Tiny white mites and fruit flies in Bess beetle tank?

Trailblazr80

Trailblazr80

Pupa
I've been noticing more and more fruit flies in my Bess beetle tank, and there is no food in there! I do keep it pretty moist- rotting oak, soil, sphagnum moss. The tank has a mesh screen top, but I block half of it with glass to keep the humidity up. Also, yesterday I looked underneath the tank with a flashlight (that's how I usually see the beetles) and saw a tiny whitish-pale yellow mite-like thing crawling around. What could this be and can it be harmful?

 
are you sure those are not springtails? to me, mites dont usually appear unless there are rotting fruits and stuff

 
Well, actually I did have some fruit in there because I was experimenting (even though I figured they wouldn't eat them). I had a piece of banana, but it only sat for 2 days, I took it out and made sure there were no missed pieces, and it's been about a week since that. No food since then, and I just saw that little mite thing, and noticed more flies yesterday.

 
You could try to bake the sub for an hour in the oven. Keep the beetles in another container and then put them back in the enclosure after the sub has completely cooled off.

 
Greatwun said:
You could try to bake the sub for an hour in the oven. Keep the beetles in another container and then put them back in the enclosure after the sub has completely cooled off.
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Thanks, I may have to try that. I might let the substrate dry out just a little - I wonder if the humidity levels are too high.

 
I have over 50 bess beetles in one large bin, forget putting any fruit in there it's of no help. Also the humidity is probably too high I mist the bin once or twice a week at most. You know if they need more moisture by them crawling around on the top.

For the mite, when I get home with the bess beetles I use a toothbrush to brush off any mites that might be on them before I put them in the bin. It's easy once you figure out the proper humidity.

 
LarvaHunter said:
I have over 50 bess beetles in one large bin, forget putting any fruit in there it's of no help. Also the humidity is probably too high I mist the bin once or twice a week at most. You know if they need more moisture by them crawling around on the top.

For the mite, when I get home with the bess beetles I use a toothbrush to brush off any mites that might be on them before I put them in the bin. It's easy once you figure out the proper humidity.
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Yes, I agree. I'm cutting back on the humidity levels to see if that will help. I have not seen any mites again, but I'm sure they are there. I will check the tank again in a few days and maybe stir up the soil a bit.

 
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