cleadus1 Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 anyone have a problem with them and what can you do to stop them from infesting a colony?. just noticed one of my colonies is seething with them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FACEAnthrax Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 anyone have a problem with them and what can you do to stop them from infesting a colony?. just noticed one of my colonies is seething with them... By the sounds mealworms and their beetles can eat the mites. But I would just take everything live out and replace all the substrate/clean the containers to get rid of them. I had a similar mite problem with my wax worms and they infested my whole room, never got to the mealworms though that were in the same stack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 Usually too much moisture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 Haha been doing so much research on this. i finally have a set up where the mites havent come yet! the answer 1) heat 2) right moisture mites i believe like high moisture, but mealworm eggs require high moisture to maximise hatch rate. so, HEAT is key. though sites say 27c is optimal or max, not true. i have read articles that higher 28 to 30 is also achievable. mites, can breed in thousands in days. i keep my 'breeding bran' at 28 to 31c steadily. using 2x bbq foil tray and a 7w heat matt by reptile one ($27 from hff last time) what i do is ensure there is lots of bran - 1kg per laying tray. in that i have approx 300 beetles. LOTS Of veges so the bran and the beetles have moisture, but the heat kills the mites, they dont like the heat. so the moisture is fine IF you have heat, cos moisture will evaporate but the eggs and the beetles dont eat their eggs as they ahve plenty of food, eggs get moisture from veges too trapped in the bran, and the mites die with heat beetles WILL eat mites, to a degree. mealworms will eat it too, IF the mealworms are big enough a nd there is enough fo them. so once you have 3 to 4 mm mealworms in the bran, (when you turn the bran over, you see constant movement leveling out the bran) you should have a 'critical mass' to be immune to mites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monzae Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 Which veges exactly do you use to get good moisture in the bran? I'm going to buy a heat pad and try out this higher temperature and see how that goes. Good stuff :gpo2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 I use carrot I know others that use potatoe and another uses apple and a further puts cabbage leaves on top of the media. The best is the one that works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 all you need is a few straegically placed pieces of raw spud,carrot or apple etc that is accessible to the mealworms and beetles.They are happy to travel to get to the moisture source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.