Little bugs in my panthers bioactive enclosure. Help!

[Robby]

i Didn’t think ladybugs were safe for chams therefore not safe to put in a chams cage?

Correct I’ve heard lady bugs are a no go with chams.

 

[jamest0o0]

i Didn’t think ladybugs were safe for chams therefore not safe to put in a chams cage?

Correct I’ve heard lady bugs are a no go with chams.

I think there are species of ladybug that are more toxic, but the common ones usually used with gardening are very mild. I’ve seen my chams eat them plenty of times with no noticeable effects. Not that I’d willingly feed them or allow it, but when kept outdoors they’d snag them occasionally. But yeah, I wouldn’t throw A ton of them into the enclosure with the Cham. A lot all at once probably wouldn’t be good… what I did was take the plant out, cover with mosquito netting, and then put the lady bugs inside. They clear the plants pretty fast. For in the enclosure in large numbers: mantids, lacewing, parasitic wasps are all generally safe. Large mantids can obviously do damage and lacewings can bite, but not to any serious damaging degree.

 

[Lindasjackson]

I think there are species of ladybug that are more toxic, but the common ones usually used with gardening are very mild. I’ve seen my chams eat them plenty of times with no noticeable effects. Not that I’d willingly feed them or allow it, but when kept outdoors they’d snag them occasionally. But yeah, I wouldn’t throw A ton of them into the enclosure with the Cham. A lot all at once probably wouldn’t be good… what I did was take the plant out, cover with mosquito netting, and then put the lady bugs inside. They clear the plants pretty fast. For in the enclosure in large numbers: mantids, lacewing, parasitic wasps are all generally safe. Large mantids can obviously do damage and lacewings can bite, but not to any serious damaging degree.

Oh that’s a great idea with taking it outside and cover with netting and add the ladybugs!

 

[dinomom]

Thank you all!
To confirm are the little worms just the larvae stage of the scale? Or is that a separate problem

Pretty sure it is larvae

 

[Mark_C]

My guess is it looks like it may be a mealybug infestation. If it is, then based on color they're probably nymphs atm, so you're catching the problem early.
They can't hurt people or animals but will kill the plants. They also migrate to nearby plants pretty quickly.
Neem oil or insecticidal soap from a big box store will work and are safe around people, but check toxicity to animals.
At this stage you can also kill them with alcohol on a swab and just touch it to them, as nymphs it dehydrates them but its les effective as they get older as they cover themselves with a 'wax' shell (and begin to turn from yellow/brown to white). The problem with the alcohol method is you have to get every one, and there's probably a ton of them throughout the plants.
Found a reference from a 'natural' site...
https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/mealybug-control/

 

[jamest0o0]

My guess is it looks like it may be a mealybug infestation. If it is, then based on color they're probably nymphs atm, so you're catching the problem early.
They can't hurt people or animals but will kill the plants. They also migrate to nearby plants pretty quickly.
Neem oil or insecticidal soap from a big box store will work and are safe around people, but check toxicity to animals.
At this stage you can also kill them with alcohol on a swab and just touch it to them, as nymphs it dehydrates them but its les effective as they get older as they cover themselves with a 'wax' shell (and begin to turn from yellow/brown to white). The problem with the alcohol method is you have to get every one, and there's probably a ton of them throughout the plants.
Found a reference from a 'natural' site...
https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/mealybug-control/

Those are scale for sure, but the info you provided can be applied to them as well. Another thing about these plant pests, ants love them and will start farming their honeydew

 

[Robby]

Those are scale for sure, but the info you provided can be applied to them as well. Another thing about these plant pests, ants love them and will start farming their honeydew

So if my house/area is prone to those little black sugar ants…. What your saying is I need to take extra precaution to spray to ensure they do not get to the enclosure lol ugh

 

[jamest0o0]

So if my house/area is prone to those little black sugar ants…. What your saying is I need to take extra precaution to spray to ensure they do not get to the enclosure lol ugh

Yup, I’m with you on that too. Lots of plant pests here and ants. I’ve had my cages covered in ants before, liquid terra traps do the trick. I even used them on our windowsills cause they were in our one bedroom. Must have Wiped out a million ants that way lol. Cheaper than an exterminator too.

It’s said ants do keep away termites, so at least there’s that!

 

[meandbuddy]

Hello all, so I noticed one of my plants not doing so well so I took a closer look to find there are little mite looking bugs, as well as tiny little worms (which are hanging by little silk threads) in my enclosure sadly. Pictures are here of the mites and also a tiny worm. Now my potted plants are in bioactive soil, so I know there may not be a full solution without killing off some of my cleaning crew, but what is the best chameleon safe advice to rid these bugs? Anything I should be worried about?

So the mite looking brown things are scales, had an umbrella in my ambanja enclosure that had those. Not sure what worm it is, but neem oil is effective in treating scales but if you bioactive it would harm cleaning crew so..