Tiny white bugs in wood shavings

[infernalis]

I recently was cleaning the mouse pens, and noticed many little white flecks moving about on the rim of the water dish in some of them.

Like talcum powder that moves...

Flea larvae???

Any thoughts or experience with this?

[Hornets23]

YESSSS! Those are what I saw and thought were mites at first. I think Shanley said they were some kind of wood bug or something like that. I have no idea what they are. I'm thinking probably not flea larvae but who knows. The cage mine were in had the bed-a-beast type stuff in it. I havent noticed them in any of the other cages. I would be curious to know what they are if you find out. I think the only reason I even saw them is because my snake has a black water dish and the white speck showed up pretty well.

[reptile3]

i was reading up on it, could be a parasite from the wood shavings.. But don't quote me on that. or it could be flea larvae.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I hear many people call them "thrips" or something like that... they are tiny... they are white, and they often collect on the surface of water in water bowls becaue they float but they cant get out so they all clump together in a floating pile. If they are the same thing I had, they are totally harmless and are just living off of the substrate.

[Hornets23]

I hear many people call them "thrips" or something like that... they are tiny... they are white, and they often collect on the surface of water in water bowls becaue they float but they cant get out so they all clump together in a floating pile. If they are the same thing I had, they are totally harmless and are just living off of the substrate.


That is good to know.

[adamanteus]

Yes, thrips indeed. You'll often find them in the soil or under the saucer of your house-plants too. Harmless, but unsightly!

[infernalis]

Thanks!!!!!

I first noticed them in a huge 50 gallon poly tote (dark blue) that is my "Substrate dumpster"

There was shavings from a couple dozen cage cleanings (dampness and all) collected in there, the box was getting heavy, so I moved it by the door to take out and dump.

By morning the tote looked like it had been sprinkled with fine sawdust or talcum powder.

I heaved the whole box out the door.

Then last night, I saw it again, on the rim of the stainless bowl in the mouse cage.

[Snake lover 3-25]

sweet!!! i'm good lol:p

[infernalis]

Thank you Shannon & James I just looked Thrips up and that is exactly what is going on.

The tiny white specks are the larvae stage, then they become like clumsy fruit flies...

I had noticed "Fruit flies" in the mice pens before, figured they were attracted to the feed or something.

These little insects never seem to bother the mice, but it was bothering me.

Then I'd notice a few hovering around the toilet bowl:eek:

Apparently they like moisture.

Also read that some species EAT MITES wow, I can only hope I have that kind:D

As long as they are not screwing with my animals, they are not something that would make me feel inclined to call an exterminator to correct.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I took the same approach. I pretty much am willing to allow any life form to live alongside me that isn't harming me, my property, or my animals.... yessss I even allow thousand leggers, silverfish, devil centipedes, whatever you want to call those things that somehow find their way into your house and have 58603 legs to live... what's the use in trying to eradicate something that's just trying to make do and isn't bothering me?;)

I actually think they are quite fascinating!

I caught one last week in eddies house that was a good 2 inches long... and was letting it crawl on my hands and I thought his mom was going to pass out :rolleyes:

[Hornets23]

I took the same approach. I pretty much am willing to allow any life form to live alongside me that isn't harming me, my property, or my animals.... yessss I even allow thousand leggers, silverfish, devil centipedes, whatever you want to call those things that somehow find their way into your house and have 58603 legs to live... what's the use in trying to eradicate something that's just trying to make do and isn't bothering me?;)

I actually think they are quite fascinating!

I caught one last week in eddies house that was a good 2 inches long... and was letting it crawl on my hands and I thought his mom was going to pass out :rolleyes:


Thats pretty much the way I look at it. I dont even mind the spiders. Are you talking about house centipedes?

[infernalis]

Shannon - I have been given some very strange looks in the past for stopping the car and letting a bug out rather than killing it.

Most people sprinkle stuff on the ground to kill garden slugs, Me I get all kinds of scrap veggies from a restaurant and dump it in my yard to FEED my slugs...

No wonder everyone thinks I am strange:cool:

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

That's pretty much me in a nutshell wayne, haha!

Yes, I was referring to house centipedes.

At work, we get a LOT of wold spiders living in our store because we carry crickets and every week when I open up the fresh boxes a good 100 or so escape in the process. Well about 3 times a week one of my coworkers startes yelling for me or pages me to go catch yet another "nasty spider"! I bag them up in cricket bags, take them home and realease them.

We also get these little real common looking orangeish brownish spiders that come in with the crickets. I don't know what they are but they have a really un threatening look to them, a little round brownish butt and from what I can see, tiny, tiny eyes and fangs. They apparently live in with the crickets and simply feast when they need to... I often count 10 or so a week crawling up the sides of the keeper to make their homes in the corners of it.

A few weeks ago I was bagging crickets for a guy and as I did so one of those spiders fell from the cardobard onto the ground and I looked down and said oh a spider! hold on one sec I will get it! And he promplty stomped on it... and then when I was like NOOOOO you KILLED her!!! He was quite puzzled!

[Lori P]

Oh man. I love you guys. You are the ONLY people I would tell that I let spiders live in the house. We get a lot of flies, because for one we have livestock everywhere and I also just leave my doors open whenever the weather permits. The spiders get the flies.

I just can't douse my house in chemical sprays... I do use the hanging sticky things, tho.

[mtolypetsupply]

I took the same approach. I pretty much am willing to allow any life form to live alongside me that isn't harming me, my property, or my animals.... yessss I even allow thousand leggers, silverfish,

Shannon,

Silverfish are often an indication of WET wood in the area. So while they aren't damaging your property, they are an indicator that damage is occuring to your property somewhere. Check the area you've been finding them (bathroom or exterior wall, perhaps?) for any possible water damage.

Your little friends may have alerted you to a problem you can fix before the damage gets too bad. You don't have to kill them. :) More than likely, they'll move out when the structural issue is resolved.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

They reside at the boyfriend's house, I have yet to see a silverfish at my own. In his room we have a window and the frame around it somewhere is just loose enough to allow the odd thing with more than 4 legs inside. We find stinkbugs (of COURSE), silverfish, spiders, potato bugs, real centipedes, millipedes and all kinds of things in his room on occasion, where just outside the window, there is heavily planted landscaping and concealed in the bushes some old flower pots and wood that I am sure harbors moisture. The fauna that I have found in his room matches what you would find should you turn over a log or two :D

I'll tell you though, His family got a kick out of the time I found an assasin bug. It was perched on the light fixture and they can actually see very well. everytime you would look up and move towards it, it would craftily duc around to the other side and then continue to peek out at you. I ran out into the lvinig room and was like GUYS GUYS THERES AN ASSASSIN BUG IN EDDIES ROOM and his entire family looked at me like I was nutso. apparently, they thought this was a made up name and were envisioning a bug in ninja clothes or something...:rolleyes: