Help!!!! Mealy Bugs in my Bioactive enclosure!!!

[Randers88]

Does anybody have any recommendations of how to get rid of Mealy bugs from a bioactive enclosure? I put a new plant in one of the cages next to this bioactive a few weeks ago and it ended up with a pretty bad mealy bug problem. YES, I did treat the new plant with a dawn dish soap / gneem oil / acid based foodgrade sanitizer mixture. I hosed off the tree and root ball, soaked the tree in the mixture and then hosed it off again. Apparently this treatment didn't work the first time. The second time, it did the trick as there are no more in the original enclosure. BUT....Low and behold, three weeks later... they ave now settled into my bioactive enclosure. I have three bioactives in this room and would really like some advise on how to prevent the spread to all seven of my cages in this room.
Is there a way to treat this enclosure without a complete demo or will I have to sacrifice it in order to save the others?

 

[kinyonga]

I have never used these and know nothing about whether they would be toxic to chameleons or eat other bugs in your enclosures...you'll have to figure that out...but they do eat mealy bugs....
https://www.planetnatural.com/product/mealybug-destroyer/

 

[rlschwer]

Green lacewing larvae eat mealies, and the adults are a treat for your Cham. Only downside is they'll definitely snack on your clean up crew, so you may want to pull some out to culture and restock after in case the population is really decimated. You can find lacewings/larvae on eBay as natural peat control

 

[jamest0o0]

I agree, I'd try a natural predator as mentioned

 

[Randers88]

I agree, I'd try a natural predator as mentioned

Will the green lacewing larvae become their own infestation as well though? I'd hate for them to wipe out my CuC and then make it impossible for me to grow my CuC numbers back up because of a Lacewing infestation continuing to feed on what CuC i'm able to replenish. I'd hate to trade one infestation for another. It seems like it could be a trade off, the mealy bugs killing my plants off or the lacewings continuing to wipe out my CuC.

 

[jamest0o0]

Nah they should die off, I'd doubt they would wipe out an established CuC, especially since most burrow in the soil.

 

[Randers88]

Nah they should die off, I'd doubt they would wipe out an established CuC, especially since most burrow in the soil.

Its definitely an established colony. The enclosure has been good for about a year before this happened.

 

[rlschwer]

Will the green lacewing larvae become their own infestation as well though? I'd hate for them to wipe out my CuC and then make it impossible for me to grow my CuC numbers back up because of a Lacewing infestation continuing to feed on what CuC i'm able to replenish. I'd hate to trade one infestation for another. It seems like it could be a trade off, the mealy bugs killing my plants off or the lacewings continuing to wipe out my CuC.

The larvae should pupate within 2-3 weeks, and your Cham will probably eat the adults before they get a chance to breed

 

[NikkiA]

I grow orchids and have found mealybugs to be EXTREMELY difficult to eradicate once they are established. They hide in areas of the plant that are very difficult to treat.

My recommendation would be to separate the cage with the mealys away from the other cages. If you want to attempt to treat the infested cage, you should definitely try, but I wouldn't leave that cage near your other cages.

Good luck!