Uninvited Guests!

[Chamomile T]

I was wondering if anyone know what these are. I have been finding them for a couple weeks now and have tracked them down to the cham's cage. I think they are hatching in there...ewww I am guessing they are millipede rather than centipede because they are a little rounder than centipedes are, but I am not really sure. If the cham can eat them that I will try not to be creeped out by the infestation in the house, but if they are harmful I need to know what to do.
Sorry about the picture quality
-Shannon

 

[Chamomile T]

oops

I didn't know what I was doing so there is only one picture.

 

[Will Hayward]

The millipeads are coming from the plant pot. They will breed exessively. Here is a link on battling then in a living vivarium. Eliminating vivarium pests

You will need to repot the plant in clean soil. the entire root ball needs to come clean.

Good luck.

 

[Heika]

I used food grade diatomaceous earth in my big aquarium when the chams had mites.. stirred it down into the soil, etc. Anyhow, it killed the milipedes, too. It isn't as effective when it is wet, so if you decide to use it, you might want to saran wrap your plants to keep the diatomaceous earth from being hit by the misting. As long as the little beasties come in contact with it, it will kill them. It won't kill eggs though, so you will need to keep it in the plants for a while, probably a couple weeks.

Heika

 

[Chamomile T]

MAAANNN! That is going to be a big job! Well, how will everyone else be spending their weekend?? Thanks for identifying them so quickly, I knew you could help. Nasty little buggers don't even drown well! I have had a few in water for hours and they still haven't kicked the bucket.

Will- What do you think about the dry ice technique?? I could put the small plants into a Rubbermaid tote, or just bag the pots and add dry ice to the bags. That way it won't stress my cham out too much having to take out everything all at once. In case you haven't noticed, I am totally trying to avoid re-potting the plants, of course I will if that is the best way, but I really, really don't want too.

Heika- where do you get food grade diatomaceous earth?

Brad- How do you add more than one picture to a post?? I have a better picture of the little nasties that might be more helpful to other people with a millipede problem.

Thanks again!!
-Shannon

 

[Heika]

Hi Shannon,

I bought mine at my local feed store. It is regularly mixed in with grains that are fed to cows and horses to kill grain mites. I also lightly dusted each of the chams with it, avoiding their heads. It worked.. no more mites, and the chams seem to be fine. From what I have read, if it is ingested, it will even kill some internal parasites.

Heika

 

[Chamomile T]

Thanks Heika! I am glad you stay up as late me I will start searching the feed stores tomorrow to see if they have any. Cows are not big here but I will keep my fingers crossed.
-Shannon

 

[Heika]

It is pretty commonly used as a non-toxic insecticide in houses, etc. too. But, some of it sold in garden centers and at pool and hot tub places have chemicals mixed in with it, so you might want to check the lable carefully!

Heika

 

[Chamomile T]

If it says "food Grade" on the box can I assume it is chemical free and safe to use?

 

[Brad]

Brad- How do you add more than one picture to a post?? I have a better picture of the little nasties that might be more helpful to other people with a millipede problem.

There are multiple ways of doing this depending on your user options and where the photos are located.

If the photos are on another server somewhere you can use the little mountain icon you see when typing posts.

If you want to upload directly from your computer as an attachment you can use the little paperclip icon or the button located in the 'additional options' when typing a post. To upload multiple photos, repeat the process. Once uploaded, you can insert attachments into the post using the paperclip icon. If not, they will be listed below your post in a yellow background.

 

[Heika]

If it says "food Grade" on the box can I assume it is chemical free and safe to use?

Yes, the food grade stuff is chemical free.

 

[Will Hayward]

Will- What do you think about the dry ice technique?? I could put the small plants into a Rubbermaid tote, or just bag the pots and add dry ice to the bags. That way it won't stress my cham out too much having to take out everything all at once. In case you haven't noticed, I am totally trying to avoid re-potting the plants, of course I will if that is the best way, but I really, really don't want too.

Havent tried it myself. All my glass terrariums seem clean thus far. Im not sure how deep the dry ice would penetrate into the soil. See, the idea is that dry ice releases carbon dioxide (CO2). Bugs cant breath it, but its even more healthier than air for plants. You might be able to do it by taking pencils and poking deep holes into your plant pots to let the CO2 penetrate. I think that would work. CO2 is a lot heavier than are, so it will fill the lower crevices. Aparently, everone who has ever done this, has never had problems reocure again. So I assume its a pretty decent method.

 

[Chamomile T]

Thanks Brad! I was able to add another picture to my original post. There was a problem with my picture and that is why it wasn't uploading.

Will- the dry ice sounds like a fun experiment. Good tip on the holes, I wouldn't have thought of doing that. I think I will give it a try.
-Shannon

 

[psyensics]

its most likly a milipede. But don't worry they are harmless unlike centipedes. See if your cham likes them. Good luck!