BUGZ

Astigma · Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 9:21 pm Post subject: BUGZ

i have bugs in my savannas tank they look like little beatels like the one you get with crickets some time what do i do?????

Diegar · Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:34 am Post subject:

anytime i get bugs in my viv, i just clean it out. Remove the old mulch, and give it a good wipedown. If you have your monitor in a glass aquarium style tank, then by all means, rinse it out thoroughly. After putting in new mulch, let your monitor have a good rinsing in the bathtub or something, to make sure he isn't carrying anything back in the tank.

Should be good to go after that...

Good luck!
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The Jay

argentinetegu · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:41 pm Post subject:

Are they the size of pinheads?
If so they are mites and need to be dealt with.
Use a "no pest strip", cut a slice off that is about the size of two fingers width. Place this inside of a margerine tub(with margerine not in there). Poke holes in the tub to allow it to breath. Place in the cage and cover the top of the cage with a towel. Leave for 3 days. Dont worry, the monitor will be fine in there with it. DO NOT FEED while the strip is in the cage. Water will be ok, but no food.
After 3 days, remove the tub and clean cage with bleach and put new bedding in.
Repeat after 8 days.

The source of the mites will vary but usually comes from the mice or rats that you buy. A lot of people have different ideas on where they come from. Some will tell you bedding materials etc. The truth is that mice and rats are usually shipped to a pet store with a shipment of small birds like parakeets or budgies. The mites from the birds will travel to the mice and rats and back and forth. Now I am not saying that bedding or other things will not be the source. More precisely, I am saying that the mites most commonly come from rats and mice via birds.

Buying frozen rodents will usually stop this.

Good luck
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Jerry Huey and Dustin Thompson
Wholesale Reptile Ventures
(850)862-0394

DeadIrishD · Honored Member Joined: Jun 07, 2005 Posts: 265

thats odd... I use paper towels as a substrate, and feed frozen yet I still got them before.

I've read so many diffrent things about the size of sav monitors, how big is yours?

alex · Valued Member Joined: Aug 03, 2005 Posts: 106

If they look like "little beetles" they're not mites. Mites are small, about the size of a pinhead, and reptile mites are almost entirely transmitted by other reptiles - there's a lot of mite species out there, infecting birds, mammals, soil, etc (they're what people with dust allergies are actually allergic to) but reptile mites look like tiny black spiders and you'd think you'd have a history of having brought in a new reptile or had your sav come into contact with a friend's reptile, etc.... snakes and lizards get the same species of mite, if that's a concern for you.

If they look like little beetles, then there's a lot of things they could be. I'd just clean out the cage well, and replace all the bedding, scrub down and bake well all the wood or rock pieces in the enclosure, etc. That'll probably take care of it.

If you ever do use those vapona-type strips, be very very cautious with them. They are highly toxic and there's better treatment options for mites that are safer.

Eclyps19 · Member Joined: Nov 27, 2005 Posts: 31

i had a superworm get out in my substrate and I never found it. A few weeks later I found a big black beetle... as soon as i saw it my tegu noticed it and it was gone... but i'm assuming that it was from the superworm. Just a guess though.

Edit: Yup, just looked it up and this is what the beetle looked like, except Black.

http://www.iaherp.org/superworms/

check out that link and see if that's what you found.