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Post by Borini. on Apr 26, 2016 19:20:35 GMT
Bought some eBay driftwood for one of my environments, and the tank has become riddled with white mites.
I'm not one to immediately burn everything frantically when encountering mites/nematodes/other pests - although their numbers are concerning. They seem to be everywhere, wood, doors, etc. They snails' shells have been covered with them - but I'm noticing very little behaviour differences. Everyone is pooping, eating, and laying as normal. I've had problems with Riccardoella limacum before and it wasn't pretty, as many of us will know. I've observed the pneumostome but can't see any running in and out like I would with Riccardoella.
I'm somewhat reluctant to start a fresh as I have a thriving woodlice community going on - but would begrudgingly if the well-being of the snails were at risk.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Is a dump needed?
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Post by etana on Apr 26, 2016 19:41:38 GMT
Sorry to hear this. Often it's a good idea to for example pour boiling water over new decorations, so we don't get unwanted visitors.
However, if you're sure they're not Riccardoella (the lack of running in and out of the snails indeed sounds like they're not), then they're just annoying and I wouldn't say you have to destroy anything. There are many little bugs who enjoy the conditions of snail tanks, many of them quite harmless. Figuring out what they especially like in the tank and keeping that thing more cleaned up will reduce their numbers. Like, I have had mites who primarily ate old food, so removing leftovers more often was the key to getting rid of them.
Keep us posted on the situation.
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Post by Borini. on Apr 26, 2016 19:47:32 GMT
Thanks Etana. I'll try and get a photo of the ones that are congregating around the tank door.
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Post by Borini. on Apr 26, 2016 20:00:33 GMT
Side note, there are babies in this tank. In the distant past I lost a few due to mite predation. Here, they don't seem too bothered... thankfully. Touch wood!
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Post by jolovessnailies on Apr 26, 2016 21:29:33 GMT
Oh I am so sorry to hear this Borini love, I hate parasites. I have had no experience of it I am afraid but I would want to get rid of the blighters. Do keep us posted as to how you get on.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Borini. on Apr 27, 2016 17:42:10 GMT
Think I'm going to do a dump. The arboreal retics don't seemed to be bothered much, but found a degneri retracted a fairly bit, which suggests its irritated. I brought home a magnifying glass from work this evening and managed to peer into its pneumostome, and did see a large congregation of the mites. I'm still uncertain whether or not they are blood feeders, but I'm convinced they're impacting the snail(s) - plus, they are getting unsightly.
I've got some Hypoaspis ordered, and plan to dump most of the substrate outside, bidding farewell to my woodlice colony.
I'm planning on adding the predatory mites after the dump to pick off any stragglers.
Think after sanitising the wood I'll place it in my aquarium instead.
Can anyone offer any advice for the clean out? Its been a while.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Apr 27, 2016 20:20:38 GMT
Groups of anything like that makes me want to scratch and destroy it, in fact, that is what I would do if possible. It is probably something to do with my trypophobia. I hope the clear out goes well love and you get rid of the horrid things.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Borini. on Apr 27, 2016 20:30:33 GMT
Thanks Jo. Hopefully. It's a right pain. I'm concerned about the loss of beneficial bacteria as I've had this substrate for over two years... can someone shed any light on the likelihood of encountering any problems as a result of losing the bacteria?
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Post by Zorst on Apr 27, 2016 23:41:25 GMT
Personally I would dump the mite infested bedding though if you do check through it for any baby snails first and then I would pour boiling water on it to kill off mites before dumping it that way you don't infect the local wild population of snails n slugs. I would then bath all the snails and sterilize your tank and the items that go in it with boiling water.
Set up your new tank and add your predatory mites and the snails , they should clear off any other infestations that are hiding in your snails shells etc. And hopefully that will sort out the mite problem.
Yes I know its tough to loose all those good bugs from the old bedding in your tank, but to me solving the mote problem will far outweigh the loss of the old bedding. Some will come into the new tank in your snails guts anyway and you can also n the meantime add some naturally probiotic foods to there diet to help them set up a new good tank. One that my snails all love is Blueberries I just cut them in half and they do the rest. I've used this method in the past and my snails survived it well without any digestive problems etc.
Hope that helps towards solving your problem.
Zorst
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Post by Borini. on Apr 28, 2016 8:53:18 GMT
Personally I would dump the mite infested bedding though if you do check through it for any baby snails first and then I would pour boiling water on it to kill off mites before dumping it that way you don't infect the local wild population of snails n slugs. I would then bath all the snails and sterilize your tank and the items that go in it with boiling water. Set up your new tank and add your predatory mites and the snails , they should clear off any other infestations that are hiding in your snails shells etc. And hopefully that will sort out the mite problem. Yes I know its tough to loose all those good bugs from the old bedding in your tank, but to me solving the mote problem will far outweigh the loss of the old bedding. Some will come into the new tank in your snails guts anyway and you can also n the meantime add some naturally probiotic foods to there diet to help them set up a new good tank. One that my snails all love is Blueberries I just cut them in half and they do the rest. I've used this method in the past and my snails survived it well without any digestive problems etc. Hope that helps towards solving your problem. Zorst Thanks for the informative reply, Zorst. I'm off today so I'm going to get to it, and I imagine the predatory mites will arrive tomorrow. I'll keep you all updated. Thanks again.
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Post by Borini. on Apr 28, 2016 15:47:57 GMT
It took some doing, but it's done. The last time I had to do this it was a mere kritter keeper... don't think I'll ever fancy hauling a 60x45x45 terrarium down a flight of stairs!
I got some blueberries as advised, and the snails are loving it. Thanks for that tip, Zorst.
As mentioned, hopefully the predatory mites arrive tomorrow to clean the snails of any internal infestation.
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Post by Zorst on Apr 28, 2016 16:48:58 GMT
Good on you, the clean out will be worth it. Any wood etc I use I bake in the oven on a high heat for a couple of hr when im cooking a roast dinner lol. That tends to make sure anything like mites are well n truly dead as are any eggs. I just put the wooden items on a baking tray in the bottom of the oven.
Glad they like the Blueberries my lot here love them.
Zorst
PS there poop may go interesting colors so don't be surprised if it does.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Apr 28, 2016 21:24:21 GMT
I am glad it is all done love and it sounds as if you did a great job. I didn't know snails like blueberries, I will have to buy them some.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by etana on Apr 29, 2016 5:12:31 GMT
What a shame Borini. I must add that the cleaning of old food etc has worked well when there have been just a few dozen mites or so in total. It sounds like you had so many, they could end up inside the snails by chance even if they weren't blood thirsty. Glad to hear the big work is done though and the snails are loving the blueberries too. I'll have to get mine some as well.
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Post by Borini. on Apr 29, 2016 7:26:26 GMT
Thank you all for the kind words!
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