Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A couple of days ago, my friend gave me a gecko so for cage furniture I decided to steal a piece of cork bark that my tokays didnt use. After I took it out of their tank, I shook it off into the sink from excess dirt and stuff and all of a sudden I saw the dirt move. It was tiny little gnat/mite looking things. They were black and like I said very small. Could this be because I run a humidifier into the tank and the soil got too moist? I know geckos arnt that big of a target for mites so I'm leaning towards gnats. I'm going to clean the whole tank out to get rid of these things but I would just like to know for future reference what they were. Thanks in advance....

It would help if you can poste a pic, or search the web and link it from there. Or atleast, a better explanation. Do they fly? Jump? Antenna? Legs? etc.

Mites are possible, but i dont think its what you have. Also, geckos dont outgrow them. Ever heard of Iguanas having mites?

I dont think their nagts either.

IMO, they are most likely springtails. I have these in all my naturalistic tropical terrariums. Actually, almost everyone else on here who has a naturalistic terrarium (with dirt) maintained has them, they just dont know it. They are harmless decomposers which obviously, decompose waste and matter. Their also a source of food for some, like dart frogs and mantellas.

I wouldnt worry too much...

M.N

Thanks a lot for the responce. I also spoke to another guy that used to work at my shop and he said just about the same thing. He called them wood mites but the solution was the same: dont worry about it. He said tropical tanks have them and its no problem for the geckos, even a food source for smaller ones.