Grain Mites ? What do they look like and how to get rid of them?

A

aoikirin

Third Instar
I have noticed these little creatures on pieces of carrot in some of my enclosures.  They seem wingless and I took pictures but this site doesn't accept them.  

What do they look like and how can I get rid of them? Are they dangerous for my roaches? They are pets for me and I don't want any preventable harm to come to them.

 
aoikirin said:
I have noticed these little creatures on pieces of carrot in some of my enclosures.  They seem wingless and I took pictures but this site doesn't accept them.  

What do they look like and how can I get rid of them? Are they dangerous for my roaches? They are pets for me and I don't want any preventable harm to come to them.
Click to expand...

 
Grain mites look like very tiny, pale spiders. You can get rid of them by keeping the enclosure drier, and by providing less to no grain-based food for them to feed on. They can annoy your roaches in large numbers, and are known to cause skin irritation sometimes in humans, but in small numbers are harmless.

 
No, evidently I'd need to message you for permission. Do they look like tiny, pale spiders? If not, they're not grain mites.

These are grain mites: 

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No. Mine are grey and hang out on carrot

Could you look at the pic again and see if you can see it please?

 
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I can see the pic but it's a bit blurry and I'm not too knowledgeable about pests or identifying them, but maybe springtails?
If they are springtails then they could actually be beneficial, since they just eat waste and leftovers, keeping your substrate clean. The ones I have in my millipede enclosure look smaller and whiter, but I think there are lots of kinds of springtails. I would wait to hear a more experienced person's opinion though, this is just my amateur guess, I'm curious as well.

 
I can see the pic now. 

Those are springtails, I'd say. They're harmless. You want 'em around, they keep things clean.

 
If you can't keep springs alive, it's probably either too dry or too sterile for them, or both. Best to keep a master culture of them in ideal conditions (a container of charcoal with yeast sprinkled in and at least an inch of water) and sprinkle them into the enclosure until they establish. That way, if they die off, you have more.

 
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