Mites...as a live food

[eMax]

Hello all,
Does anyone have experience feeding mites, such as the fat white ones that frequently invade white/grindal worm cultures, to small salamanders? They appear to be detritivores like the worms themselves, and should presumably have a similar nutritional profile. They are also typically extremely slow movers, and are usually found milling about on the surface of the media instead of below/in it, which should make them an excellent live food for small plethodontids, efts, etc. I also seem to be more successful at culturing them than I am at whiteworms!

So, any input? Experiences? Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Eric

 

[jeromeetabuzo]

Hello all,
Does anyone have experience feeding mites, such as the fat white ones that frequently invade white/grindal worm cultures, to small salamanders? They appear to be detritivores like the worms themselves, and should presumably have a similar nutritional profile. They are also typically extremely slow movers, and are usually found milling about on the surface of the media instead of below/in it, which should make them an excellent live food for small plethodontids, efts, etc. I also seem to be more successful at culturing them than I am at whiteworms!

So, any input? Experiences? Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Eric

Are they dust mites? if they are i used to feed them to my guppy frys and they loved it. I gave the dust mites dog food and they eat it very monstrously. They breed so fast , but one day mine all suddenly disappeared idk the reason.Overall good food if you have many mouths to feed. Hope i helped !

 

[eMax]

I don't think they're dust mites...which are supposedly so small as to be virtually invisible to the unaided eye. These mites are probably ~1mm in diameter but I'm notoriously bad at estimating sizes and distances. If I think of it, I'll try to get a good picture of them later (they have taken over my grindal worm culture...). But yes, they do love dog food! I'll try to start feeding them to my guppies/mosquitofish to see what happens. It would sure be great if I knew I never had to worry about culturing fruit flies, I hate those little bastards.

 

[jeromeetabuzo]

I don't think they're dust mites...which are supposedly so small as to be virtually invisible to the unaided eye. These mites are probably ~1mm in diameter but I'm notoriously bad at estimating sizes and distances. If I think of it, I'll try to get a good picture of them later (they have taken over my grindal worm culture...). But yes, they do love dog food! I'll try to start feeding them to my guppies/mosquitofish to see what happens. It would sure be great if I knew I never had to worry about culturing fruit flies, I hate those little bastards.

Oops my bad , i didnt mean dust mites i meant grain mites. Sorry! So are they grain mites?

 

[eMax]

I'm not sure they're grain mites either...I've only seen grain mites once, and they seemed smaller and faster, but I could be mistaken.

Also, thanks for the reply! It looks like not many people here have positive experience with mites haha.

 

[jeromeetabuzo]

I'm not sure they're grain mites either...I've only seen grain mites once, and they seemed smaller and faster, but I could be mistaken.

Also, thanks for the reply! It looks like not many people here have positive experience with mites haha.

Can you post a pic of the mite?

 

[Otterwoman]

The mites are supposed to not be harmful and could be eaten, but if there are a lot they just crawl over the salamanders which might be annoying to them. Either way most people are grossed out by mites in their tanks, so they are not very popular.

 

[eMax]

Sorry for the delayed reply, but here is a photo of some of the mites next to a quarter. They're extremely slow; I'm beginning to doubt whether a small amphibian would register these as potential prey.

 

[jeromeetabuzo]

Sorry for the delayed reply, but here is a photo of some of the mites next to a quarter. They're extremely slow; I'm beginning to doubt whether a small amphibian would register these as potential prey.

Yep those are grain mites those love dog food. I dont know if newts will eat them but my guppy frys loves them , but i switched to spring tails because grain mites can eat tons of food in a day or two.