,
I haven't been onlline in a very long time, so my appoligies for not getting involved more witth this site, but I have come back to this place I trust because my two pacmans seem to have little critters crawling all over them.
My first pacman I ever had, had these, and he died, probably due to them. I figure that they are mites, but I have heard mites do not affect frogs, but these sure do look like mites, or at least frog mites. I gave seen snake mites before and they look different (snake mites look bigger) but I am sure these things are not supposed to be in there.
I do not want them to die due to bugs eating them alive or infecting them, killing them. They are very small, very hard to see, almost see through, whitish looking. Sometimes I can see them on my frogs, I spray them with water to ease them. I just noticed them yesterday, so I have no idea how long they have had them for. They are not crawling all over the place but there are a few there.
Any suggestions what to do?
I have uploaded a pic of the little things... I had noticed them on his face when I was about to edit the picture in paint lol. I saw the pic up close and saw that my camera actually captured them... so can anyone tell what they are and are they harmful?
Last edited by cvBon1; February 26th, 2011 at 01:08 PM. Reason: Added pic
I would at least clean out his enclosure, and rinse everything down with warm water first....
They're the wrong shape for mites. Mites look like chubby little spiders. These look like something else. Possibly some kind of spring tail. Short of completely removing the substrate and washing everything down, there's no way you'll get rid of them forever, but regularly changing out the substrate should keep their numbers down.
Founder of Frogforum.net (2008) and Caudata.org (2001)
They do look like springs and if thats it they are harmless as far as hurting your frog. They may stress him out a bit but they are viv cleaners, The population can and will explode without anything in there to eat them. Best bet is to boil or bake anything going in the viv, like media soak the frog to make sure hes clean of them and put him back in there.
Michael
I looked up Springtails and I thought that's what they'd be but just to make sure I posted here to see what you guys thought. I will go tomorrow and get myself some new soil and clean out the tanks... to rid them of most of them so they are not too abundant.. but as for the bugs themselves they are okay with the frogs... no worries then?
No physical issues they just may irritate the frog when crawling on him.
Michael
Id rinse off the frog & let him dry abit to dry up these bugs. to me they look like fly lavae from those tiny flys that hatch from wet mud. Id clean out tank & thro away substrate. Id use another tank & start over. Bleach out or rinse out old tank & let air dry for a few weeks Dont use anything else in the new tank that came from the old .See how u do with this.
My 2 cents , I would say gnats. When you have alot of really moist soil gnats will lay eggs in the soil an dnever stop producing. If you can let the dirt dry out somewhat that will help a bit . Also I know pac man frog need the moisture . Just from exp, let us know
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sorry to bump and old post, but i just lost my chubby tree, he was alive yesterday, found him tonight, very very dryed up still standing up almost, he was covered in little white mite like things, tommrow im going to go get new soil beding to clean my cage, but could the mites have killed him? ive had him for about a year
other frogs in the tank inculde
cuban tree frog
2 American toads
yellow spotted salamander
i knew of the mites, but was told they cant harm frogs, i figure the toads and salamanders are fine with them, maybe not the cuban
does anyone have any ideas, the last few days the chubby has been acting werd
he hasnt been burrowed, he has been in the water ALOT! normally i never see him, hes been burrowed down all winter.
Yeah my first Pacman was covered in what I thought was springtails too, but he just died one day, and my boyfriend said he thinks the mites practically ate him alive which is why I started this thread when I noticed my frogs now had what seemed to be the same thing. I didn't want them to die.
I would like to know the same thing can those bugs or another kind of mite kill cause it happened to me too long ago!
I also, for everyone else's info, cleaned the tank and they haven't been around so they were probably springtails so thank you all for replying.
Btw, stompjrkz400 ... sorry for your loss.
thank you, this the second weird death ive had, the last one was a green tree frog, which inturn kill a 6 year old yellow spotted salamander and a wood frog, im learning fast that it is much easyer to take care of toads and frogs from the wood, than it is to buy them from a store, and theres less infections too, there where no mites that time tho all of the frogs slowley went limp and fell alseep, then died,
You shouldn't have all these in the same tank anyway, they each produce their own toxins and even in the wild they wouldn't be accustomed to sharing the same little 10-40 gallon space, especially a water source on such a constant basis.
Either get them seperate enclosures or let them go. My guess it's not the "mites" although I'm sure they increase the stress level on the animals. Put them in some small quartine tanks/tubs for a few weeks and let the normal tanks dry out after a very heavy cleaning and baking of the wood and other hides.
Wild caughts can be more hardy but your rolling dice, many come with parasites and infections - it might have been one of the wild caught ones that introduced something nasty to the store bought animals you have.
its an 80 gallon tank, the only frog out of place now is the Cuban tree frog, but he also never gets off his vines or leaves, i breed the american toads, they make great pets, super hardy and even enjoy being handled, ( i know, we don't do it that much tho)
I don't think you understood my first post, all of them are "out of place". The toxins in the water source alone, if not changed every day are enough to cause them stress which can lead to death.
I've raised American Toads from childhood up, although I will agree, super hardy they are but they do not enjoy being handled. No amphibian does.
Well what about in my case? He wasn't endured to stress and was with no other frogs or animals... my only answer was those"mites". Though I do agree that having too many different species in one tank can be dangerous, yes it is bigger but best not to impose the risk of toxin contamination.
It's never good when things like that are found crawling all over the frog, especially in that one picture you posted but I do know when I do get mites I right away tear apart the tank, clean everything and set each animal in it's own quaratine until I notice them vanish. Anything crawling over them constantly will cause them stress, especially since they can't get away from them. My toads don't even like crickets moving across them and shy away from food coming right up and touching them. In wild conditions they'd be able to move from a spot and get away from the majority of them. I don't agree with the idea that it's okay to have springtails crawling all over everything.
The only mites I've had before haven't clinged to my frogs so I'm under the assumption that they might be getting something out of it, simply because things that aren't trying to be parasitic don't cling to animals without getting something out of it.
It's not heat, being cold blooded ... had to be they where feeding, or laying eggs on it. If just by sheer numbers that many where crawling around his face then you defiently need to clean and get them out of there.
My only suggestion if you don't want to clean the cage is to let the substrate dry out - This can help control any mite or bug population. I've only noticed explosions of such pests after watering down my substrate. Pacman's will actually move around more to, to their burrow site of choice and to the water bowl. Dry coco-fiber works just fine and doesn't need to be soppy wet. It's good for them to move around anyway.
Good luck!
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