Super Tiny White bugs on top of Cricket cage. Any idea what it is?

[PaladinHeart]

Super Tiny White bugs on top of Cricket cage. (With Picture)

My cave crickets are in a clear plastic, white lidded container, with a green mesh over a hole on top and another glued to the side (for good air flow). Today I noticed a bunch of itty bitty white things crawling around on top, on the lid. I wiped them off with a clorox wipe.

I can't see that there are any in the cage (but they are really tiny, after all). Should I be concerned for my crickets or even my own safety?

I've been feeding them fish food lately. Is it possible there's some kind of parasite in that? Sometimes I'll accidentally lose a particle on top of their cage but don't bother to clean it off. I'm hoping they were just fruit fly larvae or something similar. I feel really icky though. =/

 

[chicalafreaka16]

Mites

Most likely white spider mites if they are round in shape. I have been told they dont harm reptiles, but I have been given a lot of misleading information in the past, so I would do research and just make sure they dont over populate. There are also quick remedies that will not harm your reptile, but will get rid of the mites. hope this helps a little

 

[PaladinHeart]

I noticed that they look off-white on the lid, but when I took the picture they look reddish in the pic. Strange.
Not sure if the image will show, but here's a link:

 

[cloverthechameleon]

are you sure their not pinheads?

 

[Foist]

Grain Mites, Im pretty sure they are harmless.

 

[PaladinHeart]

Well I've wiped off the lid twice with a clorox wipe and they have returned again, although not as many (seen maybe 20 at most). They're super tiny. I can barely see them. They are rectangular (like ants?, but maybe not as long). Really weird that they want to be on a plastic lid.

 

[DanSB]

are you sure their not pinheads?

Ha ha that's what I was wondering too.

Are the crickets in any dirt? Foliage?

Could be mites (most likely), or sprintails, or maybe pinheads (least likely).

The picture makes it impossible to tell.

What are you feeding? If you're feeding a chameleon fish food isn't the best to give (unless they are just breeders in which case maybe you have pinheads!)

 

[coldbloodedAL]

Im almost positive they are mites... What kind, I cannot say though.. Should be harmless

 

[DanSB]

Im almost positive they are mites... What kind, I cannot say though.. Should be harmless

I was checking the bug guide to see what kind of mites Crickets can get and all the ones I've found are red.

If the crickets themselves are infested I would kill the culture and start over and at least definitely don't feed them off until you get a positive ID.

All the mite sprays I've seen would more than likely do a cricket in as well.

Everyone is saying it is probably not a big deal... I would make sure it is positively not a big deal as if your herps get mites they are a pain to get rid of.

 

[PaladinHeart]

Well I don't have anything to feed them to. I just starting catching and raising cave & spider crickets last year and they've only recently started having babies.

I've examined the inside of the cage really well and I can't see the mites (whatever kind they are) in there at all, but again they are really tiny so...

I only recently started feeding them a really cheap fish food. Should I quit with it and switch back to fruits and veggies? Maybe that would get rid of the mites.

In the meantime I could freeze the rest of the fish food and hopefully kill any unseen mite eggs that may be in the jar. I don't see any on it but.. no idea.

Also i recently moved the crickets to this location. I did have some old cards in card sleeves laying there that had been slightly watered damaged about 10 years ago. Maybe the mites were in eggs on those sleeves and just recently got a droplet of water and decided to hatch?

Anyway I hate to destroy my cricket colony and if the only danger could be to a pet they eat then I don't see the need. Unless there's a danger to myself or the pet dog?...

Edit: Ah, forgot to mention that the crickets are in Peat Moss type of dirt. There's also a couple old things in there with them, a clump of moss (most likely dead) and a spiny light brown plant (dead too) that the baby crickets love to climb on and hide in.

For water I have a flat piece of cardboard (mostly for the crickets to hide under), and on that is a plastic tupperware lid, and on that is the sponge that I rinse out about once a week and if it feels dry in-between those times then I try to put a bit of water on it, which is usually once every one to two days. The sponge is almost in half now... not sure if it's deteriorating on its own or if the crickets are literally eating it. xP Any suggestions on a good sponge brand?

 

[PaladinHeart]

They're all back the the EXACT same spots on the cover, even after I thoroughly washed and sprayed it with lysol. Irritating. =/

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Grain mites are very round. They look like tiny white balloons when observed under a kids magnifying glass. In your photo the bugs look slightly elongated so they might not be grain mites. Grain mites reproduce exponentially. One day there are none. The next day there seems to be thousands. The only way we've eradicated them in the past was to completely empty and wash out and sanitize the entire container. And use up the crickets as quickly as possible and clean up all containers/utensils.

Grain mites appear when dry food is allowed to get moist. They are in much of the grain we ingest. The best way to avoid the problem is to keep dry things dry and moist things separated. The tricky thing is that crickets will carry dry food into the moist areas.

If you are keeping your crickets on a moist warm substrate, and your crickets are adult, they could have laid eggs which would hatch and produce pinhead crickets. But only if the eggs were laid in a substance that was allowed to remain moist.

 

[uniquechams]

you just made me super itchy! haha im sorry you are having this problem, no idea how to fix it or what it is, but ive had icky things around before, i go super bug killer crazy on them lol good luck!

 

[Solid Snake]

Do you see any on the crickets?

I would transfer all the crickets to a brand new, clean habitat.

They are eating the sponge. Crickets will eat anything.

I like to use an orange slice to keep them watered, its very easy and cheap.


Do you have pictures of these crickets you could share?

How large are your colonies?

 

[PaladinHeart]

I've looked pretty good at the crickets through the plastic and can't see any on them, but it could be that I'm just not seeing them (because they're so blasted tiny!).

They are doing something weird at the corners of the green mesh I have laid on top of the box. It's almost like they are piling on each other and making a little line going down. Very odd behavior. Another thing I find odd is that they enjoy being on the plastic. Why plastic? Do they like plastic? What kind of mite would enjoy being on plastic? Or any other bug for that matter. Is there any kind of bug or mite that actually eats plastic canvas? xD

I found my other box that is like the one they're in now. I'm planning to fix it up with plenty of air holes later today and will try and transfer all my crickets to it. Then I can bleach the old box or something.

Ah, I was wondering about the sponge. You would think they could just drink the water from it without chewing it to pieces. Guess not. I might try oranges. How long can you leave an orange in their cage? Sounds like it could get expensive if you have to replace it every day. I guess I could freeze the rest of the orange though and use small slices.

I have several pictures. I'll try to post them later. The colony isn't very large. I know I have at least 5 adult crickets, 2 of which are spider cricket females and 1 is a cave cricket female. I think the other 2 are a male spider cricket and male cave cricket. Not sure though. I may have more than that but they have plenty of hiding places so it's hard to tell. They have had babies but I haven't seen many of them lately so it's hard to say how many total crickets I have. I hope they're not eating their babies. I keep plenty of fish food in their box and lots of cardboard from tissue paper rolls so they don't really have an excuse to eat each other.

 

[PaladinHeart]

Here's some photos I've taken of my crickets over the past year:

Feb 21st, 2012: http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/521268_10151038897714414_1076218009_n.jpg

Early photo, before I added peat moss: http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/576546_10151038897804414_893753100_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/282891_10151038897869414_1614244175_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/550730_10151038898284414_862599653_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/206188_10151038898414414_906731728_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/598822_10151038898524414_637622852_n.jpg

Teeny tiny baby cricket: http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/167419_10151038898674414_351045470_n.jpg

This one died later on: http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/178985_10151038898819414_1112851324_n.jpg

 

[DanSB]

Why is everyone so certain these aren't springtails?

Looking at the pictures of the cricket enclosures it looks like springtail heaven to me.

If they are springtails you're good. Try to get magnifying glass and look at one really close.

Then go here www.bugguide.net and look up mites and springtails and see what they look like. Then let us know!

 

[pssh]

You can get predatory mites to eat them if they are mites. They arent that expensive online.

 

[PaladinHeart]

I'm not sure if it will work, and I hope it doesn't bother my crickets any, but I sprinkled some baby powder around the lid and sides of the sides of the box. Maybe that will dry up the mites/springtails/whatever they are.

I got too busy doing other stuff today (planning on moving soon) so I didn't have a chance to fix up a new enclosure for them. Wish there was an easy way to cut hard plastic. xP

But if you guys think they are most likely harmless then I could just leave their habitat alone. I'm afraid I might hurt some cricket babies when I change their box anyway...

Edit: Several hours later and I don't see much, if any, movement. Hopefully the powder has killed them and not hurt my crickets any. Some had landed on their sponge so I rinsed it out. probably about time for that anyway since it felt kinda slimey. >.>;