Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I noticed my Pink Tongue Skinks have what appears to be mites. These are not the typical black or red mites that I have seen on snakes but rather a greyish white color. They tend to just wonder around the skinks bodies and are VERY quick in their travels sometimes congregating on the top of their heads in relatively large numbers.
I am wondering if these are indeed a predatory mite that might be harmful or simply a type of wood dwelling mite that causes no harm but just look gross. In addition the animals are not using their water bowls to soak which is pretty typical behavior in snakes as they try to relieve the irritation that snake mites cause. Appetite and activity is normal as well as shedding.
The Pinkies are kept on Cypress mulch which is misted once daily which obviously results in a humid environment. By contrast my Cunninghams and Blue Tongues which are kept on dry Aspen have not been affected even though they are in close proximity to the Pink Tongue enclosures.
This leads me to believe that they are simply some type of wood dwelling mite that thrives in moist/humid condition but I would really like some input from others whomay have experienced the same thing.
Thank you in advance!

It really sounds like springtails. They are very tiny, more elongated then round, silvery white and they love humid environments. My tortoise enclosures often have them. They feed on decaying organic matter. You can reduce their numbers simply by drying out the enclosure for a couple days.

And if not springtails they indeed could be one of thousands of nonpathogenic mites that could've come in with the substrate. I have them in many of my cages; mostly because of such substrates. I agree with TB that a good cleaning and drying of the cage should suffice.

Ian