Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi,

I have a 3 year old Eastern Box Turtle who is housed in a 50 gallon Rubbermaid tub that I bought from a tractor supply store. It's made of very hard, durable grey platic. We keep the enclosure (filled with organic topsoil, coconut bark chips, moss, and a hidey log purchased from Petco) in our bedroom. We moved 2 weeks ago and my husband and his brother had to lug thiss tub into our new apartment. Well, I saw that Shelly had mites in his enclosure and had mentally noted to change out his substrate but it seems that after the mover there are THOUSANDS of these bugs. I see them drowned in his water, crawling all over him and the enclosure and worst of all, I've noticed a few in our bathroom (next to the bedroom) and on our mattress. Not too many but I HAVE seen them. I think the jostling of the enclosure made them worse or more visible on the surface??

My questions are:

1) Are these bugs biting my baby?

2) Are they leaving a funky sheen on his water?

3) Can they live in carpet or mattresses OR box springs? OR on people? I've had the ITCHIES thinking about these creepy crawlies! They cannot live in your hair, can they?

4) Since it's only been about 2 weeks, will spraying with RID spray in can (mattress and carpet in bedroom), vaccuming solve the problem? I read on KINGSNAKE archives that lice spray will kill them on contact.

5) I plan to clean Shelly's enclosure with bleach and water, bake the soil, wood chips and BOIL the moss before putting it in his tub. I also plan to purchase Prevent a Mite for the future. How long do I leave him out of his tub so the bleach won't hurt him?

I appreciate everyone's help!!!

When I kept snakes, we used the cut peaces of the yellow, what were either insect strips, or sent strips. I would put the piece on the top of the screen, and it would kill or drive away any mites. I would contact a reptile/pet store, and I am sure they have somthing that will help.

Bill G.

Yikes!
I can share these thoughts with you:
Determine what kind of creepy-crawly your dealing with, because if they are indeed mites, you will need to use a miticide (not a generic sort of insecticide), to eradicate them. Mites are related to spiders (8 legs) and different chemicals are used to kill them.
Whatever you use, you shouldn't use it around your turtle, of course, and a long soak in water for the turtle would probably encourage parasites to abandon the turtle.
A thorough cleaning and/or disposal of the container and its contents ought to work fine. It sounds like maybe they came in on and thrived on the substrate.
Be aware that any houseplants that may have been in the vicinity would need attention, too. Flushing the soil with a solution of 2 tblsp bleach in one gal. water will get rid of anything inhabiting the soil without hurting plants.
Also, by physically removing (smashing, wiping, whatever) as many as you can see will increase the effectiveness of other means that you end up using (spraying etc.)
I haven't had insect problems with my turtles (yet) but I do have other pets and have found that a full assault on all fronts is the way to go when it comes to infestations.
Good luck!

okay, just curious.. I know with lizards and snakes you can use olive oil for mites.. can the same be done for turtles/tortoises?

That's a really good question.
I don't know enough about how turtle skin would react, but the general idea is sound: smother mites with vegetable oil, then (presumably) wash it off again.
Thats the idea behind those dormant or horticultural oil sprays for insect infestations on plants (only those are petroleum or paraffin oils).