Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey everyone...

i've had an unsuccessful time breeding beetles. as you may recall from my last post, i was trying to figure out what to do with the beetles. i ended up just letting them go in my cousin's backyard. well, the substrate was starting to mold, so i was moving as many of those EXTREMELY TINY mealworm babies as i could. i decided to let a couple days go by and let them grow and move them, in hopes that they would crap the mold out as they grow. so... i had the molding mealworm bin on top of my wooden DVD dresser.

i was going to feed my leo mealworms from the clean bin tonight. i wanted to see how the babies were doing and scooped out a spoonful and saw the baby mealies getting bigger. for a moment, i was happy. then, i put the clear lid back on. i noticed a ton of TINY tan/beige dots all over and went to take a look. i let my eyes focus, and yes - those tiny dots were moving. i looked all over the top of my DVD dresser. it seems as if those mites were being born from the lid of the bin and were spreading. there were some on everything that was on my dvd dresser - all the pH bottles for my fish & frogs, the water treatment bottles, my temporary deodorant bottle, my handheld mirror, my small calendar, my ID card, and some change. what the hell are they? i ended up getting a bin full of hot water and just dumped EVERYTHING in there. i wiped down the DVD dresser with damp tissues. after letting everything soak, i let them air dry on my bedroom floor. now, the mealworm bin of the tiny babies from my 1st experiment with mealworm breeding is soaking in the water - all those baby mealworms... dead. all those mites are floating in the water, along with the molding substrate. i had about 100 beetles, and female beetles lay an average of 500 eggs... i had so many mealworm babies... now, they're all drowned and dead in hot water.

you know what else sucks? those mites got inside of my clean mealworm bin. so, i ended up NOT feeding my leo tonight. should i toss those out and buy new mealworms? or should i continue feeding the mealworms from the clean mealworm bin?

any advice or reasons why this may have happened are greatly appreciated. at least i know i won't be breeding mealworms anymore. petsmart is gonna get my money hehe~ man! i was excited too.

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

What were you using for gutload?

I only offered my beetles a moisture source about once a week to avoid any risk of mold. Mealworms are part of a beetle family that's native to the desert, so they're used to dry environments. I read in my entomology book that they can actually absorb 50% moisture from the air. Whether that's the beetle or the mealworm, I'm not sure. I guess I can look it up again.
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chickabowwow

3.2.3 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)

yeah it was scary i freaked out and just dumped everything in hot water... first the bottles and plastic things - the bin of mealworms last

for gutload, i used some oatmeal, wheat bran, baby cereal, fish flakes, insect gutload, and some of my leo's calcium. i also gave and replaced carrot slices.

mannn it sucked soo bad. i have mites in my room ahhh

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

Eek, don't ever put a lid over your mealworms or beatles container. Same goes for crickets if you keep them. It's not needed and it's a good way of creating unwanted moisture and mold. This will also make a breeding ground for mites and whatever else finds it's way in there to lay eggs if it's constantly damp in there.

Mites as you will see are very difficult to get rid of once you get large numbers of them. The only way to kill them is with soap or insecticide, and even then it might take a few applications. I think it's best to flush the entire mealworm colony down the toilet and start over fresh.

Take everything out of your room that is a moisture source for the mites. I don't know if what you have are the same thing as spider mites, but if the are and you have any house plants nearby - especially Ivy, such as English Ivy, you might want to get rid of it. German Ivy doesn't seem to attract them, so those might be fine. You'll sometimes find them on pothos too. Anyway, give your room a good vacuuming, then put some mild dish soap in a pail of hot water, and with a damp rag wipe everything down in your room with this, including plants if you have them especially under the leaves. You can put a bit of soapy water in a spray bottle and spray any plants as well and the soil. Go over everything again a second time in a few days or a week or so if you want just to be safe, then hopefully you should be rid of them or at least have things under control. I know it suxsss, but think of it as a good head start to spring cleaning LOL.

I just wanted to say something about mealworms and needing a water source...... Just because an animal is from a desert environment does not mean it does not drink every day..... Meal worms do get the water they need from the air but it is the dew that is in the air in the morning...... Jello cubes work good for keeping mealworms and crickets hydrated..... Also do not cover the cage or bin you keep the mealworms in......

i used those cricket jello cubes before for my mealworms - but the moisture would soak into the paper towel and make the gutload under it damp. i didn't know about covering the bin for the mealworms until my unfortunate run-in with the mites

thanks for the tips! i'll be leaving it open from now on

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

i was always curious about the lids - coz i ordered the mealworm breeder starter kit and i just assumed i needed the lids coz it came with them - lol sometimes it would fog up and i'd have to remove it for a little while.

ahhh! breeding ground for mites!! i have mites in my room ohhh man. that sucks so bad. coz i have some clothes on the floor. lol man, i leave for work in half an hour. so.. i guess when i get home, i'll dump everything in that bin, replace it with hot water and soap... get a rag for everything to wipe em down - do the laundry, including my sheets... and vacuum and sweep... take out the trash...

nothing in my room really has moisture - except for my toads' tank and the little bowl in my leo's tank. my fish, hermit crabs, and frogs have been at my cousin's house for the past three weeks. i'll make him hold it a little while longer

and yes, i'll be dumping the "clean" mealworm bin - i don't want to risk anything that can endanger my pets, as well as myself

so.. are mites horribly bad? i've never had them before and now they're making they're way to my floor, if they haven't done that while i was sleeping - or since they were born, whenever that may have been. coz they were all over everything that was on my DVD dresser. will they get big and all that stuff? what do they do?

lol, i'm still kinda freaked out... and i'm scared as hell thanks for your help!

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

I had the same problem. They are mites, commonly referred to as booklice, although they are not a memeber of the lice family. These mites feed on the exoskeletons/shed skin of mealworms, crickets etc. I researched them online. Here is one of the sites with info:

http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/booklice.html

My infestation came with some crickets i picked up and quickly spread to my mealworms as they were in the same unit. I lost all of my baby worms but i washed all of my large ones and fed them as usual. The worms were not impressed LOL.
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

hehehe, i hit enter by mistake hehehe.

What i wanted to say was that i don't agree with not keeping a top on the containers...... all of my mealworm containers have tops, i just poked a few holes in it. With my little dog around its not worth taking a chance not having a top......as even with the mealworms up high or in a cabnet he always finds ways to get into stuff.

Just keep an eye on them and change the bedding regularly and there shouldn't be a problem.

Red
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

hehehe

i do change the mealworm bedding regularly... but i only did the beetle bedding once out of the month that i had them because i was scared of them hehe~ there were so many!! they were gonna eat me . there were a bunch of big holes in them, but i guess that didn't stop the mold and the mites! dammit! those booklice are smart.

no more lids for my mealies! thanks again

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

I'm not a fan of the beetles either. I much prefer the worms. When i washed my worms they grasped onto me, it was sooooooooo creepy. When hand feeding my geckos sometimes the worms hold on for dear life......and i usually get bit cause the gecko mistakes my finger for food. hehe.

I have tops on all my containers and i don't have any trouble with mold. Thats odd that others do...

I got rid of the mites by cleaning everything with bleach and raid. My house smelt really clean lol. I washed all the walls carpets. It was very annoying but it got rid of them. It was also the last time i bought crickets. I haven't had any trouble since.

Red

>>hehehe
>>
>>i do change the mealworm bedding regularly... but i only did the beetle bedding once out of the month that i had them because i was scared of them hehe~ there were so many!! they were gonna eat me . there were a bunch of big holes in them, but i guess that didn't stop the mold and the mites! dammit! those booklice are smart.
>>
>>no more lids for my mealies! thanks again
>>
>>[aimEe]
>>-----
>>0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
>>0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
>>0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
>>1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
>>0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
>>1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
>>aimee.i8.com
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

ahhh stupid booklice! thank you so much for the link! i'll be doing more research about them at work... LOL! how did you get rid of them efficiently? and OH NO! i have shed mealworm skin in the "clean" bin - u kno.. the clean bin didn't even have a cover, but the "starting to mold" bin did have a cover with holes. man, i was being stupid.

lol the mealworms weren't impressed, but they ended up being eaten anyway - lol. i think i'll just dump the clean worms and buy some new ones today. ahhh, the things i do for my lizard. lol thanks again!

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

Crud! I have them too...at first I thought they were eggs and baby mealworms but then when they didn't "grow," I knew they had to be something else. I finally got my colony going good too. There's got to be a way to deal with these things other than throwing everything out and starting over.

Double-crud!! I just realized that they are the ones triggering my allergy attacks lately. I'm allergic to dust mites so it's no wonder. Grrr!!

That makes me think twice, about breeding my own mealies...I shall check on their little box, right now!
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1.0 ball python (Caesar)
1.0 bearded dragon (Wayne)
1.5 leopard geckos (Lerxst, Gaia, Zelda, Circe, Aimee, Nova)
0.1 cockateil (Gyra)
0.1 cat (Tabitha)

lol yeah, if i knew the risk, i wouldn't have done it - OR i would have been more careful

i tried cleaning it all down, but my small panda holding a bamboo stick is still crawling with them. everytime i clean it, i check back in an hour, and there they are again. they seem to not go away. it's bugging the heck outta me! and thanks for saving me on LJ

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

Oh, man! Maybe you should remove all of the pets from that room, and try disinfectant?

Thank you for accepting my crazy posts. I like to mostly read other people's stuff, as well...it's very interesting.

>>lol yeah, if i knew the risk, i wouldn't have done it - OR i would have been more careful
>>
>>i tried cleaning it all down, but my small panda holding a bamboo stick is still crawling with them. everytime i clean it, i check back in an hour, and there they are again. they seem to not go away. it's bugging the heck outta me! and thanks for saving me on LJ
>>
>>[aimEe]
>>-----
>>0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
>>0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
>>0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
>>1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
>>0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
>>1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
>>aimee.i8.com
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1.0 ball python (Caesar)
1.0 bearded dragon (Wayne)
1.5 leopard geckos (Lerxst, Gaia, Zelda, Circe, Aimee, Nova)
0.1 cockateil (Gyra)
0.1 cat (Tabitha)

Some of you may recall my post a while back with the pics of the awful little critters (mites prolly) that I had no idea what they were. Sorry to hear it happened to you too I have given up on breeding the mealworms, since I don't have many leos, and don't plan on getting more than 4. I don't know what caused it, I kept the substrate clean as I could. I also had many mealies die in the fridge, I think I left em in too long . . .they turned all black.

thanks for your reply - and yes, i have also given up on breeding mealworms i just have ONE leo eating them... so i guess i'll just start buying. i'm planning to have 3 more geckos (1 leo, 1 crestie, 1 gargoyle) by this summer.. and i'd still hafta keep buying some crickets it's okay though.

how did you get rid of those mites? because i cleaned it down, but i'm finding more that collect on a ceramic bamboo plant holder on top of my DVD dresser.

sorry to hear about the blacked out mealies

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

Hmmm so after reading these posts last nite, i went to bed... guess what my dream was.... me waking up to find a whole bunch of MITES around lol
thats what i get for reading horror stories before bedtime lol