Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How do you avoid this? I use potato slices, on top of a deli lid, for moisture & to keep it from making the dry gutload all moldy. I keep my colonies in a small 3 drawer plastic chest & keep each drawer cracked for ventilation, but I still keep getting mites under the potato. Any suggestions?
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1.1 Corn snakes Snake Plissken & Abby
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
1.3 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
1.1 cats Gus & Mena

If you are attracting mites, you need to reduce the moisture. BUT first, you need to get the mites under control.

To get rid of the mites, replace the potato slices daily, throwing out the mite covered ones. You can do it twice or 3 times a day if you have a heavy infestation...do it as often as you want. Soon you will see that there will be less and less mites. After you've got the mite population down, only give moist foods once a week.

Mealworms need some moisture but not very much at all. I give mine a couple slices of potato or a piece of carrot only once a week and that seems to work well for them. More importatnly, the book mites haven't returned.

1) Do you mean, once the mites are gone, only give the mealies a moisture source once a week, leave it, say, overnight, then remove it?

2) I understood that the beetles lay their eggs in the old potatoes, if I get rid of the mites,then start putting potato in only once a week & taking it out the next day, will they still lay eggs & if so, where?
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1.1 Corn snakes Snake Plissken & Abby
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
1.3 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
1.1 cats Gus & Mena

1) Do you mean, once the mites are gone, only give the mealies a moisture source once a week, leave it, say, overnight, then remove it?

No. I mean, put a piece of something in, whether it be carrot, potato, or whatever, and leave it there. As long as your container isn't sealed, which it shouldn't be, it will dry out and not mold. Once it is dry, there's no benefit to leaving it in with the mealworms anymore.

2) I understood that the beetles lay their eggs in the old potatoes, if I get rid of the mites,then start putting potato in only once a week & taking it out the next day, will they still lay eggs & if so, where?

You don't have to worry about this in the mealie bin, just the bin you keep your beetles in. And, since you're letting them dry out, they wont attract the book mites.

Book mites move into our mealworm colonies and floursih because we inadvertently set up the perfect breeding enviroment for them. They need lots of moisture and feast on insect shedding. Book mites are all over the world, in everyone's home...there's no way to get them to go away totally but as long as you keep moisture down to a minimum you shouldn't have a problem in your mealworm colony again.

Thanks Are the mites harmful to my herps? If I feed them mealies (in a dish in their cage)& there are mites in the mealie colony, will this mean my leopard geckos will get mites, or are we talking totally different mites, not the kind that infest our reptiles?
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1.1 Corn snakes Snake Plissken & Abby
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
1.3 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
1.1 cats Gus & Mena