Has anyone heard of a mite infestation being traced back to using dirt/soil substrate ect? I treated the dirt I plan to use by putting a lot of dry ice in a rubbermaid container with it for a couple of days. I also put the dirt through a screen. The dirt is in the cage now without the future occupants. I found a lot of mite looking organisms in the rubbermaid a few days after I transferred the dirt to the cage. I honestly couldn't tell you what they are exactly. They were extremely small dark organisms. Too small to count how many legs they had. I've taken samples of the dirt in the cage and haven't found any similar insects. We'll see what it looks like in a few days. If any of you have had similar experiences please share. I'd like to know how to work around this if its a serious problem.
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mites from outdoor substrate?
Replies (2)
There are many types of mites and only a couple that feed on reptiles. I would be shocked to hear a truly verifiable case of parasitic mites being transfers directly by soil.
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Steve
The specific type of blood-sucking "mite" that snake keepers fear does not live in the ground outside your house...unless that is where you dump all your woodchips and sheds from a big snake collection. But if you're just digging up fresh dirt and you're concerned about what's living in the dirt in temperate N. America and your tropical Monitor lizard, you don't need to have fear of that. You'll get a few worms, isopods, springtails, and things like that, but they will not harm your lizard at all. Some of the little bugs will actually help you spot clean your cages.
