Glasgow Andrew Has A Question

[Andrew Murdoch]

Hi there, my family has grown lots!
Now I have a Mex Red Knee, Mex Red Rump, Mex Red Leg, Chile Rose, 3 Sri-lankan Ornimentals, Brazilian Salmon Pink, 4 Salmon Pink Slings and 4 Thailand Forrest Scorpians!!!!!!!
Thats alot for me but its great.
The thing is I was looking at one of my slings and in the wee tub I noticed what I thought was condensation, it wasn't, it looks like mites to me!!! Wee white dots that appear to move, I removed the tub and placed it away from all the other tubs which house my Tarantulas. What next, not sure as what to do, well I am, as in seperate the tub from the rest, remove the T from the tub, clean and new substrate. Is this right? Where do these wee buggers come from? Is there a possibility of all my T's getting the wee moites, and is it ok to house Scorpians with T's? As in all are in seperate tubs ect.
Its been a wee while since I was on here, so I hope everyone is doin ok and I look forward to hearing from your experiences. thanks everyone

[Clinton Hogben]

Hi there, my family has grown lots!
Now I have a Mex Red Knee, Mex Red Rump, Mex Red Leg, Chile Rose, 3 Sri-lankan Ornimentals, Brazilian Salmon Pink, 4 Salmon Pink Slings and 4 Thailand Forrest Scorpians!!!!!!!
Thats alot for me but its great.
The thing is I was looking at one of my slings and in the wee tub I noticed what I thought was condensation, it wasn't, it looks like mites to me!!! Wee white dots that appear to move, I removed the tub and placed it away from all the other tubs which house my Tarantulas. What next, not sure as what to do, well I am, as in seperate the tub from the rest, remove the T from the tub, clean and new substrate. Is this right? Where do these wee buggers come from? Is there a possibility of all my T's getting the wee moites, and is it ok to house Scorpians with T's? As in all are in seperate tubs ect.
Its been a wee while since I was on here, so I hope everyone is doin ok and I look forward to hearing from your experiences. thanks everyone

Cripes
your collection has grown a bit over the last couple of months you certainly got the bug

cant help on scorps (not had one yet) but the steps you have taken so far to remove the mites sounds fine
ie remove the "T" clean out the substrata and container then put in fresh substrata moisten and replace "T"
if you have a hide/log in with the sling that you want to re-use then nuke it in the microwave for a few secs to kill any mites before use again
and just keep an eye on all the other ones to make sure they don't get the same problem
thats the problem with slings you have to keep up the moisture but this can encourage mites its a no win one

Good luck with them all

Clint

[James Box]

i could be wrong, as i've not yet tried it with slings, but woodlice apparently eat mite eggs and leave the T's alone (probably true with slings too, Colin?). the mites, as far as i know, are pretty much omnipresent, though i've personally rarely seen them. the best we can do is limit them, if i'm not wrong.

i think if you put the sling in a new pot, and freeze the other one, substrate and all, you should kill off at least that troublesome batch.
i'd also let it dry out for a few days after that, because mites are more dependent on water than spiders. it's one argument for not having too moist a tank...well as far as adults are concerned anyway.

is your sling infested with them too? if so, you may try putting it in a dry container with no water except maybe a tiny bit of wet kitchen roll a distance away. the mites *should* apparently leg it to the kitchen roll or die, and you can take them out all in one go. the danger is that spiderlings dessicate much easier than adult T's, so i've no idea if this treatment is a good idea for them at all.
just ideas, but more experienced people probably have better ideas.

i've kept T's and scorpions on the same shelves for a while with no adverse affects. i suppose the same caveat applies for this as applies for keeping any pets close together. if something infectious strikes one, you may lose all...but i would think crossing the boundaries between scorpions and spiders MAY be beyond alot of possible contagions or problems of a spreadable nature. even mites, if i'm not completely wrong, are often species specific to the point of dying on the wrong kind of animal.
again, this is largely conjecture, though, just what i've picked up and personally seen, which isn't alot compared to many!

[Peter Lacey]

wow, you've jumped into the deep end, those ornamentals put the shivers up me a little but one day when I've had more experience I'll make the purchase.
It's impossible to permanently eradicate mites but we should try to keep them under control. They can't live long without moisture which gives us a big clue as to how to cure the prob. I'd remove the tub from where the others are, place the sling in a new tub and chuck away your substrate, clean the old tub and re-substrate. I'd repeat that process until you get the all clear.
If the mites are restricted to a water bowl then its easy to cure the prob but mites often enter via the food we feed our Ts so you're likely to get them again.
Drying out the substrate will kill the mites however if you choose to do this without rehousing the T you may find your mites find moisture on your T, around the mouth or book lungs which becomes a much more serious issue.
Check out Stan Shultz site for a more detailed remedy.

[James Box]

aw ornamentals (Pokies!!!) aren't so bad! i've had two striata for a while now, and they're shy as anything but have never even given me a threat display.
i just don't want to get bitten
i jumped in the deep end as well, Andrew, so i know how it happens inverts are rather more-ish!

[SylviRigden]

I have 2 P regalis and they don't give me any trouble either. The female is so beautiful

[Louise~Nichols]

Well...I love my *Pokies*...meet my new girl *Eclipse*...mated female P.Metallica!!

[Toran Tanner]

are they on the spiders or just in the tub? they might just be springtails if they are they are friends.