Wood lice to clean mites ?????????

[Colin D Wilson]

Always used woodlice in all my tanks, including the dry species.
The woodlice will hide around the water bowl so there's no problems there.
they only need to keep their underside damp (they breath through gills called pseudotrachea),and they will be ok.

if you use woodies from the garden then keep them in a container for about a week and feed them small pieces of apple, mushroom and crush a cricket to leave in with them.
As they are a terrestrial crustacean their digestive system works the same as crabs and can harbour toxins with no effect on the woodie itself, this wil dissipate in 7 -8 days naturally. the natural acidity of the apple will help to dissipate any toxins they have

Thay dont actually eat mites but will feast on the eggs of all unwanted occupants of your tank, and of course fungal spores and faeces.

Colin

[colin haris]

thanks
I had a good read of Stan Schultz caresheet yesterday:

http://www.ucalgary.ca/%7Eschultz/mites07.html

So, last night I was torch in hand at 1am, The Great Escape music blaring out (only in my head ) searching for mites. The Klugi got the all clear, which is great coz its the larger of my 2 enclosures but I rarely find food remnants. However, after scouring the Rosea enclosure I finished at the water dish, and there they were, about 5 of them "achtung! achtung!". So I removed the water and replaced it. I may remove it completely for a couple of days if they return especially considering my latest misfortune with the house spider

Hi all
Love this post Peter btw
I was just wondering. Do the lice not make a mess themselves? Is it their faeces too small to worry about, or do they eat their own? (yuk!)
Im guessing its just a matter of not over doing the numbers of them? any thoughts?

[Colin D Wilson]

Woodlice excreta is just excess nutrients that they freely deposit back into the substrate which is why gardeners like them so much.

Of course if you have an abundant colony in there making the substrate more nutritious, then this makes for a better medium for fungae to grow of which the spores in turn get devoured by the woodlice leading to more nutrients going into the substrate ........you get where i'm going here......

I've found that 1 woodlouse per 12 square inches of floor space (i.e. 12 x12 floor space exoterra = 12 adult woodies) is about right.
the smaller spider need less floor space and give less waste so fewer woodies are needed
For slings i use the little baby woodies and replace them when they grow a comparative size to the sling

[Peter Lacey]

Love this post Peter btw ...

Thanks Colin,
sometimes I let my imagination run, not hard when you've got the search lights on.

I've always considered woodlice as pests, how wrong I am.
My CWD devoured them as he did flying ants but he's grown larger now so I don't think he'll be so interested. However if they help reduce the number of mites, clear up the excrement and fungi then they are to be applauded.
Not found many recently, I guess the cold weather plays its part but I'm definitely up for including these in my CWD and T enclosures.

This evening I looked at the water bowl I replaced yesterday and already there are white mites although no sign of them elsewhere and low in numbers.
In the water bowl of the CWD I found small black mites, again low in numbers and no sign of them elsewhere.

Once the woodlice are in the enclosures do people continue to feed them? And do you find they multiply in the enclosures? My CWD enclosure will consist of wood bark chippings so I guess plenty of cover and reduced light for breeding.

[Colin D Wilson]

The white "mites" in and near the water bowl may be springtails, not too much of a problem but unsightly never the less, just change the water to get rid of them.

Black ones in the CWD....no idea......got a picture you can post?

Just put the woodies in the tank and leave them to their own devices, they'll breed quite readily if there's decaying food stuffs and feaces to go at.
The bark chippings in the CWD may not be damp enough unless you over flow the water slightly or add some spagnum moss to one corner. or are you going to set it up so the CWD can have a large water bowl to give a more natural habitat, after all they are semi aquatic by nature.

[Peter Lacey]

Thanks for the reply Colin,
Yes the CWD tank is 4 foot wide and half is taken up by water.
He's currently in a small enclosure at the moment but I've nearly finished his new one.
Unfortunately I can't supply images of the mites, the camera i have would merely show black dots. Oh for Christmas pressies eh!

I do have a bag of moss going to waste which I recently purchased.