Hello,
I've been using Zoo Med-Forrest Floor cypress mulch and
2 weeks after i clean and add new i get this infestation of
bugs. They're very small, much smaller than a aphid or mite,
they're narrow bodied, silverish and move around quite fast.
On a 1 inch piece if you squint hard you might see 20 or more running around. And they seem to thrive in the moister areas. I never see them on my 2 snakes, but i know they're
coming into contact with them on their night cruises and that
bothers me. Please tell me if you know what these are and
where you think they're coming from. My guess is that zoo meds mulch is egg laden and therefore a bad product. 1 pothos plant in each cage but no bugs in the soil just the mulch.
THANKS!
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What are these bugs in my substrate?
jason1200
Jun 08, 2003 04:12 PM
Replies (1)
Gex-anon
Jun 11, 2003 12:07 PM
They are probably just wood lice(at least that is what I call them). They are no harm to your snakes at all. I often get them in with my cypress mulch(but I buy from Home Depot or Wal-mart since I can 20 lbs for about 1/4 what you pay for a small bag of the Zoo-med stuff). One good way to combat them is to either dry out your cypress mulch for a day or two so the eggs don't have moisture to live off of, or put your cypress in an oven safe container and bake it at 350 for about 30-45 minutes to kill any eggs/bugs living in it.
Again, they are no harm to the snakes, but it doesn't look pretty having little bugs running around the cage, either. 
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