Pests in my Tokay and Tree Frog cage?

Tokayy · #1 11-07-2011, 10:30 AM

I hope this is in the correct section, if not, im sorry and could you please place it to where it should be.

My issue that I have noticed within my frog and Tokay cage are little critters such as pests buried in the substrate. In the frog's cage they are very small white bugs with pointy heads almost. In the Tokay cage they are very small bugs that could almost pass off as baby crickets, but I highly doubt they are as crickets don't spend a long time in the Tokay cage. So my question would be what are these bugs and how are they caused? Both reptiles needed to be misted daily as they are require the water and are from tropical climates. I was using cypress mulch as well as beaked moss in both cages. I have currently removed the cypress mulch from the frogs cage hoping to see a difference. I am contemplating just using frog moss with the frogs and strictly beaked moss for my Tokay cage. This I hope will fix my issue with these bugs that I have seen on a few occasions now.

nater · #2 11-07-2011, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tokayy

My issue that I have noticed within my frog and Tokay cage are little critters such as pests buried in the substrate. In the frog's cage they are very small white bugs with pointy heads almost. In the Tokay cage they are very small bugs that could almost pass off as baby crickets, but I highly doubt they are as crickets don't spend a long time in the Tokay cage.

How small is "very small"? My first thought was springtails, but those are tiny. My other guess was wood mites. Without a picture or better description I can't tell for sure.

*edit*
Picture references for you to compare against:
Springtails - ENT/rsc-33
What “Mite” those White Bugs Be?

Tokayy · #3 11-07-2011, 11:45 AM

In regards to the frog cage, yes they must be wood mites as they are very small white dots that do jump around. However, for my Tokay cage, they bugs are not white, they are like a standard brown/gray like that of a cricket yet very small, almost the same size as the wood mites that were seen in the frog cage. Is there a solution for this? Should I be removing the mulch and use strictly moss as a substrate within the two cages, thus removing the problematic issue of these pets lingering at the bottom.

**Riverside Reptiles** · #4 11-07-2011, 02:20 PM

They might well be pinhead crickets.

Tokayy · #5 11-07-2011, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverside Reptiles

They might well be pinhead crickets.

How would pinhead crickets just start appearing in my cage? What causes this? If it is in fact pinhead crickets in the tokay cage. Also I guess this wouldn't be a serious concern either as they are just crickets right?

nater · #6 11-07-2011, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tokayy

How would pinhead crickets just start appearing in my cage? What causes this? If it is in fact pinhead crickets in the tokay cage. Also I guess this wouldn't be a serious concern either as they are just crickets right?

I was guessing that those were the springtails.

**Riverside Reptiles** · #7 11-07-2011, 06:12 PM

If you feed crickets, it's not unusual for them to occasionally lay in the tank. You'd have to post pics up though. But you said that you feed crickets, and said they look like baby crickets, so it may be circkets.

Tokayy · #8 11-07-2011, 06:20 PM

Looked at them today, seem to have gotten
bigger so a little easier to see, yeah they do look like crickets.

hexentanz · #9 11-13-2011, 02:01 AM

The small white things you see jumping around in your frog tank are springtails.

Tokayy · #10 11-13-2011, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hexentanz

The small white things you see jumping around in your frog tank are springtails.

They seemed more like mites as they were only small white specs. Springtails looks more like an insect, these were just small white dots. Anyways, the mites are non existent in the frog cage after the substrate was converted to just moss.