Are There Mites on my Hissers?

[MandyJ]

I'm trying to breed some hissing cockroaches, and it was going well for months. Then all of a sudden the adults started to act sluggish and die off, though they looked healthy. I couldn't figure out what was happening. I would find them on their backs away from their hide spots, unable to turn over, but when I'd flip them over they seemed fine and ran back to their hide spots. Soon after, I'd find them back out in the open, dead. Then strong healthy babies were dying like crazy. As far as I could tell, they were still eating until last week. I'm down to only a few adults now, and they're acting like they're dying now, and I'm starting to notice tiny white bugs walking all over them. Are they mites? I didn't notice them until recently, but I don't know what else could be the problem. The habitat is all set up according to the breeders and my research, and I keep it clean and feed them well. What can I do? If it is mites, I doubt it would be safe to use mite medicine on roaches! HELP!

 

[invictusrules]

My hissers had mites, too - little white ones that crawled all over them. I didn't think much about it until some of them started dying like yours. I didn't realize how badly they were infested till I picked one of my big guys up and found that he was totally covered with mites underneath.

Fortunately, I figured out a way to get rid of the mites, and my guys don't have mites anymore.

Backstory...
I realized the mites were mostly hiding around the roaches' heads and tucked up around the thorax where the legs connect. I tried wiping the nasties out with a wet cotton swab, but that was stressing the roaches and not getting many mites. I wanted to power-wash the little buggers out of all the roachy crevices, but hated the idea of spraying the roaches in the face. After all, I'd hate to have to hold my breath while being sprayed. Then I remembered... insect anatomy :idea:

Roaches breathe through openings along their abdomen, so spraying them in the face wouldn't interfere with their breathing. I used the sink sprayer to spray each roach individually, holding the roach upside down so the water wouldn't run over their abdomens. They didn't actually seem to mind getting their pits and faces sprayed, and I had a great time rinsing mites down the drain. (okay - bring on the jokes...)

At the time, I didn't have any tiny babies, so I was able to wash the whole colony. They got a scrubbed tank, no substrate, and new everything. I repeated this once a week, two or three times, and I haven't seen a mite in over six months!!!!!

Some of the more badly infested roaches were really weak for a while, but they perked up after a few weeks of mite-free recovery. Try this method asap. Make sure you clean the tank completely spotless with each treatment to keep any stray eggs/mites from re-infesting. You'll see a HUGE difference in behavior pretty quickly. Hopefully, your guys will recover completely.

(to think I'm posting about roach-washing, and people will actually not think it's too weird...) (right?)

 

[BestRoach]

Hissers commonly carry non harmful mites with them. That said, in large numbers even these benign species can pose a risk. Here are some methods of mite control I recommend.

#1. Introduce a predatory mite to eat and kill off the bad mites. These cultures can be purchased online, and typically die off once all the other mites have been eaten. Hypoaspis miles is the species that comes to mind. Check google for cultures to purchase.

#2. "shake and bake"...this method requires placing each hisser in a bag of flour and gently shaking...the mites stick to the flour, and the hisser comes out free of mites. You'll have to brush off or wash of the hissers when done.

#3. "power scrub" (as mentioned above)...


No matter what you do, you'll have to clean the roach bin very well. I recommend a 10% bleach solution and hot water. Put fresh egg crates (or whatever you use), and wash off all food dishes. Keep wet food to a minimum for awhile...and try and keep only enough food to last a day. Only feed every 3 days, this really helps keep mites in check. Never let wet food sit for more than 4 hours.

 

[MandyJ]

Okay, thanks for the replies! I bleached a new tank for them, put in brand new substrate and replaced the dishes and hide spots with brand new ones. The old ones will soak in bleach for a while before they're ever used again. Hopefully I took care of that problem. I "shake-n-baked" the roaches and rinsed them off. They don't look any better yet, but they're still alive so I haven't lost hope yet. No babies left though. I'm down to two adults. It's so sad. I should have posted about this the minute they started acting sluggish.

Something else just occurred to me though... These roaches are in a room full of reptiles. These aren't the same kind of mites that would hurt the reptiles, are they?! I try to be careful about not transferring things between cages, but having so many I forget myself sometimes. I didn't just infest my reptiles, did I...? :shock: So far they look clean...

 

[BestRoach]

Most mites can not cross species. I in the case of your hissers, they were simple grain mites...and pose little risk to your reptiles. Considering your reptiles diet is not even close to that of the mites....I wouldn't worry about it.

Keep an eye open however...and perhaps pick up some mite spray if you are really worried.