please help - wood lice!!

[siennas]

this has been going on for about two weeks now. i tried replacing and cleaning branches but they keep getting worse. it makes my heart break seeing all of these gross bugs on my chameleons. ive read that it doesn't hurt them, but it still feels completely wrong to leave my chameleon living with them crawling all over him. the sticks do not fit in the oven, i cant put them in there. i need another solution - i tried washing his whole enclosure out already. someone please help!!

 

[siennas]

i thought of using a strong chemical like prevent-a-mite then washing his enclosure down completely right after. would this work? or would it be harmful?

 

[CalamityCrow]

i thought of using a strong chemical like prevent-a-mite then washing his enclosure down completely right after. would this work? or would it be harmful?

I wouldn't use strong chemicals if you can help it. Chams are SUPER sensitive to such things and I really wouldn't risk it. Would it be possible to get all new sticks? Most are free from outside.
Otherwise maybe you can take the sticks out and use a heat gun (paint stripper gun) to cook the sticks and kill the bugs, then replace them? That's a really frustrating problem, I hope you can solve it soon!

 

[siennas]

I wouldn't use strong chemicals if you can help it. Chams are SUPER sensitive to such things and I really wouldn't risk it. Would it be possible to get all new sticks? Most are free from outside.
Otherwise maybe you can take the sticks out and use a heat gun (paint stripper gun) to cook the sticks and kill the bugs, then replace them? That's a really frustrating problem, I hope you can solve it soon!

the sticks that i have already are from outside.. i feel that replacing them will cause the same problem again. and i do not have a heat gun unfortunately. thank you for the help though, and maybe it would be possible to find a chemical that isn't too strong for my chameleon.

 

[Jpeff]

I use live sticks instead of off ground. I also leave bark on for traction so they don't fall

 

[CalamityCrow]

the sticks that i have already are from outside.. i feel that replacing them will cause the same problem again. and i do not have a heat gun unfortunately. thank you for the help though, and maybe it would be possible to find a chemical that isn't too strong for my chameleon.

A heat gun is pretty cheap... 25-30 dollars or so.

 

[Jpeff]

Would you put chemicals to kill stuff in your bed. I wouldn't so why chams bed

 

[Beman]

@jamest0o0 what do you think?

 

[MissSkittles]

I wonder if lacewing larvae would eat them. They eat most other small pests.

 

[siennas]

I wonder if lacewing larvae would eat them. They eat most other small pests.

i'll look into that! thank you!

 

[jamest0o0]

@jamest0o0 what do you think?

I was having trouble seeing, can’t tell if they’re little mites, some sort of springtail, etc.

I definitely wouldn’t use any strong chemicals, probably a good idea to stop things from crawling all over our chams, but the chemicals could do far more harm in the long run. My chams have had ants(the harmless variety) crawl all over them when they got into their enclosures, which I put an end to, but even with that the chams didn’t seem to care much.

I think your problem is that the wood is dead, dried out, and stripped of its bark. At least it looks that way, if I’m wrong I apologize for the assumption. Dead/stripped/sterilized wood is a perfect target for all sorts of insects/fungi. Most being harmless so no need to be alarmed, but can lead to annoying situations like this. Wood boring beetles are another one we’ve seen in dead wood. Things like mushrooms are grown by sterilizing wood/media first making it easier for them to take hold. This means mold and other things that are usually kept in check by a competitive balance, can get out of hand fast. That said, all of our branches will eventually either rot away or dry rot to the point they fall apart and get consumed by something. It’s just that having a freshly cut branch with maybe just a rinse and or sun bake will last much, much longer without problems than one that has been cooked/sterilized and/or stripped of the bark.

Hope that helps a little

 

[Mark_C]

If you've got a Harbor Freight near you you can pick up a heat gun for $17 and you can also download a 20% off coupon from their website (bringing the price down to, er, 17/20, er, no, 20x100x17, no, 17x100/20, no, err, 20x17, yeah that's it), so that brings the price down by an additional $340 or something if my math is right.

I picked one up a few weeks ago to help dry model paints, its basic but works well.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1500-...ture-heat-gun-56434.html?_br_psugg_q=heat+gun

 

[siennas]

I was having trouble seeing, can’t tell if they’re little mites, some sort of springtail, etc.

I definitely wouldn’t use any strong chemicals, probably a good idea to stop things from crawling all over our chams, but the chemicals could do far more harm in the long run. My chams have had ants(the harmless variety) crawl all over them when they got into their enclosures, which I put an end to, but even with that the chams didn’t seem to care much.

I think your problem is that the wood is dead, dried out, and stripped of its bark. At least it looks that way, if I’m wrong I apologize for the assumption. Dead/stripped/sterilized wood is a perfect target for all sorts of insects/fungi. Most being harmless so no need to be alarmed, but can lead to annoying situations like this. Wood boring beetles are another one we’ve seen in dead wood. Things like mushrooms are grown by sterilizing wood/media first making it easier for them to take hold. This means mold and other things that are usually kept in check by a competitive balance, can get out of hand fast. That said, all of our branches will eventually either rot away or dry rot to the point they fall apart and get consumed by something. It’s just that having a freshly cut branch with maybe just a rinse and or sun bake will last much, much longer without problems than one that has been cooked/sterilized and/or stripped of the bark.

Hope that helps a little

yes, when i first got the branches, i thought there would be less organisms when the bark is removed. so you would suggest fresh cut branches rather than the sterilized/bark free ones?

 

[siennas]

If you've got a Harbor Freight near you you can pick up a heat gun for $17 and you can also download a 20% off coupon from their website (bringing the price down to, er, 17/20, er, no, 20x100x17, no, 17x100/20, no, err, 20x17, yeah that's it), so that brings the price down by an additional $340 or something if my math is right.

I picked one up a few weeks ago to help dry model paints, its basic but works well.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1500-...ture-heat-gun-56434.html?_br_psugg_q=heat+gun

thank you!! i will look into this for my replacement branches

 

[Jpeff]

I always cut mine fresh from tree and leave bark on. But I got plenty of trees in my yard. About a third of my yard is trees I got 5.5 acres

 

[jamest0o0]

yes, when i first got the branches, i thought there would be less organisms when the bark is removed. so you would suggest fresh cut branches rather than the sterilized/bark free ones?

Yup for sure, I have used so many branches and logs over the years. The dry, dead, and sterilized were always first to get bugs, mold, and fungi. I respectfully disagree with the posters mentioning heat guns/cleaning… now if there is bird poop or whatever, use common sense, but doing it just to do it doesn’t help things. It’s one of those things where the treatments make the problem worse than it would have been without treatment. Not that you’ll hurt your animal with dead branches, just that they’ll be susceptible to breaking down, mold, and insects faster.

Of course be mindful of any plant pests(rare on branches, but still possible) or dangerous insects(none really where I live, but where you live may be different). A simple rinse off and set in the sun for a few hours will have most things run off that might have been on the branch. Most native healthy trees and plants are resistant to pests though so I can’t imagine many things would be living in the live wood, mostly just surface critters.

 

[siennas]

Yup for sure, I have used so many branches and logs over the years. The dry, dead, and sterilized were always first to get bugs, mold, and fungi. I respectfully disagree with the posters mentioning heat guns/cleaning… now if there is bird poop or whatever, use common sense, but doing it just to do it doesn’t help things. It’s one of those things where the treatments make the problem worse than it would have been without treatment. Not that you’ll hurt your animal with dead branches, just that they’ll be susceptible to breaking down, mold, and insects faster.

Of course be mindful of any plant pests(rare on branches, but still possible) or dangerous insects(none really where I live, but where you live may be different). A simple rinse off and set in the sun for a few hours will have most things run off that might have been on the branch. Most native healthy trees and plants are resistant to pests though so I can’t imagine many things would be living in the live wood, mostly just surface critters.

thank you so much! i wish i knew this before i set up his enclosure lol! i really appreciate your time and advice, and i will definitely put this into action once my guy recovers from his load of parasites (still waiting on the test results to come in, but i still think he may have a load)

 

[Mark_C]

Are you stuck on the branches thing? For $30-50 you can hit Lowes of Home Depot for some common (safe) live plants, then just use a few branches or fake vines scattered about.
Looks great and your bud will have plenty of hiding and hi ting space.

 

[siennas]

Are you stuck on the branches thing? For $30-50 you can hit Lowes of Home Depot for some common (safe) live plants, then just use a few branches or fake vines scattered about.
Looks great and your bud will have plenty of hiding and hi ting space.

View attachment 325600

Your enclosure looks great, thank you!!

 

[jamest0o0]

thank you so much! i wish i knew this before i set up his enclosure lol! i really appreciate your time and advice, and i will definitely put this into action once my guy recovers from his load of parasites (still waiting on the test results to come in, but i still think he may have a load)

You’re welcome! I hope things work out for you, what makes you think your guy has parasites? Hopefully nothing too bad. And I wouldn’t freak out about the branches. I’ve never seen a chameleon hurt on here from something branch related other than foot sores from incorrect sizes and textures(more of an issue with large species). My advice is mostly just to save you the headache of having to replace them every month lol.