Predatory mites, what to do?

Hisserdude

Hisserdude

Megaloblatta
Forum Supporter
What are your guys thoughts on predatory mites, good or bad? They have recently showed up in a few of my cages and are spreading outward from them. They are big, and I don't like them. But the real question is, will my roaches mind them? Should I sterilize the infested cages, or will they die out once they eat all the springtails is my cages? The only thing is they origanated from my Surinam roach cage, and it's gonna take a long time for me to separate the roaches from the substrate. They don't seem to bother the surinams, so is it worth the effort? Your guys thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 
I've had them in my tanks for three years with no troubles. Everything from predatory to grain to orabatid to who knows what. Never affected the roaches or their breeding. They have spread to every single organic substrated tank I have in the house. Trying to get rid of them never seemed worth it!

 
I'm sorry for gravedigging this post, but it seemed more appropriate than starting another thread.

I just found one of my Blaberus discoidalis dead in it's tank and when looking closer, I saw that it was completely covered with mites. This makes me wonder whether the cause of death was due to mites or something else. Does anybody know what kind of mites there are in the picture and if they are in any way dangerous? I did found this paper on Madagascar hissers saying that those mites are actually living in mutualistic symbiosis:

* http://www.tandfonli...954.2012.662248

*

Own picture of died B discoidalis:

Foto-4HSBM7NU-D.jpg


Edit: the other roaches in the same tank does not seem to have any mites on them. For me, this makes it more likely that the mites are post-mortem. What do you think?

 
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My hissers have mites on their body, but nothing happened. I think they are harmless..

 
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