I think I found mites

[Bumble]

Vito has been acting subdued. My daughter noticed a white speck crawling on him the other night. I've since seen one crawling on the glass of the tank. Yesterday, I read the sticky and dunked him in salt water. I saw one swimming little speck after the dunking.
I was afraid of drowning him. Is this possible? I submerged him under water, flipped over until he came out of his shell. How long was I supposed to let him in the salt water?
I am preparing the ISO tank and more sand today; its currently baking in the oven.
Does this sound like mites? Where do the mites come from? How did they get in there?
Quite honestly, I've heard differing opinions on bathing, and so did not know to bathe Vito and Verdie when I got them from TCP. Verdie seems fine; she continues to be active.
Today, Vito is looking around but his antenae are not doing that little bouncy thing; I am convinced that is the way they talk, like a crab sign language. Anyhow, once he gets mites, will he recover? or is he too sick now?
I thought I was watching out for them. I'm really disappointed.

[chermo]

I would also like to know how we get mites? I don't have them but would like to prevent them.
Sorry I can't answer your questions.

[HermitPaws]

i had that prob.. if it has six legs It a mite if four its book lice
and yes you can drowned a crab i say aleast 2-3 min in the water
they will recover once the get settled again
you did the right thing to bake the sand you might want to bake the wood also
at 200*F for 15 mins check ing on it every now n then.
good luck

[Bumble]

How in the world will I count their legs!!? They are so very tiny. Smaller than a grain of sand.

BTW, I set the choya wood on fire. Good thing I have a good sniffer, or it coulda been all over.
Thanks for the replies.

[Mommy2Crabs]

I have book lice in my iso. Yours sounds like that too (but you can't be too sure).They are harmless, as long as they are not on the crabs. I've been there, Hermez gave me good info on the problem so now I'm square. Can't seem to find anymore. Don't know where they went!---Good luck with yours Bumble!

[Mommy2Crabs]

Originally Posted by HermitPaws

i had that prob.. if it has six legs It a mite if four its book lice
and yes you can drowned a crab i say aleast 2-3 min in the water
they will recover once the get settled again
you did the right thing to bake the sand you might want to bake the wood also
at 200*F for 15 mins check ing on it every now n then.
good luck

Not trying to correct you, But I read somewhere that mites have 8 legs (like a spider), they are arthropods. Book lice have 6 legs, like a bug. But who's counting anyway! A bug is a bug!

[ninjasgorawr]

hey i have mites AND little black flies. im really scared so im cleaning out my cage today... what should i do to ensure that they don't some back?!?

[crabbbychris]

two good questions... I see no one ever answered..??

hey i have mites AND little black flies. im really scared so im cleaning out my cage today... what should i do to ensure that they don't some back?!?

I would also like to know how we get mites? I don't have them but would like to prevent them

[HERMEZ]

crabby chris maybe they did not know the answer................

first read the sticky http://www.hermitcrabsrus.com/forum/...rabs-what.html I made its very clear what to do.........
the main thing is maintenance--left over food- dirty poop filled tanks are just a drawing invitation to bugs- you will always have booklice- skimming the areas-changing your moss etc helps keep them down.

Mites will 90% of the time come in from another crab- so ask yourself just how well did you take with the inital process (sticky). You can get them also if you have birds in the house as pets. Reptiles nearby? Other critters can carry mites.

submerge your crab for 5 minutes.......no I havent killed a crab yet

not 100% sure on the flies.........again food most likely. I had something lay eggs in my water dish this summer but because I am on top of the tanks i saw it immeduately and got rid of a potential nightmare.

Hope this helps- I gotta run

[crabbbychris]

thats what i was wondering...
I knew you could get mites by fransferance (when bringing new crabbies home)
Just never knew how else you might get mites or lice...
And I saw no one ever posted a reply or link for an answer. I was wondering myself...
thanks for the info
Obviously WAY to many threads to read everything.... well maybe. I'm gonna see what I can find that's been posted. I see 51 pages just in the general care group.