Yes, I get these grain mites anytime I use granular wood substrates. They are tiny and difficult to see. If you use plastic containers with lids, you can hold the lid up to the light and see them crawling on the underside. They often lay their eggs on the lid, or the “ceiling” in a rack system. Or look in the water bowls. What may look like scum on the surface may be a hundred of these critters. They can explode to huge numbers, especially under humid conditions, but are not parasitic on the snakes.



I’ve just started using Sani-chips again after a couple of years of not using any wood products and the grain mites are back. I got some Provent-a-mite, but have been lazy about re-treating to kill succeeding generations, so I haven’t gotten rid of them yet totally.



-Joan

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• white wood mites?qestion - feedermouse, Fri Feb 6 21:56:02 2004
• RE: white wood mites?qestion - Terry Cox, Sun Feb 8 19:32:52 2004
• Grain mites - jfmoore, Sun Feb 8 20:54:05 2004