# White 'Bran(?) Mites On Mealworm Colony - (Feeding To Bearded Dragon) ....



## Mystic Vampyre (Mar 30, 2009)

Hey all,

Im juss wondering:
I have been breeding (normal) Mealworms for my Fish etc. My first ones are doing really well, but I bought some from a 'Live Foods' place, and took the advice from another rep keeper to use Chicken Mash also for Substrate. (I use Bran from the Supermarket normally)
I mixed the Bran and Mash together, and fed them as I normally would.
They must have gotten moist (being in a bucket rather than the wooden box my others are in) and got White Mites.
I tried to kill these off and wasnt able to, so put the bucket outside.
The Worms\Beetles kept breeding, and now I have THOUSANDS of them! So I dont want to waste them! 

Wat I want to know is, thou these guys have had these mites, (and prolly still have in there somewhere - I cant see the mites on the worms etc, but saw a few on the bucket) can I still feed these worms to Fish and a Young (Bubba) Bearded Dragon?

Does anyone know if there is any reason I cant?
Does anyone know if there is a 'real' way to wipe out these mites?

Cheers! 

*Mystic*


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

It sounds like flour mites. If there is ever an outbreak of parasites in our livefood colonies they go straight into the freezer, I would never feed them to another animal as you never know what they are hiding : victory:
Best just put everything into the freezer for half an hour then bag them up and throw them away, sorry.


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

ive had them and wouldnt do this, i have a 3 -4 ish year old colony there is no way i woudl chuck them out..
anyway sive sive sive your mealies, in to a new container, with NOTHING in there.. the flour mites need food like bran to eat.

sive again an eventually they will go.


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## fran2491 (Oct 10, 2008)

iv also recently had mites in my roach cols hun its so annoying was gutted when i first found them,i cleaned my roaches out every day for a week and i seem to have got rid,i got mine from dog food!ewwwwwwww, unsure how easy it would be with mealies but its worth a try hun,i used fly spray on my rubs and bleech and just kept alternanting them kept them dry and fed veg like carrots,but only left in in for 2 hours tops so it didnt make them moist,it seems to have worked for me hun still early days tho hun guna keep at it for a few more weeks and will consider feeding of them again, hope this helps good luck hun:flrt:


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## blatta (May 21, 2008)

Granary mites are everywhere, you can't really avoid introducing them to cultures- just dont encourage them to breed....

Try to keep cultures in a way which discourages them Moist bran or pet foods are an excellent food source for them, and the mites breed far quicker than any of the insects that you could be breeding. Ive had mites erupting out of mealworm cultures. Not a pretty site.

But, do not dispair, mites cant survive lack of moisture and low humidity, whereas mealworms are great at it. If possible, try to separate the mealworms from the moist medium, at some fresh dry medium, keep them in a well ventelated place at room tempeature, and dont feed the mealworms any veg for a few days until it is all dry and free from mites. I keep my mealworms wihtout a lid, to keep them well ventilated.

Carrots should be avoided if youre having problems with moisture. Feed other veg (such as potatoes) sparingly. If there is alwasy fresh veg available for the mealworms there will always be moisture available for the mites. I feed little and not too often.


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## The Roach Hut (Mar 29, 2008)

Mystic Vampyre said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Im juss wondering:
> I have been breeding (normal) Mealworms for my Fish etc. My first ones are doing really well, but I bought some from a 'Live Foods' place, and took the advice from another rep keeper to use Chicken Mash also for Substrate. (I use Bran from the Supermarket normally)
> ...


 do not feed them to any rep. freeze the entire colony and get rid of it


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## blatta (May 21, 2008)

> do not feed them to any rep. freeze the entire colony and get rid of it


Why? 

If they are just granary mites, they are very common. They are not the same type of mite that lives on snakes. Freezing them all will not stop them coming back, as there are small numbers living in housese, gardens etc. They are not parasites, and I dont know of any diseases they carry. The only health concern is allergies, along with the uncomfortable feeling of paranoia when they start erupting out of the tub...


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## Mystic Vampyre (Mar 30, 2009)

Ah yes, they are so hard to get rid off!

So dont feed them to a Bubba (young) Dragon? Others say its ok (on other Forums) but I would love to find out for sure!


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

Mystic Vampyre said:


> Ah yes, they are so hard to get rid off!
> 
> So dont feed them to a Bubba (young) Dragon? Others say its ok (on other Forums) but I would love to find out for sure!



ive had them twice, and my lot are fine, just sieve them etc etc


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## Mystic Vampyre (Mar 30, 2009)

Awesome cheers for that! 

You can also wash them first too, as the worms dont drown, but the mite float. That might be a safer way to feed them out also?


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## mealworm (Sep 13, 2009)

*Grain mites in Mealworm culture*

Certainly you have a small prtoblem ,however at least i can give you some hope in reducing them by many.
First they are very common and they are not parasites.
However they can negatively impact your culture when they explode in number.
Just remove all the food ,especially the old .Leave your mealworms without any fresh foods that can introduce any moisture until it is evident that the substrate is dry in touch.
This takes some days to be fully completed.

Then take some paper napkins and moist them with water ,and open them again as you could .This is also important to cover many surface area.

Leave for several hours.For best results place in the evening and leave overnight.Important that the napkins are damp enough but not soiled otherwise you will wetten the substrate.

Then on the morning you will notice millions of mites covering the paper napkins.Check for any mealworms clung and remove.Then remove the Napkins .Place them in a plastic bag and throw away.Repeat this everyday until you will scarcely find mites.

When you suspect grain mites just repeat this again.

For sure you will keep them in control and in small numbers,not to affect you anymore.


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## Mystic Vampyre (Mar 30, 2009)

I threw them all out, lol! :2thumb:


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## Mystic Vampyre (Mar 30, 2009)

Hi again! 

I got new Mealworms in the end, had them the past 2 years or so. Somehow these MITES have happend again! Now I have just checked, and they are all over my conservatory! On the walls, floor, everything! Even on the glass etc!
Hows the best way to kill them? Does flyspray work?

PLEASE HELP ME! THEY YUCKY! LOL!:gasp:

:devil:


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## LFBP-NEIL (Apr 23, 2005)

open the door to the conservatory for a day, the fresh air will kill off most of them, and then leave a dehumidifier running in the conservatory for a few days that will dry out and kill the rest, and remove the mealworms from the conservatory - assuming this is where they have all come from


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## Mystic Vampyre (Mar 30, 2009)

:flrt:Thank you so much! :-D

Yes it was from the Mealworms, they were in a big container and that was inside a huge box\cage that I had built that was used to breed Locusts. The mites were all over the container and the box, so they both went outside. The box was under my Water Dragons 8ft Tank, so we have wiped ALL of the conservatory down with a wet cloth, including all the ceiling etc. Wiped and taken out EVERYTHING from the conservatory, now only have the Reps 8ft tank to try and move, so we can wipe down the back of that and then have to clean out the tank also, as I can see some crawling around on the damn glass on the inside! ARGH! Its taken hours and hours so far! So tired!


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