Tiny, tiny bugs...

[pepper]

Okay, this all started last week.

I had dry soil lining my cricket enclosure and I noticed under their water dish the soil got quite moist..
I squinted and looked closer and saw really, really tiny bugs moving around in the moist soil, not the dry soil.

And they were not baby crickets.

I checked Watson's organic soil/coco fiber in his house, took out a big huge scoop and sifted through it and saw nothing.

Last night I was checking on Bob, the large tiger I'm babysitting and saw about 10 tiny bugs on him O_O they were moving around and then rushed back into the soil when I shone a light on him!

I have to squint too see them, they are sort of clear and just, really tiny!

I checked Watson's house again and no bugs, but Bob DID have some.

Should I clean out everything in Bob's house and replace with damp paper towels to make sure all the bugs are gone?!

Or do you think they are harmless, I would hate for something to happen to bob in my care!!

 

[Nathan050793]

I'd say they are harmless. Probably sprintails or mites- which should be completely harmless. Unless they are actually attaching themselves to your salamanders, I wouldn't worry. My tanks have them too from time to time.

Good Luck!

 

[pepper]

Usually mites are red so I didn't think they were mites.

If they are, I need to clean everything probably because I have reptiles..

I read something about, soil gnats? It says they live in moist damp soil..and they fly when they are adults O_O And to think back I have seen tiny flying bugs in his house when he was at the classroom...

oh...my...gosh.

 

[Kaysie]

Did they kind of jump when you came close? They're probably springtails.

Either way, soil gnats or springtails, they're probably harmless.

 

[pepper]

No, they didn't jump, they just kind of crawl/walk around.

He's in need of a good tank cleaning anyways so I'll clean it and replace the soil and just let the old soil dry out, they say those type of bugs will die out in dry soil and only live in moist soil.

Thanks I was getting worried!

I checked on him now, haha to make sure he was alive And I didn't see any bugs on him.