Tiny Bug Infestation...HELP!

Zoobythesea

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Before going to bed I noticed super tiny white bugs in my closed indoor sulcata enclosure. My substrate is cypress mulch. I will change the bedding right when I get off work tomorrow but I'm super worried these tiny bugs could be harming my torts. Substrate is approx 1 month old.

I'm worried with cleaning it still might not fix the problem though. Has anyone came across anything similar?? I'm wondering what I can do to stop this from happening again.
 

Zoobythesea

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White... Honestly it's hard to say. Maybe black? I'm looking at them through the red heat light as to not wake the torts. If they are in fact black could they be something else?

Thanks for the quick reply. I honestly can't sleep I was so worried.
 

CourtneyG

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I get those in my indoor enclosure, I just put a ton of pill bugs in the tanks, took about a week for all the little bugs to go away.
 

taza

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I had those too. Next thingI knew ants were crawling all over My babies! I changed the substrate out right away. I don't know if the white bugs were baby ants or something else but I was not taking any chances.
 

Tom

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Those are harmless substrate flies. There are several types but none of them will harm your tortoises. If you wish to get rid of them you can bake, boil or replace your substrate about every two weeks. I just ignore them and don't do anything at all about them.

Now about the red light bulb. Tortoises have better vision than we do and can see even more colors than us. If you can see at night with that bulb so can your tortoise. It can mess with their head. I recommend a ceramic heating element set on a thermostat if your species and enclosure is in need of night heat.
 

Flipper

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Yikes! My skin is crawling! Good luck with eradicating this!
 

babytortie

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Those are harmless substrate flies. There are several types but none of them will harm your tortoises. If you wish to get rid of them you can bake, boil or replace your substrate about every two weeks. I just ignore them and don't do anything at all about them.

Now about the red light bulb. Tortoises have better vision than we do and can see even more colors than us. If you can see at night with that bulb so can your tortoise. It can mess with their head. I recommend a ceramic heating element set on a thermostat if your species and enclosure is in need of night heat.
just came across this comment about the red light bulb and tortoise vision.... Does it have to be pitch black at night for a tortoise? Just curious what effect it would have on a tort if there is still some light around the enclosure from the room that it is located in?
 

ascott

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Some folks do not like the black or red heat bulbs....I use both here for night heat when needed....the torts sleep just fine...some times if the house is a perfect 80 ish degrees I will just shut everyone off for the night and there is no difference in their behavior :D just saying is all...
 

Abdulla6169

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Some folks do not like the black or red heat bulbs....I use both here for night heat when needed....the torts sleep just fine...some times if the house is a perfect 80 ish degrees I will just shut everyone off for the night and there is no difference in their behavior :D just saying is all...
I need some one to see the "light all night" effect on torts, what would happen to them? It's been researched and proven that sleeping with the lights on is very damaging to the health, will a similar effect be visible on reptiles/torts.... Needs thinking :)
 

Tom

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just came across this comment about the red light bulb and tortoise vision.... Does it have to be pitch black at night for a tortoise? Just curious what effect it would have on a tort if there is still some light around the enclosure from the room that it is located in?


Does it "have" to be dark at night? Well no. But I think it is better for them. I have seen tortoises under colored bulbs active at night, and that tells me it is not a good thing. Those same tortoises are not active in the dark. This issue is one humans can relate to. How well would you sleep with the lights on all night? Would you sleep better if it were dark? Would this have an effect on you day after day after day?
 

ascott

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It's been researched and proven that sleeping with the lights on is very damaging to the health,

I am one who enjoys reading some good research, love it. But I also know that research is usually very much in a controlled environment to establish a certain outcome---depending on the source/funder for the research.

There are also people in this world that simply can not go to sleep without a tv on, a fan on, a radio on--some type of background noise or stimulant, there are folks who can not go to sleep if there is even a sliver of light in their room...there are those folks who could care less about particulars and fall straight asleep while driving (this one I know, because I was often terrified on road trips with my Mom when she decided to nap....this seemed the best place for her to try to catch a nap..., still to this day she finds car time the best sleeping time, likely the reason I can not nap on a long car ride and prefer to drive...lol)....all I am saying is that there is no one way for all things to work.

Here, the redfoot torts sleep just fine with or without a red/black night heat light.....and here, one of the redfoot torts will bug hunt during the middle of the night even when there are no lights on....go figure, there is no one mold that all fit into, only generalities....variables are always at work.....just saying is all....
 

Abdulla6169

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I am one who enjoys reading some good research, love it. But I also know that research is usually very much in a controlled environment to establish a certain outcome---depending on the source/funder for the research.

There are also people in this world that simply can not go to sleep without a tv on, a fan on, a radio on--some type of background noise or stimulant, there are folks who can not go to sleep if there is even a sliver of light in their room...there are those folks who could care less about particulars and fall straight asleep while driving (this one I know, because I was often terrified on road trips with my Mom when she decided to nap....this seemed the best place for her to try to catch a nap..., still to this day she finds car time the best sleeping time, likely the reason I can not nap on a long car ride and prefer to drive...lol)....all I am saying is that there is no one way for all things to work.

Here, the redfoot torts sleep just fine with or without a red/black night heat light.....and here, one of the redfoot torts will bug hunt during the middle of the night even when there are no lights on....go figure, there is no one mold that all fit into, only generalities....variables are always at work.....just saying is all....
I don't know how body hormone for torts work, if the hormone glands are not light sensitive then their isn't a problem. I just don't know how I can tell :(
 

babytortie

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Does it "have" to be dark at night? Well no. But I think it is better for them. I have seen tortoises under colored bulbs active at night, and that tells me it is not a good thing. Those same tortoises are not active in the dark. This issue is one humans can relate to. How well would you sleep with the lights on all night? Would you sleep better if it were dark? Would this have an effect on you day after day after day?
ok i see what you're saying now. :) I prefer dark, and I think lil' Spike does too... although he sleeps like a log even when I'm turning lights on and off in the room he's located in.
 

Abdulla6169

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ok i see what you're saying now. :) I prefer dark, and I think lil' Spike does too... although he sleeps like a log even when I'm turning lights on and off in the room he's located in.
A few minutes of "on" lights at night don't make a difference, but a few hours probably will :D
 
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