Mites in fruit fly culture!

[Miss Lily]

My latest culture I got online didn't have many flies in when it arrived, so I put it somewhere warm and the flies have exploded! Trouble is, so have mites - I think because the flies were not present to start with? Do I need to get rid of this culture or can I remove some flies to start a new one? Will the flies just spread the mites with them?

 

[jdog1027]

Hey! I think that if you move flies, they'll just move with them. Xanthoman has some posts from the past that goes into some serious detail about preventing and treating Fruit fly cultures for mites. Marty from Mistking also has some good posts on them.

 

[Miss Lily]

Thank you. I have so many flies in there now so I don't want to dispose of them if I don't need to!

 

[Fool2Think]

Other than the mites causing your cultures to "crash" is there any harm in feeding them out?

 

[laceygarison]

O no.the mites came from the warm moisture . Best of luck to you

 

[Miss Lily]

Other than the mites causing your cultures to "crash" is there any harm in feeding them out?

That's what I want to know! Can I still feed them or will they transfer mites to the viv? Can I also use some of the hundreds of flies to start new cultures or will the mites transfer too?

 

[laurie]

Tiff they will transfer the mites to the viv and to MONTY. Only feed him those in a closed area away from his viv and make sure he doesn't take any friends home.

Fruit fly cultures can get mites just by where they are stored. Xantoman has a good post on ff's. If you can't find it I think I still have it.

 

[emilybier]

Mites are inevitable in fruit fly cultures. Whether they come soon after the first boom or later, after the culture is used, they will get there. I tried my hand at culturing fruit flies and it is a hassle to keep them out. If you order from joshsfrogs.com they have kits with preventative spray. I never tried it but I'm sure it works well. It is fine to feed the cultures out while there are mites in them, grain mites do not harm reptiles and amphibs. I was paranoid about it and only did it once but I fed off a culture that had mites to my colony of bumble bee toads and they were fine. Once you really see the mites though, your culture will completely die within a few days. You want to order more flies now, throw out the culture, and wipe down your surfaces really well and get some mite paper and the mite spray for starting new cultures. Do not start a new culture with an infected culture, they will transfer.
Keeping the flies in a moist and warm environment definitely contributes to them breeding in there faster.

 

[Miss Lily]

Damn! I really wish Monty would hurry up decide he prefers 'proper' big boy cham food instead of these pesky flies! I brought another culture today and there are mites in that already and no flies! I have a recipe for a culture that I found on a UK forum which just uses 'Ready Brek' (flaked porridge oats) mixed with water. Maybe the mites won't be so keen on that! I have nothing to lose (apart from the cultures and flies) so I will try and start a couple of new ones with that recipe and see what the levels of mites are like in those. I will have to chuck out the hundreds of flies culture that I have anyway so it can't hurt to at least try!

 

[laurie]

Mites are inevitable in fruit fly cultures. Whether they come soon after the first boom or later, after the culture is used, they will get there. I tried my hand at culturing fruit flies and it is a hassle to keep them out. If you order from joshsfrogs.com they have kits with preventative spray. I never tried it but I'm sure it works well. It is fine to feed the cultures out while there are mites in them, grain mites do not harm reptiles and amphibs. I was paranoid about it and only did it once but I fed off a culture that had mites to my colony of bumble bee toads and they were fine. Once you really see the mites though, your culture will completely die within a few days. You want to order more flies now, throw out the culture, and wipe down your surfaces really well and get some mite paper and the mite spray for starting new cultures. Do not start a new culture with an infected culture, they will transfer.
Keeping the flies in a moist and warm environment definitely contributes to them breeding in there faster.

I disagree. If the cultures are sitting on the shelf paper we all used in cabinets, called insecticidal paper, you will not get mites. I did as zanthoman told me and have never had a mite since. I keep williamsi gecko's so I have ff's 365 a year. Now if I could just find a way to never have ff's get lose it would be great.

 

[Dave]

To prevent mites, I find that insecticidal shelf paper is very appropriate for personal use, but expensive when doing some cultures on a large commercial or hobbyist scale. I like to use a spray I bought from the grocery store that wards off mites, bed bugs, ect. Almost any miticide will work, just make sure you don't spray your vivarium down with it as I can't guarantee that it would be safe for reptiles, and would venture to say no.

Also throw out any cultures you have after 28 days. That should keep the mites away, they like dead stuff ;-)

 

[emilybier]

I disagree. If the cultures are sitting on the shelf paper we all used in cabinets, called insecticidal paper, you will not get mites. I did as zanthoman told me and have never had a mite since. I keep williamsi gecko's so I have ff's 365 a year. Now if I could just find a way to never have ff's get lose it would be great.

I'm glad that it worked for you, but I did not have the same experience. I had mites while using mite paper or insecticidal paper.
My melanogaster would get out from time to time but hydei are too big. Are those too big for neo chams? They seem much more substantial to me. They take a little longer to get going but they produce for a long time.

 

[ataraxia]

i am going through a mite problem also. the vendor says they arent anything to worry about but i personally cant stand itchin like a mad man when i mess with them. im throwing out all the old and starting from new. melano's still doing well despite the mites but the hydei are basically done for.

are they going to cause problems for your pet? no, but they are very bother-some.