Unknown White"bumps". Possibly insect eggs?

[carfac]

Hi Ya'll

Thanks EVERYONE for help along our journey. Our little Scooter is such a joy, and you all have helped us so much!
So I assume you have taken a look at the attached image. As I was pulling Scoots from her bath I noticed one of these.... and then I noticed more than a few. As you can see, they are whitish-tan bumps. The group shown is 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch wide, maybe 1/16th tall. SO not big... but they all seem to be 2-3 inches above the soil level.

So: What is this?

My GUESS is insect eggs.... we do have those "no-see-um" gnats most of the year. I try and keep them down with fly paper, but I can never completely exterminate them (Advise on this is welcome, too!) So my guess is it is them.

My other shot is a mushroom-like spore or fungus.

I KNOW someone here will say, "Dave, you silly, thats...." so please. Educate me!

And HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the members here!

 

[wellington]

I was going to say urates when I read the color and just glanced at the pic. But when I blew the pic up for a closer look, I doubt they are urates. Never seen them so perfect round or in a cluster like that.
I have no idea. Interesting though. See what others think.

 

[carfac]

I was going to say urates when I read the color and just glanced at the pic. But when I blew the pic up for a closer look, I doubt they are urates. Never seen them so perfect round or in a cluster like that.
I have no idea. Interesting though. See what others think.

Hey THANKS!!!

I threw them all out.... I'll see if I can find more and gett better images.

 

[carfac]

I found a couple more. These were higher up... some near the top.

One looks like it has a spider nest in it (3443).... and just below it, I DID find a spider. You can see her in picture 3442 (she is NO longer in there!) I never looked this close until today, did not realize how dirty it was in there!

I put a little picture of scooter giving me a sideways glance....

I found what looks like algae.... We have a good habitat, it was made by a member here. We keep the moisture high, like 90%

So I did a little reading.... looks like we should clean through in there with water with a little lemon in it.... does that sound good???

 

[carfac]

OK, so I shot a video so you can see the enclosure, and get an idea of the size of these nasties....
Too large to upload so here is a link to the video (Yes, its safe!)

https://photoslc.com/IMG_3444.MOV

Also, I noticed looking REAL close VERY tiny bugs crawling around in the substraight.... Its like some kinda wood bark stuff. Yank it all and replace?
So I just wanna know what those white/tan clusters are....

And in addition, is my habitat normal, do I need to clean (and how? Lemon water?) and should I replace substraight?

THANKS!!!!!

 

[zovick]

OK, so I shot a video so you can see the enclosure, and get an idea of the size of these nasties....
Too large to upload so here is a link to the video (Yes, its safe!)

https://photoslc.com/IMG_3444.MOV

Also, I noticed looking REAL close VERY tiny bugs crawling around in the substraight.... Its like some kinda wood bark stuff. Yank it all and replace?
So I just wanna know what those white/tan clusters are....

And in addition, is my habitat normal, do I need to clean (and how? Lemon water?) and should I replace substraight?

THANKS!!!!!

The little bugs you see in the substrate are probably springtails which are actually beneficial. They eat detritus and seem to appear like magic in mulch substrates. I wouldn't bother trying to get rid of them or replacing the substrate. If you use the same substrate to replace what is in there now, more springtails will just appear in a couple of weeks or so.

I never tried to sterilize my mulch so don't know if doing that would prevent them from reappearing or not. Also not sure how one would go about doing such a sterilization process to mulch. I don't think heating mulch in the oven would be overly safe due to fire concerns.

I am not sure what the clusters are.

 

[wellington]

The little bugs in the substrate is fine. The rest I'm going to let others that may have or made that enclosure help with the leaning and the other things.
@Tom @Markw84

 

[wellington]

The little bugs you see in the substrate are probably springtails which are actually beneficial. They eat detritus and seem to appear like magic in mulch substrates. I wouldn't bother trying to get rid of them or replacing the substrate. If you use the same substrate to replace what is in there now, more springtails will just appear in a couple of weeks or so.

I never tried to sterilize my mulch so don't know if doing that would prevent them from reappearing or not. Also not sure how one would go about doing such a sterilization process to mulch. I don't think heating mulch in the oven would be overly safe due to fire concerns.

I am not sure what the clusters are.

Actually you can put the substrate wood and coconut coir in the oven and bake 250-300 for 3-4 hours low and slow. However, the little bugs you have aren't a problem to have they actually will help.

 

[rorostortoise]

Hi Ya'll

Thanks EVERYONE for help along our journey. Our little Scooter is such a joy, and you all have helped us so much!
So I assume you have taken a look at the attached image. As I was pulling Scoots from her bath I noticed one of these.... and then I noticed more than a few. As you can see, they are whitish-tan bumps. The group shown is 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch wide, maybe 1/16th tall. SO not big... but they all seem to be 2-3 inches above the soil level.

So: What is this?

My GUESS is insect eggs.... we do have those "no-see-um" gnats most of the year. I try and keep them down with fly paper, but I can never completely exterminate them (Advise on this is welcome, too!) So my guess is it is them.

My other shot is a mushroom-like spore or fungus.

I KNOW someone here will say, "Dave, you silly, thats...." so please. Educate me!

And HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the members here!

That looks like spider eggs or possibly a kind of mold/fungus. If it is mold take Scooter out and clean the whole tank, if its spider eggs just remove and disregard.

 

[zovick]

I found a couple more. These were higher up... some near the top.

One looks like it has a spider nest in it (3443).... and just below it, I DID find a spider. You can see her in picture 3442 (she is NO longer in there!) I never looked this close until today, did not realize how dirty it was in there!

I put a little picture of scooter giving me a sideways glance....

I found what looks like algae.... We have a good habitat, it was made by a member here. We keep the moisture high, like 90%

So I did a little reading.... looks like we should clean through in there with water with a little lemon in it.... does that sound good???

Nice Star Tortoise! Is it a Sri Lankan or Indian Star? It looks like a Sri Lankan Star to me. How large is it now?

I used to have some female Sri Lankan Stars which were about 12" or so and some males between 8" and 9". They were really beautiful animals.

 

[Tom]

Hi Ya'll

Thanks EVERYONE for help along our journey. Our little Scooter is such a joy, and you all have helped us so much!
So I assume you have taken a look at the attached image. As I was pulling Scoots from her bath I noticed one of these.... and then I noticed more than a few. As you can see, they are whitish-tan bumps. The group shown is 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch wide, maybe 1/16th tall. SO not big... but they all seem to be 2-3 inches above the soil level.

So: What is this?

My GUESS is insect eggs.... we do have those "no-see-um" gnats most of the year. I try and keep them down with fly paper, but I can never completely exterminate them (Advise on this is welcome, too!) So my guess is it is them.

My other shot is a mushroom-like spore or fungus.

I KNOW someone here will say, "Dave, you silly, thats...." so please. Educate me!

And HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the members here!

I don't know what that is. Almost look like a fungus.

I use a rag with dilute bleach to wipe down my enclosure walls as needed. Never tried lemon juice.

 

[carfac]

Nice Star Tortoise! Is it a Sri Lankan or Indian Star? It looks like a Sri Lankan Star to me. How large is it now?

I used to have some female Sri Lankan Stars which were about 12" or so and some males between 8" and 9". They were really beautiful animals.

She's Sri Lankan.... and yes, about 12".... and BOY does she have a personality.

One thing she does is when we scratch her shell just right she "dances" Pretty cool!

 

[carfac]

I don't know what that is. Almost look like a fungus.

I use a rag with dilute bleach to wipe down my enclosure walls as needed. Never tried lemon juice.

Thanks Tom!.....

I assume VERY dilute! So scared of any chemicals in there, thats why I was thinking lemon.... but I appreciate your input.

How can I tell fungus vs. eggs?????

 

[carfac]

I found some on a bark piece. I cut it in half. I would say its a fungus I think. But I am no biologist!