Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I recently noticed some very tiny bugs in my dragons cage. Not sure if they were mites or not. Ive also noticed the past couple of days there have been some tiny moths in the cage. I just cleaned out the cage and changed the bedding and bathed the dragon. I did not see any signs of mites on him so im not sure what to think. Anyone ever see anything like this before? Some info about my setup: Bran as substrate, 1 hide cave, 1 log that goes over the hide cave, heat lamp. Please let me know what you think. Thanks. EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
7 balls
2 corns(normal, candy cane)
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2 leopard geckos
2 fish, 1 snail
1 pac man frog
1 rat
5 cats

how long have you been using bran and where did you get it? you have to be a bit careful to be sure you buy a sealed bag and not the bulk from the feedstore, bulk health food store stuff is great, but stuff from the feedstore should bve bought in the large brown paperbags... if not it should be frozen overnight to kill any buggies that might be in there, i have owned horses for 16 years and never had a problem with the bran in the sealed brown bags...its bug free and very low on dust
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reiko
photos

I use the bran from the health food store made by Arrowghead Mills. I think my problem may have been that I let it go too long between a complete change. Ive been using this brand for about a year or so and havent had any problems before this. Hopefully everything will be ok now that he has a fresh cage. I also gave him a bath and checked him thoroughly and saw no signs of anything so thats a good sign. Later, EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
7 balls
2 corns(normal, candy cane)
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2 leopard geckos
2 fish, 1 snail
1 pac man frog
1 rat
5 cats

The moths are likely Indian meal moths which are taking up residence in your bran. Very common pests where there are seed or grain products present. They reproduce very rapidly and can enter what seem like sealed containers forming sticky, webby areas with cream coloured catipillars. Freezing any products that may or already do contain them will kill them off and there are reptile-safe, pheromone based traps available for the moths. If the mite-like bugs were *very* tiny and white/yellow like a very fine moving cornmeal then those are likely grain mites. They are a very common problem in mealworm cultures. They tend to show up when the humidity is a bit high.

T.B

>>Hey, I recently noticed some very tiny bugs in my dragons cage. Not sure if they were mites or not. Ive also noticed the past couple of days there have been some tiny moths in the cage. I just cleaned out the cage and changed the bedding and bathed the dragon. I did not see any signs of mites on him so im not sure what to think. Anyone ever see anything like this before? Some info about my setup: Bran as substrate, 1 hide cave, 1 log that goes over the hide cave, heat lamp. Please let me know what you think. Thanks. EP
>>-----
>>Occupants not paying rent:
>>7 balls
>>2 corns(normal, candy cane)
>>1 pueblan milk
>>1 everglades rat
>>1 cal. king
>>1 gray band king
>>1 w. hognose
>>1 bearded dragon
>>2 leopard geckos
>>2 fish, 1 snail
>>1 pac man frog
>>1 rat
>>5 cats