Help!! What are these??

[Bazelthechameleon]

All my bug cages have been infected with millions of these tiny white bugs that are crawling EVERYWHERE. i’ve brought all my bug cages outside and I’m spraying everything down and changing all the substrate and soaking the cages in hot water but this is MADNESS. Does anyone know what these are and how to get rid of them??

 

[Steve A]

It's hard to see them in detail in these photos because they are so small. But the 2nd picture looks like there's some nasty stuff in there. Could these be small maggots??

Did you clean the bug cages regularly? I clean mine every few days at least. I have a little system down where I use multiple cages for them because I am a little OCD about things going bad in there and possibly making my chameleon sick. I'd highly suggest keeping the bugs much cleaner. I've learned personally that the bugs need as much care as the chameleon!

Good luck with this. I hope it was just a lapse in not cleaning and it's a one time thing. If you clean everything out, start your bugs all over and it happens again while it's all clean, THEN you have a problem, IMO.

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

It's hard to see them in detail in these photos because they are so small. But the 2nd picture looks like there's some nasty stuff in there. Could these be small maggots??

Did you clean the bug cages regularly? I clean mine every few days at least. I have a little system down where I use multiple cages for them because I am a little OCD about things going bad in there and possibly making my chameleon sick. I'd highly suggest keeping the bugs much cleaner. I've learned personally that the bugs need as much care as the chameleon!

Good luck with this. I hope it was just a lapse in not cleaning and it's a one time thing. If you clean everything out, start your bugs all over and it happens again while it's all clean, THEN you have a problem, IMO.

That was the worm cage so they’re superworms not maggots lol. Initially I thought everything was covered in dust, but I looked closer and saw the tiny dust specks were moving. I think they may have come from the sweet potatoes I put in the cage recently. The infestation practically happened over night. I just spent 2 hours deep cleaning everything and restarting the cage. I really hope the remaining few die out. I just am praying they don’t get into Bazel’s cage and that they don’t bite.

 

[Steve A]

That was the worm cage so they’re superworms not maggots lol. Initially I thought everything was covered in dust, but I looked closer and saw the tiny dust specks were moving. I think they may have come from the sweet potatoes I put in the cage recently. The infestation practically happened over night. I just spent 2 hours deep cleaning everything and restarting the cage. I really hope the remaining few die out. I just am praying they don’t get into Bazel’s cage and that they don’t bite.

Right I meant maybe maggots came from feces or something left behind lol It sounds like it's probably from the potatoes I'd say. Hopefully they don't get to Bazel's cage, but I don't think they will if they were attracted to the potatoes! You should be good.

 

[Beppo]

That was the worm cage so they’re superworms not maggots lol. Initially I thought everything was covered in dust, but I looked closer and saw the tiny dust specks were moving. I think they may have come from the sweet potatoes I put in the cage recently. The infestation practically happened over night. I just spent 2 hours deep cleaning everything and restarting the cage. I really hope the remaining few die out. I just am praying they don’t get into Bazel’s cage and that they don’t bite.

Oh no!! It looks like spider mites like you get on plants.. I have no idea what they actually are but I wanna find out too incase it ever happens to me… hopefully someone on here knows! I feel like @Snuits might be the person we need to help identify these

 

[lurker9090]

omg thank god its in the bug cage and not the Cham enclosure LOL, could possible be springtails? do the jump a tiny bit?

 

[nightanole]

IGrainMites

 

[Beman]

I dunno but little tiny icky things like that freak me out. lol

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

IGrainMites

I think you’re right. I’m almost certain they’re grain mites.

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

I dunno but little tiny icky things like that freak me out. lol

Agreed. I’m thoroughly traumatized.

 

[elizaann2]

Agreed. I’m thoroughly traumatized.

Ugh I’m so sorry!!

 

[nightanole]

I think you’re right. I’m almost certain they’re grain mites.

I got rid of them in the dubia bin by putting all wet food on trays and swapping them daily for a month. Then they all died off. I think their life span is only like a week or two.

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

I got rid of them in the dubia bin by putting all wet food on trays and swapping them daily for a month. Then they all died off. I think their life span is only like a week or two.

Can you elaborate on this? What do you mean by trays? Like elevated from the rest of the bin? The mites can still climb though…

 

[nightanole]

Can you elaborate on this? What do you mean by trays? Like elevated from the rest of the bin? The mites can still climb though…

No. Like good old butter bowl lids. Odds are the same lids/trays you use to feed wet gut load.

What happened is your bugs made a mess. And the grain mites moved in to eat the mess. You just need to remove the water and food source for a few weeks.

So every day exchange the wet gutload (and maybe even the dry).

It takes about two-three weeks to get rid of them. By removing the food each day you break the cycle. The grain mites now no longer have a "breeding dish".

So you just have to wait it out 1 generation.



ELI5:

Remove food each day
wait for two generations of grain mites to die, takes two-three weeks
Try to keep food mess contained/good house keeping for a few more weeks till all eggs are dead.
When all clear go back to the old ways of just throwing in left overs and treating the dubia bin as a compost heap.

My dubia bin is currently processing a quarter of a watermelon. But hey its low carb so the super moisture shouldnt cause any mites

 

[Gerard8]

I think you’re right. I’m almost certain they’re grain mites.

Do you have a picture? I have micro white flecks that appear on the mesh every day and disappear by morning daily. Now I have tiny flies in the cage and fruit flies outside

 

[Andrew1283]

I have high test isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle which would fry those little suckers. I agree, empty it all out, sterilize, and start new.