red bugs on my hibiscus :(

[serenitystarlite]

I was cleaning Kami's cage today and I noticed these on her braided hibiscus. I immediately took it out. I looked at the other 2 hibiscus but I don't see any bugs on them. Should I take them out as well and spray them all with soapy water? Will that kill whatever these bugs are? And most importantly, will these bugs harm her? She spent all last night sleeping on the hibiscus that had the bugs on it

 

[Miss Lily]

Ewww! Never seen anything like those on Amy's plants. I would keep it out of the cage at least until someone can help you with what those icky bugs are!

 

[Crazy Pet Lady]

Looks like a mite of some type. I'd do the soapy water thing and rinse very well. I don't know if they would hurt your cham or not, but I'd treat all the living plants, just in case.

 

[serenitystarlite]

Crazy Pet Lady, your avatar is awesome I love Shin Chan!

 

[dodolah]

Spider Mite??
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_mite

 

[justjumpit621]

I have seen those before, they are found on almost all plants that come from a garden center or were exposed to the outdoors. I don't believe they will hurt your cham, I have only found one on Molly and it was only crawling around. I took my hibiscus outside and hosed it down really well so I would hopefully wash all the bugs off and it seems to have worked. So that's my only advice, if your worried about them take the plants outside and hose them down really well. you shouldn't need soap.

But the ones I see look smaller than those but try anyway.

 

[jessica]

Looks like scale, wash the plant in warm soapy water and wipe all the bug off rinse repeat wash that should take care of them

 

[Syn]

Spider Mite??
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_mite

The color and general size is similar but it looks like they have a stinger on the end of them, does anyone else notice this?

 

[serenitystarlite]

I don't think they're spider mites, they look different. I found a couple black ones too. I took all the plants out and put in new ones. I washed all 3 of her plants with soapy water and rinsed them really well. I'm going to wait and see if the bugs come back before I put any of them back in her cage.

 

[kinyonga]

They are similar to ladybug larva....but the color is different in the species of ladybugs I've seen.
The best way to find our IMHO is to allow them to grow (not on your plant, of course) and see what the turn into.

 

[ijmccollum]

Try this site under scentless bugs. bugguide.net What ever it is it is in a nymph stage. I would think it is too late in the season for Boxelder, but have a look.

 

[serenitystarlite]

They kinda look like this:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/7754

 

[ijmccollum]

Thrip? I don't think they are toxic per say but they might bite and of course there is the unknown gut flora/fauna/parasite concern. It might just be mimicry but red seems like a warning color. Good luck in eradicating them. For over all health...yours/chams/environment...soap is probably the best method unless you are into the natural predator method...

 

[Crazy Pet Lady]

Crazy Pet Lady, your avatar is awesome I love Shin Chan!

Thanx! He's too funny. The cham costume was too good to pass up.

 

[Montium]

Thrip? I don't think they are toxic per say but they might bite and of course there is the unknown gut flora/fauna/parasite concern. It might just be mimicry but red seems like a warning color. Good luck in eradicating them. For over all health...yours/chams/environment...soap is probably the best method unless you are into the natural predator method...

As was said above, if it is thrips good luck getting rid of them. You may want to try releasing lady bugs at night, I think they eat them.

 

[serenitystarlite]

Found some black ones on the other hibiscus I'm going to spray them all later with DeFlea spray and then hit them again with soapy water to see if that gets rid of them. I'm not putting them anywhere near my chams, wikipedia says "Thrips species feed on a large variety of sources both plant and animal by puncturing them and sucking up the contents" so now I'm scared that they might bite my chameleon if there are any in the cage. Should I get some mite spray for her? What's a good brand?

 

[ijmccollum]

I am not sure I would start spraying her with pesticides without expert (vet) recommend. Keep her off the plants and watch her for signs of irritation or discomfort. Chances are the bugs are/were just after the plants and with with fall they were headed indoors for winter. If you had kept them outside they might have just been opportunist that came in with the plant or hitch-hiked in on something else.

 

[Syn]

Found some black ones on the other hibiscus I'm going to spray them all later with DeFlea spray and then hit them again with soapy water to see if that gets rid of them. I'm not putting them anywhere near my chams, wikipedia says "Thrips species feed on a large variety of sources both plant and animal by puncturing them and sucking up the contents" so now I'm scared that they might bite my chameleon if there are any in the cage. Should I get some mite spray for her? What's a good brand?

Might be less of a hassle to go buy another plant from another source and take yours back and ask kindly for a refund (unless you've had these a while).

 

[serenitystarlite]

The plants are out of her cage now and were sprayed with the DeFlea spray outside, so they were nowhere near my chams. I hit them again with soapy water but I'm not putting them back in the cage until the bugs are gone. The hibiscus that had the red bugs was always inside, but I can't remember where I bought it from. It could've been sitting outside at the store. The only thing I would spray her or her cage with would be one of those mite sprays that they sell in the pet store. I've had the plants for awhile, so I can't exchange them. She has new plants now though, 3 pothos and a corn plant. I was just worried about any bugs that may still be in the cage even though I did wipe it out really well. For my cham I was looking at something like these:

The one I sprayed the plants with is for cats/dogs/bedding to kill fleas and ticks.