Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HELP I have a B&W Tegu And i just noticed little tiny whiteish bugs all over the bark bedding i'm using.. i have a wooden enclosure which is stacked on top of a larger wooden enclosure with 2 8ft RTB's.. now i noticed they are on the outside of both tanks... what the heck are they and how do i get rid of them??

Sounds like they are just little wood mites. Generally, they are harmless to your tegu. Is your wooden enclosure sealed? If they are really bugging you (Ha Ha, no pun intended), here's something you can do...

1)Purchase either a can of Provent-A-Mite spray or Equate Lice Bedding Spray from Wal-Mart's pharmacy section. I'm not going to get into the differences here, but some prefer PAM to Equate, but Equate's cheaper.

2)Take everything out of the cage, even the bark.

3)Follow the directions VERY carefully and spray the enclosure inside and out. You just need a light mist, don't saturate, and hold it the recommended distance away.

4)Spray the bark in the same way. Are you using pine bark? Pine oils are irritating to snakes, not sure about lizards.

5)Clean anything else that goes into the cage with a 10% bleach solution, and rinse very well until there are no bleach odors.

6)When you put everything back together, make sure that everything is dry and that no lingering odors are present that could indicate residual chemicals. Also, as a precaution, I would wait and put the water bowl in the next day to make sure a wet animal didn't reactivate any chemicals. Likewise, I wouldn't mist for a day or two.

Thanks for the help... i'm gonna get the equate today. the little bugs are all over the outside of my now. i need to do something.

Just be careful when you use it.

It's great, but toxic in large doses and when wet.

When it dries...it's safe.