Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In my mealworm beetle container I noticed tiny little white things crawling even on the lid. They are so small and they are on the inside of the container and the sides and the inside of the lid and outside of lid. I took a pic but they are so small it is hard to see them. Anyone know what the heck they are? I am kinda doubtful that they are baby mealworms, unless baby mealworms have beter climbing abilities than older ones.

I have no idea what these are lol

Those look like mites. You need to throw that entire colony out, sanitize everything and start over. Throw out any unused bedding you may have, start completely fresh.

Good luck.
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Kelli Hammack
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Where'd they come from and will bleach be good to sanitize it with?

Is that flour as substrate? If so, they might be confused flour beetle larvae. They look like regular mealworms and beetles, only much smaller (and they feed off flour). If they are, theyre harmless. If you dont have any baby geckos or frogs to feed, than i would sterilize the bin anyway. Lots of people think these are mites, but most likely, they arnt. I had the same exact situation you were in, and now im culturing them! I wouldnt risk it though, and just clean the whole thing.

I know i would sure use quite a few though...send them to me! More food for my dart frogs =)

M.N

Its cornmeal, but now that you mention it when I first got my mealworms, I noticed a few tiny black beetles in with them. I paid them no mind because I thoght they were mealworm beetles (I was first starting out and didnt know the adult size). It could be from those tiny black beetles. Either way I have no use for whatever it is and will clean out and sterilize the bin tomorrow Thanks for the info on my weird situation!

Yea, their harmless if flour beetle larvae, which they sound they are. Unless you want millions of tiny beetles soon, get rid of them quick!

Good luck,
M.N

Also, bleach and hot water would be a good way to steralize it.

M.N

A couple of summers ago I had an infestation of grain mites. They were getting all up the sides of my bins. When you rubbed the "dust" with your fingers it felt almost wet.
I assume they come from infested grains. I got mine at a local grocery store, but now I buy all my gutload ingredients at a specialty store and haven't had a problem since.
They shouldn't hurt much, but they are a pain in the butt. They might not be good for mealworm eggs if they are in the same dish though.

Good luck with the next batch!
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The above sentence is false.

4.4 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Marbled Gecko
1.1 Red Eared Sliders
0.2 Siamese Mice

You all are so silly. These are just what meal worms turn into. No need to clean out the cage with hot water and go crazy. They are just mealworm beetles, you can feed them to your geckos if you want.

They become the little white cacoons then beetles when they can't find anything to eat.

Don't worry.

You know what, scratch that. Now that i take another look. They don't look so much like mealworm beetles. lol, sorry

nm
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The following sentence is true.
The above sentence is false.

4.4 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Marbled Gecko
1.1 Red Eared Sliders
0.2 Siamese Mice

From what i can see and what you described these APPEAR to be a type of mite that infects insect colonies like mealworms and crickets. They are really really tiny right.....almost hard to see?!? They aren't lice at all but a mite.

They feed on the shed skin of these insects. I KNOW this because i had a severe infestation of them and i did enough research to find out what they were and how to get rid of them.

I got them with some crickets i picked up at a petstore. I'll never buy feeder insects from them again! It took a long time to really get rid of the mites.....they had spread from the cricket container to the unit it was on, then to the wall.....from there they went EVERYWHERE! I ended up overwelming the house with the smell of bleach and raid. I washed all the walls, carpets everything.

There are strings in the forums about them as well as alot of info online. They are not supposed to be harmful to the lizards but i didn't take any chances.

Red
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
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