Bug infestation... Aphids or something worse???

[Rhonda Buchner]

I've been a tort momma for 3.5 months now and twice now I've had this issue and I want to make sure I'm not dealing with mites or something else that could be harmful to my baby. The first time was a couple months ago, I noticed teenie tiny little tan coloured bugs crawling all over EVERYTHING in the enclosure, including Shelly. I did a full substrate change, disinfected and wiped out the enclosure and things seemed to be fine until tonight when having a close look at the substrate realized they are back in full force. They don't seem to be on Shelly except for the odd one that crawls on him/her from the substrate so I don't THINK they are mites but they don't really look like the aphids I've seen posted in other threads. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I took video of them tonight which can be viewed here:

 

[surfergirl]

from what I can tell from the video, I have the same type of little bugs. they come from the cyoress mulch i think. I see one run all over my margies shell sometime and in her food bowl. they have been harmless and she pays no attention to them. there are not tons of them just a few running over the bottom of the enclosure, rocks, her shell etc. I was not using cypress mulch with my russians and hermann so never saw them in there enclosures
(using bark instead, had more flying nats with it). so far none of the little nats/bugs indoor or outdoors have been an issue. Pill bugs do a great job of cleaning up after the old food particles I cannot really see or pick up. These bugs also seem to stay in the enclosures so even indoors they have not been a nuisance at all. I clean up real good though so not much scraps left to build their population.

 

[ascott]

I've been a tort momma for 3.5 months now and twice now I've had this issue and I want to make sure I'm not dealing with mites or something else that could be harmful to my baby. The first time was a couple months ago, I noticed teenie tiny little tan coloured bugs crawling all over EVERYTHING in the enclosure, including Shelly. I did a full substrate change, disinfected and wiped out the enclosure and things seemed to be fine until tonight when having a close look at the substrate realized they are back in full force. They don't seem to be on Shelly except for the odd one that crawls on him/her from the substrate so I don't THINK they are mites but they don't really look like the aphids I've seen posted in other threads. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I took video of them tonight which can be viewed here:

They sure look like "springtails" to me....helpful critters and not going to harm anything....they are soil enhancers/decomposers.....so no harm no foul....cute tort by the way

 

[Rue]

Shelly is beautiful!

Not aphids. I can tell that from the way the move...but that's all I can say for certain. Springtails would likely be jumpier. ..so I will hazard that they are psocids...aka barklice or booklice (different groups).

Generally harmless.

Actually. ..putting a couple of centipedes in there would help.

 

[jockma]

They're probably just there to clean up the enclosure for you by getting rid of rotting food particles, poop particles, decaying substrate, etc. Uninvited room service. They look like the springtails I had, they didn't jump unless provoked in some way.

@Rue you're much braver than I am, I'd rather replace the substrate every day than put centipedes in there

 

[Pearly]

Definitely not aphids, and -sorry to say- too tiny for my old eyes to see : what they are. They move fast like my little soil centipedes do, but those are much bigger/long/wiggly. I used to hate the idea of having ANY BUGS in my house, but that bio-substrate idea has got me convinced to give it a shot and I love it!!! I only brought in earthworms and pillbugs to the tank. The tiny centipedes... just sort of appeared! Must have come in with plants. Over time I got used to them. They don't bother the torts and never crawl out of the tank. They keep other critters in check (never have flying bugs or anything else in there)

 

[Millerlite]

I have those too. They come from the mulch if you buy from like home depot . the mulch or soil is full of eggs before packaged they then get shipped and sent to different stores. When you set up a nice 80-90 degree humid enclosure for our tortoises it's a great incubator for insect eggs as well. They then hatch and you are all the small bugs. They do help with clean up and won't harm your tortoises. Best way to eliminate this problem of you don't want bugs is to take your substrate and bake it in the oven. This will kill a lot of the eggs in the soil or mulch. It's a lot of work and smells like dirt when baking but if you don't want bugs it works rather well. If your enclosures big might be difficult to bake a lot

Kyle

 

[jockma]

You can switch to coco coir too, it doesn't mold/decay so these bugs have no decaying substrate to eat. I had billions of them when I was using cypress, zero now with coco coir.

 

[Rue]

Freezing it might be easier than baking it (and less smelly, lol). Just freeze it long enough to kill eggs...and how long that is depends on the insect.

Off the top of my head, at normal freezer temps...give it two weeks. See if that works. As long as you know ahead of time you can plan for it.