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I recently adopted a juvenile skunk gecko and three weeks ago noticed mites in his cage. I put him in temporary housing while I bleached his cage and baked his branches, and after a week I put him back in his cage with new substrate. I should note that I didn't find a single mite on the gecko or in the temporary housing, only in the substrate of his cage.

Tonight when I was doing tank maintenance I saw two mites on the lid of his tank. They're the same color as baby crickets, but I've raised crickets and I'm positive these are mites. Again I moved him into a temporary cage and again couldn't find any mites on him. Do these sound like wood mites? Some other harmless mite? Or am I just lucky they aren't on him yet? I don't want to stress him out if it isn't necessary.

Specifics: His substrate is sterile peat moss and a tiny bit of vermiculite (after this bout of mites it will probably be paper towel). I'm not sure what the humidity is. Originally I found the mites all over a cricket who hid and died under the water dish. As for the gecko, he looks healthy and is eating well.

Thank you for any help and sorry if this is a frequently asked question.

RM

you are most likely talking about what are commonly known as springtails. they are harmless to the geckos and are most likely coming from your " sterile" peat moss substrate.
they will do absolutely no harm to your geckos, and feed on dead/decaying plant or animal fecal matter.
there are a couple of people who believe they may harm gecko eggs however. i've got them in most of my uroplatus cages, and a few other things but i don't even worry about them anymore.

Thanks for the reply. I looked up springtails before posting and don't think they're what I have. These are round/slightly oval, light brown and walk at a moderate speed (don't jump).

I store the peat indoors but it's possible the bag could have recently become contaminated. My other reptiles are on it and have no sign of mites, I always bake the peat before adding it. Just in case I'm going to use the rest of the bag in the garden.

To be safe I'm still treating the cage and gecko as if the mites were parasitic.

Thanks again,

RM

I think more important is how the gecko is doing. While mites are parasitic and undesireable, they will not harm a healthy, unstressed gecko, which buys you the time to investigate further. Weigh the pro's and con's of any mite treatment that you try. If you are confident in treating gecko's then great, your mitebound captive will most likely fair well. It is not uncommon for people to maim their captives because they are needlessly seeking a sterile enviroment. I would suggest identifying the bugs first. If not springtails, there surely is a million and one other species of invertebrates before mites.

Ian