YIKE ! mite fright

little leaf

Avid Member
OMG - ewwwwww
I do not feed super worms very often -( will go weeks w/ out feeding them out to anyone ) I keep them in a small nook in the corner of a room, so I do not look at them when I feed them- well, I fed them this am -then I noticed later that day, the carrots looked "furry" - so I looked closer - AHHHH - there were mites ALL OVER THEM ! the worms do not seem bothered by them - I am ! - but what could these have come from ? there was an old potato that came with them, and I feed them the carrots, and other veg- I kept them in oatmeal - but are these safe to feed? I checked all my other bugs, none have any - I am so grossed out - I put them outside - then I went back and worm by worm ( there are 100's :eek: ) took a small paint brush and dusted off each worm, and put it in a new cage - how long does it take for that many to get like that ? there was no smell, or anything to the cage there were in - but YUCK ! I am sure there are still mites in w/ them - should I just throw them away - or can they still be fed out?
 

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Mites can be very hard to eradicate. You may need to get rid of the whole thing. One way to help prevent mites is to keep the bedding dry and I use a plastic lid that sits on top of the bedding to put the fruits and veggies on. That way the moisture doesn't stay in the bedding. Also be sure they are not near any fruit fly colonies and that is a good way to infect your super worms as well.

I do feed them every other day so that I am taking out the old food and putting in fresh pretty often.
 
Thanks ! !
Now im itchn...

YUCK!!!!
Mites crawl all over everything... I am starting to itch...:D

tell me about it ! I went and took a shower just encase any got on me- but I had on rubber gloves that went up to my elbows - lol and I did it outside- it was like 13 out ! and I STILL feel itchy :eek:

Mites can be very hard to eradicate. You may need to get rid of the whole thing. One way to help prevent mites is to keep the bedding dry and I use a plastic lid that sits on top of the bedding to put the fruits and veggies on. That way the moisture doesn't stay in the bedding. Also be sure they are not near any fruit fly colonies and that is a good way to infect your super worms as well.

I do feed them every other day so that I am taking out the old food and putting in fresh pretty often.

thankfully , there are the only bug downstairs - and I got them in June- so they have been here awhile - I think I am just going to feed them to the ducks, I don't think I will be able to keep them now- they are "cursed" - lol I will itch every time I look at them now- I changed them into fine corn cob - I will centrally pay more attention to my next ones, but how did the mites get in there ? or do you think they came w/ them ? nothing else has them - I looked VERY close at everything else- lol
 
No wonder folks in old times believed in spontaneous generation! They could have been eggs or something in the bedding or the carrots, who really knows! I suggest fire. Burn everything:D. And you know if you had been trying to raise them nothing would have happened! I bet dart frogs would tear them up!
 
I bet dart frogs would tear them up!

awwwww - I did not even think of that- I have a friend who raises dart frogs - when I dumped the bucket out, it looked like a big pile of dust, then it kinda started MOVING :eek: :p - I am sure they are dead now- it was only 9 out last night - I dont think the mites have little winter jackets :p
 
Now Cheryl calm down.:rolleyes: I have kept supers for years and never seen the horrible mess you had. i am like the others, I have been itching since we talked yesterday. Your skin must be raw from scratching. Toss those and start over. That is the only way to get rid of the itching.
 
yikes i'm pretty cool w/ most kinds of gross stuff, but that made my tummy turn a bit. Ding dang now I'm itching like the rest of ya.
 
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