Mites? what do they look like?

[aluras]

Hello everyone,
I was soaking my little leopard this morning and noticed tiny(I mean tiny) white bugs crawling around on the shell. My leopard is very young, hatched in november 08. Are these bad? what are they? Im scared to death of mites getting into all my animals. any insight would be a great help. Thanks
~Aaron

 

[Laura]

SOunds like mites.. but could be something in or from the substrate as well.. do a search and see if you can find a picture that matches what you see...

 

[galvinkaos]

Check google images and search soil lice, mites.

There is a really weird insect forum out there that posts pics of bugs. Imagine that a forum where they like to post a lot of pics of their favorite subject.

Dawna

 

[aluras]

okay i did a search on google images for mites, soil lice and I cant find what looks like them. They are soo small. The soil lice looks like it could be it, But I cant tell the ones I see are smaller looking than what I could tell from the picture. If it is soil lice are they harmful to the tortoise?????

 

[aluras]

I think they are springtails, so they should be harmless to the torts. Although if anyone has any other insight i would love to hear it.