Small insects in store bought Cypress mulch?

BenDoc

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Nov 20, 2018
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Palm Bay, Florida
Hello All,

I have made some upgrades to my baby sulcata tortoise tank including cypress mulch as the substrate and foil over my screen top to keep humidity up. I took some tips from the forum and went to my local home depot and bought a large bag of normal cypress mulch. I changed out her bedding today and i put the new bedding in. I noticed some very tiny tiny white insects within the cypress mulch and was wondering if anyone would know what they are? and are they going to be harmful to my baby sulcata? Also, moving forward with her bedding situations, are there any insects that i really need to keep an eye out for? Thank you in advance!
 

LaLaP

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I have some tiny tiny insects too and I had read here that they are springtails and they aren't harmful. Hopefully someone can verify this but from what I've read stinging ants are about the only insects you need to worry about harming a tortoise.
 

BenDoc

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Nov 20, 2018
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38
Location (City and/or State)
Palm Bay, Florida
I have some tiny tiny insects too and I had read here that they are springtails and they aren't harmful. Hopefully someone can verify this but from what I've read stinging ants are about the only insects you need to worry about harming a tortoise.


Thank you for the response! i will keep an eye out for any ants inside of her bedding for sure then!
 
P

pguinpro

Guest
Hello All,

I have made some upgrades to my baby sulcata tortoise tank including cypress mulch as the substrate and foil over my screen top to keep humidity up. I took some tips from the forum and went to my local home depot and bought a large bag of normal cypress mulch. I changed out her bedding today and i put the new bedding in. I noticed some very tiny tiny white insects within the cypress mulch and was wondering if anyone would know what they are? and are they going to be harmful to my baby sulcata? Also, moving forward with her bedding situations, are there any insects that i really need to keep an eye out for? Thank you in advance!
You can heat treat your mulch prior to use. Look up recommended temperature for heat treatment and correct duration. Should kill any living organism.
 

BenDoc

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Joined
Nov 20, 2018
Messages
38
Location (City and/or State)
Palm Bay, Florida
You can heat treat your mulch prior to use. Look up recommended temperature for heat treatment and correct duration. Should kill any living organism.


Thank you! Im going to look into heat treatment, im assuming it would just be like putting some in an oven or something lol Ill do some more research on how to do it! thank you for the tip!
 

Momshra

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Feb 12, 2018
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51
Location (City and/or State)
Kansas
Good morning! I am happy to announce that I have been dealing with springtails for a while even after three substrate changes and disinfecting....nothing worked until.....ta daaa Diatomaceous earth!!! I got some food grade and mixed it with the substrate and 5 minutes later they literally disappeared. I stared for minutes and nothing......moved around the substrate....nothing. yay!!! The Diatomaceous earth basically disintegrates and/or dehydrates their tiny bodies quick!!! Safe for tortoises. ❤️❤️
 

BenDoc

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Joined
Nov 20, 2018
Messages
38
Location (City and/or State)
Palm Bay, Florida
Good morning! I am happy to announce that I have been dealing with springtails for a while even after three substrate changes and disinfecting....nothing worked until.....ta daaa Diatomaceous earth!!! I got some food grade and mixed it with the substrate and 5 minutes later they literally disappeared. I stared for minutes and nothing......moved around the substrate....nothing. yay!!! The Diatomaceous earth basically disintegrates and/or dehydrates their tiny bodies quick!!! Safe for tortoises. ❤️❤️


Hi! how long have you been using it? I just want to make sure that it wont effect the health of my tortoise! Also, how do you go about using it? Clear out tank of all decorations and pour some in and mix the bedding thats already in the tank? Thank you!
 

Momshra

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2018
Messages
51
Location (City and/or State)
Kansas
Hi! how long have you been using it? I just want to make sure that it wont effect the health of my tortoise! Also, how do you go about using it? Clear out tank of all decorations and pour some in and mix the bedding thats already in the tank? Thank you!
 
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