# Help needed - Snail Mites



## Panthraz (Feb 20, 2011)

I bought some young Giant African land snails about a year ago (_Achatina fulica_) as feeders and decided to raise 
four of them to breed myself. Over the year they have occasionally had small white mites (approx. 1mm) which 
are on the snails themselves and on the fecal matter mainly, at which point I would clean the Rub they are in 
thoroughly, replace the substrate and wash the snails themselves before returning them to their home. 

Today I have inspected their Rub and my efforts have been rewarded and there are two clumps of eggs on the 
bottom, but unfortunately the mites have returned also. I have been looking into Hypoaspis mites but these 
seem to only be available in large quantities. 

I am happy to clean out the Rub once more if the eggs will not be 
effected but ideally I would like to irradicate the mites totally. 

Does anyone have any success stories in this matter or advice and will the Hypoaspis mites prey on the mites 
my snails have? :hmm:

I'm happy my efforts have been rewarded with eggs but I am also concerned the mites 
could infest my lizards vivs, or are they host specific? :hmm:

Any help is appreciated, thanks for taking the time to read. : victory:

PS. The snails are on coco brick substrate from [email protected] and the Rub has a third of the base on a heat mat and 
there is ample ventilation.


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## stevemet (Dec 29, 2011)

Are they definately mites? I regularly have "infestations"of springtails in my snail tanks and these are actually beneficial inverts. They tend to be very small, white and jump a lot. Under a lens they can be seen to have six legs like an insect.


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## Panthraz (Feb 20, 2011)

stevemet said:


> Are they definately mites? I regularly have "infestations"of springtails in my snail tanks and these are actually beneficial inverts. They tend to be very small, white and jump a lot. Under a lens they can be seen to have six legs like an insect.


Thanks for your reply, I have definitely never seen these jump and unfortunately I don't have a microscope with which to try and ID them. 
I did look at some pics of springtails and I don't think these are, they just look like tiny white specs which walk around rather than jumping. 

I did try to get a pic, but it probably won't help. :whistling2:


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

Panthraz said:


> Thanks for your reply, I have definitely never seen these jump and unfortunately I don't have a microscope with which to try and ID them.
> I did look at some pics of springtails and I don't think these are, they just look like tiny white specs which walk around rather than jumping.
> 
> I did try to get a pic, but it probably won't help. :whistling2:
> ...


If they look like tiny, white 'lines' they are most probably springtails, ive never actually seen mine jump unless in water so you never know!


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## Panthraz (Feb 20, 2011)

ojo said:


> If they look like tiny, white 'lines' they are most probably springtails, ive never actually seen mine jump unless in water so you never know!



Not tiny white lines, more like tiny white dots, they are round in shape.


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## Curious jay (Jan 31, 2012)

Similar to the mites circled in red here? http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__78wE7Ln1Rw/RktMFAd7LAI/AAAAAAAAAQc/W3luUZQUywU/s400/mites+sp+blue.JPG


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## Panthraz (Feb 20, 2011)

Curious jay said:


> Similar to the mites circled in red here? http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__78wE7Ln1Rw/RktMFAd7LAI/AAAAAAAAAQc/W3luUZQUywU/s400/mites+sp+blue.JPG


Hard to tell without seeing them in scale but if they are only about 1mm in diameter then they could be yes.


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## Curious jay (Jan 31, 2012)

Hmm I've seen similar to what your describing in my 'Garden' tank in which I have beetles, worms etc I just introduced a lot of isopods (wood lice) as they out compete the mites when it comes to eating... Unless of course there feeding on a host bug then I guess the only sure fire way to rid the problem would be using predatory mites...


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## Panthraz (Feb 20, 2011)

Curious jay said:


> Hmm I've seen similar to what your describing in my 'Garden' tank in which I have beetles, worms etc I just introduced a lot of isopods (wood lice) as they out compete the mites when it comes to eating... Unless of course there feeding on a host bug then I guess the only sure fire way to rid the problem would be using predatory mites...


There are very few if any mites on the snails fleshy parts but they can occasionally be seen on the shell, 
probably just hitching a ride. They are seen mainly around fecal deposits.


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## Curious jay (Jan 31, 2012)

Panthraz said:


> There are very few if any mites on the snails fleshy parts but they can occasionally be seen on the shell,
> probably just hitching a ride. They are seen mainly around fecal deposits.


Proble with mites is there are so many different types it's pretty hard to even guess if there harmful without a decent picture but I know slugs have mites that live exclusively on the slug do snails not have something similar?

If your still panicking you could always add some isopods which will feed on dead plant and fecal matter they will out compete the mites for food... It's just wether or not you want them in your setup with the snails


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## Panthraz (Feb 20, 2011)

*Add some Isopods, hmmm*



Curious jay said:


> Proble with mites is there are so many different types it's pretty hard to even guess if there harmful without a decent picture but I know slugs have mites that live exclusively on the slug do snails not have something similar?


I know mites in general are normally very host specific, I suppose a more apt questions would be 
"Has any one ever experienced mites on their reptiles contracted from snails?" 



Curious jay said:


> If your still panicking you could always add some isopods


It's not a case of panicking, more one of trying to eliminate any future problem before it becomes one. : victory: 



Curious jay said:


> which will feed on dead plant and fecal matter they will out compete the mites for food... It's just wether or not you want them in your setup with the snails


If they don't escape the Rub, disturb the snails, cause any problems when feeding the snails to my 
reptiles and will diminish the mites, then i'm definitely interested. :2thumb:

Unfortunately i've not come across this before as a solution, my main purpose for keeping the snails is to use them as feeders, 
so I don't really have them as pets or on display. So what are the pros and cons and where can I find out more? :hmm:


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## Curious jay (Jan 31, 2012)

Panthraz said:


> I know mites in general are normally very host specific, I suppose a more apt questions would be
> "Has any one ever experienced mites on their reptiles contracted from snails?"
> 
> 
> ...


Well they cant climb smooth surfaces do RUB should be fine they feed strictly on dead/decaying matter (occasional other isopods when molting if there isn't sufficient hiding spots... Only con I can think of is they have adapted gills so need humidity/damp spots to survive ( GALS are kept kinda humid anyway right?) there highly reproductive I have a couple of hundred or so collected from my garden just waiting for the next gen. To be produced before I introduce them to eleviate any pesticide problems... This is about all the info I can give you toward this question bud.


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## Panthraz (Feb 20, 2011)

Curious jay said:


> Well they cant climb smooth surfaces do RUB should be fine they feed strictly on dead/decaying matter (occasional other isopods when molting if there isn't sufficient hiding spots... Only con I can think of is they have adapted gills so need humidity/damp spots to survive ( GALS are kept kinda humid anyway right?) there highly reproductive I have a couple of hundred or so collected from my garden just waiting for the next gen. To be produced before I introduce them to eleviate any pesticide problems... This is about all the info I can give you toward this question bud.


Thanks for the help and advice there, I have been looking into these and it looks like it could be the best option. (yes, the snails have high humidity)
I'm looking into maybe getting some tropical ones along with some tropical spring tails, are these also unable to climb Rub walls?


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## Curious jay (Jan 31, 2012)

Panthraz said:


> Thanks for the help and advice there, I have been looking into these and it looks like it could be the best option. (yes, the snails have high humidity)
> I'm looking into maybe getting some tropical ones along with some tropical spring tails, are these also unable to climb Rub walls?


Dunno what temps GALS are kept at but a lot of tropical isopods will die off quick if the temps drop under 22 degrees or so, I don't think any isopod can climb smooth surfaces ( unless there's water droplets on the side and the isopods are small enough to not break the surface tension of the droplets)

Here's the best isopod care/info I've come across: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...6-The-Prime-Choice-for-Tarantula-Housekeeping


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## Panthraz (Feb 20, 2011)

Curious jay said:


> Dunno what temps GALS are kept at but a lot of tropical isopods will die off quick if the temps drop under 22 degrees or so, I don't think any isopod can climb smooth surfaces ( unless there's water droplets on the side and the isopods are small enough to not break the surface tension of the droplets)
> 
> Here's the best isopod care/info I've come across: Dwarf Tropical Woodlice - Trichorhina tomentosa – The Prime Choice for Tarantula Housekeeping


Thanks for the link and after plenty of reading I think i'm going to get some native woodlice today and try them, a local river has plenty 
of driftwood on its banks that are covered in them, so they shouldn't be hard to obtain in great numbers. 
How many would you recommend starting with in a 2'x1' Rub?


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## Curious jay (Jan 31, 2012)

Panthraz said:


> Thanks for the link and after plenty of reading I think i'm going to get some native woodlice today and try them, a local river has plenty
> of driftwood on its banks that are covered in them, so they shouldn't be hard to obtain in great numbers.
> How many would you recommend starting with in a 2'x1' Rub?


Well I have a couple of hundred in a setup that's barely the size of a medium faunarium with about 5inches of loose coconut fibre which they love burrowing in, they breed like crazy at temps of about 24-26 degrees (forgot if you said temp of your GALS) but there breeding coincides with food availability also maybe star with 50 or so and see how there dealing with the food available if you need more add more as and when you feel neccesary once they star breeding the population will boom you may have to cultivate them if it gets too much but the 1st batch of young will take between 1-2 months+ depending on temps but the young feed a lot heavier than adults also may wanna add new specimens at intervals to add new blood to stop inbreeding issues.


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## gecko lady (Jun 26, 2010)

Panthraz said:


> I bought some young Giant African land snails about a year ago (_Achatina fulica_) as feeders and decided to raise
> four of them to breed myself. Over the year they have occasionally had small white mites (approx. 1mm) which
> are on the snails themselves and on the fecal matter mainly, at which point I would clean the Rub they are in
> thoroughly, replace the substrate and wash the snails themselves before returning them to their home.
> ...


 Clean the rub out again and maybe use a different substate.. altough i use that substrate and have never had mites problems with it? Maybe you need to clean out more regulary to ensure they cannot reproduce.. i clean mine out about every month or sooner if its needed. You could put the eggs in a different pot with plenty of substrate to cover them ( i use chinese tubs with holes punched in) and keep them at room temp.. tbh you dont really need a heat mat unless your room is very cold - this may also be making the mites hatch quicker.


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