White mites with whiteworms

[justin]

hi all do the white mites you get in the whiteworm cultures harm newts if so how do you get rid of them cheers justin

 

[josh]

I have heard placing a ladybug in your culture will get rid of them

 

[justin]

i will give a go cheers justin

 

[edward]

They are harmless to caudates.
If you want to get rid of them set up a new culture far away from the old one and use a toothpick to collect individual worms for the new colony.

Ed

 

[justin]

hi ed i was a bit worried as i have found a dead newt covered in these white mites but i will set up a new culture cheers justin

 

[edward]

Hi Justin,
Often the mites seen on dead amphibians are decomposers (I just had this confirmed on a Epidobates silverstoni that was found dead at work) that are found in the soil in the tanks. This is often also the case in white worm cultures.

Ed

 

[ira]

ed, where do you work that you get to work with silverstoni?

sounds like my dream job.

 

[edward]

I'm the lead keeper and the amphibian keeper at the Philadelphia Zoo.

Ed

 

[ira]

wow, do you have the silverstoni on display there? one of my good freinds is moving to philie in a few weeks for graduate school. I will have to check out the zoo when i go to visit him. I'd love the chance to see some silverstoni in the flesh.

 

[edward]

Well we did until we moved them temporarily off exhibit and I was out with a shoulder injury for four months. The change in the routine was too much for the silverstoni and we lost the whole group.
We do have some other cool species such as Bufo baxteri, and other amphibs off exhibit.

If you come to town let me know.

Ed

 

[ira]

Thats unfortunate about the silverstoni, they are magnificent animals, i guess i will just have to remained satisfied with the pictures in 'jewels of the rainforest' for now.

I will definatly drop you a line when i am in town.

 

[edward]

Well I also have some pictures like this to remember them by...

Ed

 

[ira]

wow! i would leap at the chance to work with those frogs, they are definatly one of my "holy grail" species. Are those CBs or WCs?

 

[edward]

Hi Ira,
They are cb. They apparently do not tolerate change well. The temperatures many people cite as a problem were not the issue as these were in a temperature controlled room and did not vary more than 5 F.

Ed

 

[edward]

If we are going to keep discussing this species we should move to the noncaudate section of the page( before we get chided by a moderator or make more work for them)...

 

[ira]

yeah i agree, we totally hijacked this thread, i have some more questions for you about them so i'll start a thread in the anuran forum.


(Message edited by ira on August 13, 2004)

 

[russ]

Back to the original thread, are you sure they're not springtails? These are harmless too and help break waste down in a set-up. I keep a colony to feed hatchlings.

RUSS

 

[justin]

hi russ they are white mites for sure cheers justin