[heatfreakk3]

Hey guys, I think I might have mites in my orange isopod culture... Will they be bad just like fruit flies? If so is there a way I can do something with out losing the Whole culture??

 

[Pumilo]

Mites don't seem to harm isopod cultures the same way they do springtails cultures and flies. For whatever reason, they don't seem to explode in numbers. Maybe isopods eat their eggs??
Cleaning a Giant Orange culture is easy. Pull out the biggest ones and put them in a deli cup. Shake them up to dislodge any potential mites and pick them out again. Throw them in a new culture. Toss the old culture in a viv or two to seed it out. Most vivs have mites anyway.

 

[heatfreakk3]

Thanks Doug. Will do. They won't spread will they? I also keep snakes, and know mites are bad with snakes.. I want to make sure they don't get near my snakes.

 

[Ed]

Thanks Doug. Will do. They won't spread will they? I also keep snakes, and know mites are bad with snakes.. I want to make sure they don't get near my snakes.

Wrong type of mite... Snake mites are a whole different thing...

There are reports in the books on feeder cultures from Europe about using larger isopods to control mites in springtail cultures.

Ed

 

[heatfreakk3]

Oh sweet, I learned something new today lol. Thanks for the info Ed, that's one less thing I don't have to worry about now

 

[Markw]

What do these mites look like? I don't think I have any, as all i keep now are flies, and all it seems to be is flies in the cultures..but I'd still like to know for future reference..

Mark

 

[heatfreakk3]

They are very small, and white. Other then that I don't really know how to explain them.

 

[Reef_Haven]

Here is a link to a photo of the type of mites that usually infest FFs.
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/68741-deliberately-culturing-mites-3.html#post603758