# little white things living in my tarantulas tanks...



## DannyB (Nov 8, 2009)

What are they? are the some kind of fly larvae or something more sinister??

they live in the water dished in pretty much all of my tarantulas cages, and ive just looked in my slings tank and they seem to be on a dead cricket thats in there whch i have never seen happen before.

any info would be great....


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## The Sandman (Nov 3, 2009)

sounds like mites mate


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## Stelios (Aug 28, 2009)

Here's some good info' on mites.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/spiders-inverts/388524-guide-mites.html


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## DannyB (Nov 8, 2009)

yeah thats what i thought

bugger

lol


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

probably springtails, especially if they seem to be floating on the water in the waterbowl, their not a bad thing, in fact beneficial really, tank custodians.


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

As Joey says they're likely to be springtails and are beneficial. Its easy to tell springtails from mites as the former tend to be long and slender, move fast and can jump like fleas. Mites are round, often cream coloured and slow movers.


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

Compare what you see to the images on this website:

Checklist of the Collembola of the World

The front page contains many, many UK species and tropical which could fit the bill. Generally as suggested before they are elongated and mites and rounded/ellipsoid.


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## DannyB (Nov 8, 2009)

Yeah they are floating in the water dishes, except in my sling tank where they seem to be in the soil, but they are long and slender and very fast moving, so it sounds like they are springtails. so do they eat dead crickets and moluscs etc?


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## Doomgerbs (Jul 29, 2008)

They are detritovores, that is they help break down the decaying organic matter in the tank reducing the risk of mould etc.
They require humidity so are only suitable for tanks with damp substrate but where the environment suits them they are worth encouraging.


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## DannyB (Nov 8, 2009)

great, thanks for the info guys, much appreciated.


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