How to Care for a Pet Insect

Predatory insects tend to be fastidious groomers. Mites pose the greatest problem to good insect hygiene. Preventative maintenance should be practiced, and progressively more drastic solutions are available should an infestation occur. The following steps will aid in solving this potentially serious issue for pet insects.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Sterilize your substrate (the material in the bottom of the aquarium) by baking it. Keep the humidity in your enclosure less than 70 percent and the substrate as dry as your care sheet will allow. Mites thrive in high humidity and shouldn't be able to live outside the tank.
   
2. Empty the floor tray every few weeks if the tank has one. Otherwise, remove any leftover prey, food boluses or fecal pellets as soon as you can with long tweezers.
   
3. Inspect prey items with a magnifying glass to ensure they are free of mites.
4. Put some chicken bones in the tank for a few days to attract mites if you have a confirmed infestation. Remove the bones with tweezers before they dry out.
5. Try introducing some pill bugs (also known as roly-polys) to control the mite population.
   
   
6. Clean the entire tank completely only if all other methods have failed to control a severe mite infestation. Transfer your pet to temporary housing and disinfect the original enclosure with a mild soap followed by a mild ammonia-based cleaner since the soap can be toxic. Let the enclosure air out and dry thoroughly before setting it up again and moving your pet back.