Tiny Insects on Ficus? & Mouldy Soil?

[flowapowagirl]

Hey guys,

I had some problems with my Ficus tree as when Kaji was tiny he used to try to eat the soil. so I covered the soil up and then realised when I took it out of his cage that the top of the soil had gone mouldy. I bought some new soil to repot the ficus but last night when I was watching Kaji there was a tiny beige coloured round insect scurrying around on the leaves. I only saw one and I got ride of it... but does anyone know what it is and is it a danger to Kaji? Should I take the ficus out for now? Should I take him to the vets to get tested for parasites?

Thank you. Vicki x

 

[stalincat]

I would chuck the plant out (just in case).. and maybe check your dude for mites? You can do it at home
that's just a guess though

 

[flowapowagirl]

Thank you for replying I really appreciate it!
How do you check for mites?

 

[nimmitz]

Mold or moss? Moss is okay

 

[flowapowagirl]

definite mould! There were insects!

 

[stalincat]

Plant advice: replace top few inches of soil every once a while. Also with a ficus its important not to overwater it. It likes to be moist, but not soaking. I water mine once every 1-2 weeks. It gets water through misting, so it doesn't need much watering.

If you cham doesn't mind handling, you can just look at him closely. You should be able to see them and the wounds they leave.
What I did with a snake is put it in a tub of warm water. If it has mites, you'd see them.
It might not be mites, it was a guess. Maybe some bug which was leaving in your ficus

 

[Jac1582]

A small sprinkle of baking soda on the soil will kill the mold and not harm your Cham just be sure to recover the soil with rocks cuz you still don't want him eating the baking soda, if your tree does have bugs you can use neem oil to kill the insects, it's an organic pesticide. Take it out of the cage obviously and spray it off before replacing it back in the cage. It might have just been a bug hitching a ride in the soil bag and was freed when you added more