Insect mites??

[Fireflyshuffle]

Hi all,
Im in need of some help. I wokeup thismorning and started my usual clean, started to feed all my feeder insects (mealworms, woodie colonies and crickets) i did the two pin head tubs first, then picked up the mealworm tub to find THOUSANDS of crawlers (mites) alover the tub, making their way up my arms. Ive already doused the whole room in orange medic and rubbed metho on a few to put in a sample jar to take to vet, but they are closed today.
I will go up tomorrow to get it taken to a Lab to find out exactly what sort of mite.
But has anyone had this problem with their feeder insects before? They looked like fearl little mites to me, but have never had this problem before.The mealworms were absolutly covered. Im freaking out, please someone help.

 

[jordo]

I've had mites over run my woodies in the past, they were harmless, non parasitic mites but just annoying as there were so many of them. Fairly hard to get rid of given you can't exactly use insecticides on your feeder inverts but I think in the end frequent full scale clean outs got rid of the problem.

 

[Fireflyshuffle]

ahhhh...so its def not realated to a reptile mite? There hard alright... ive got the table coered in a pool of orange medic, almost diluted straight and there still moving!! yeh i feel i am going to lose the whole lot of my feeders..so much wasted, and killed

 

[Fireflyshuffle]

bump would like to know how many have had this problem, and how did you eradicate these crawlies

 

[GeckoJosh]

Hey sorry to drag up this thread, noone seemed to answer so I thought i would.
The mites you are referring to sound like they may be Bran mites, there is a bit of info on dealing with these guys in Mealworm colonies on the internet but most say its easier just to start over.
They need a humid environment to reproduce and are attracted to moisture like a magnet.
I have only had to deal with them once as i bought infested Mealworms without realizing and added them to my colony, I found it easier to just start over, throw out my colony and throughly clena the room they were in.
Everything I have read has said they are more or less harmless to reptiles but they will take over a colony of Mealworms very quickly
It seem that these guys are pretty much all over the place anyway (kinda like dust mites) especially around food stores

Good luck Gex

 

[JasonL]

They are Fodder Mite, won't harm your herps but may not be good for your health if you suffer from mite allergies.

 

[GeckoJosh]

They are Fodder Mite, won't harm your herps but may not be good for your health if you suffer from mite allergies.

Are Bran mites and Fodder mites one of the same thing or are they 2 different mites?