Red mite!?

dylanserbin · #1 (**permalink**) 08-20-2009, 03:58 AM

So i was feeding my frogs today and i noticed some smal red mites on my cultures... i freaked.

what are these and are the harmful?

Jason DeSantis · #2 (**permalink**) 08-20-2009, 04:51 AM

Dust mites probably. You should throw cultures with mites out. Usually in the first couple weeks you wont see mites on cultures. But after about a month they can start to appear. Not really harmful, more annoying then anything else.
J

UmbraSprite · #3 (**permalink**) 08-21-2009, 01:57 PM

Dust = ~80% human skin

More disgusting than harmful!

Here are some numbers that might make you squirm: A typical used mattress can have 100,000 to 10 million mites inside, feeding on the 6 grams of dead skin you shed each week. Each mite produces 10-20 waste pellets per day, and each egg-laying female can produce 25-30 more mites every three weeks. Cold comfort that a mite only lives about three months, especially when its dead carcass is allergenic!

Jason DeSantis · #4 (**permalink**) 08-21-2009, 02:59 PM

Thanks Chris, I am going to sleep on the coach tonight.
J

frogfreak · #5 (**permalink**) 08-21-2009, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason DeSantis

Thanks Chris, I am going to sleep on the coach tonight.
J

Your couch is just as bad

Jason DeSantis · #6 (**permalink**) 08-21-2009, 05:38 PM

Meant to say couch not coach. oops

j

earthfrog · #7 (**permalink**) 08-22-2009, 05:31 PM

A good carpet-cleaning service (organic if poss) can clean your mattress.

Red mites can attack plants, but they don't do so well with water---so maybe not such a major issue if you mist in the viv daily. Yucky guys.