Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok so for anyone who read my posts on the "cricket" babies, I'm sure they are parasites now because they're back. I completely changed the entire tank, rinsing everything down in boiling water, and compeltely changing the substrate. This leads me to believe the parasites are in the frog???

Well it's been a small while after the substrate was changed, and there were absolutely no trace of them left. I've fed him 2-3 times since. The frog moved spots today, and in his old spot was was a huge piece of feces, and all over the feces and in it (I broke it up after seeing them on it) were the little crawly things. They were still crawling, so maybe they bore into the feces or maybe he pooped them out, i can't be sure. Then I noticed them on the tank again. I feel as though if I simply change the whole tank again, not only will this be a lot of effort, it will be for nothing since the buggers seem like they'll just come back.

PLEASE any advice, insights, or suggestions are appreciated.

These sound like soil mites which are detrivores. If your substrate is moist when you get it, they could be coming in on the substrate, they could colonize the tank from nearby potted plants, been left in a crevice in a piece of cage furnishing that wasn't throughly disinfected, on the skin of the frog, or even in a crevice in the silicone of the aquarium (in other words there are tons of ways they can appear in the tank).
The other major possibility are springtails, which are common in moist terraria and are totally harmless. If you poke them with a small item and it hops its a spring tail. If it looks like a small globe with legs then its a mite....
Neither of these have been shown to harm frogs as of yet although there are reports of soil mites appearing rapidly on dead frogs giving the appearence that they attacked the frog.

Ed

The only thing you can do know is identify exactly what the critter is. Then gather information on the animal to determine where they are coming from and whether they pose any threat to the frog. Then use specific tactics to irradicate them, if you decide to do so.

Thanks! That is a wealth of information, exaclty what I was hoping for. From your descriptions, I'm thinking they are soil mites. That being said though, they are translucent bulbs and look like they could be easily popped (although I don't have the patience or eye sight to do this). The reason I'm thinking they're soil mites is because from the way they move, it looks like they have legs.

It's good to know that neither is really harmful. I kept the population down by throwing out clumps whenever they were large enough to easily capture (they huddle together in dispersed clumps). I've managed to reduce their population to next to nothing by allowing the terrarium to dry out under a heat lamp, while keeping the frog misted or in its water bowl.

Thanks for all the help guys!

Easiest thing to do might just be to get a fecal done on the animal. Then you'd at least know if they are IN the frog.