Mite treatment for tarantulas

On 20.06.2020 we got a Tapinauchenius violeceus from a friend which had an extremely strong mite infestation (Pic 1). We were asked if there was a possibility to free the animal from its mites, mostly members of the genus Tyrophagus (Pic 12 - 14), because other tarantula owners had advised her to kill the animal. A strong mite infestation is no reason to kill a tarantula, because this can be treated. Normally these mites are apparently not dangerous and parasitize mostly only on the cephalothorax and feed on food remains of the tarantulas. However, in the present animal, the mites were everywhere, many on the cephalothorax, some on the opisthosoma, and many on the extremities on and between the leg segments. I anesthetized the Spider with CO2 and under the Euromex StereoBlue trinocular a frightening picture emerged. The animal was extremely full with mites (Pic 2). It is already explained the anesthesia of tarantulas in the 3rd tarantula guidebook from Volker [von Wirth, Volker (2011)] but we would like to explain the essential steps here. Pic 3 - You need a dissecting set with pointed tweezers and 1 - 2 normal brushes (1), a petri dish (2), a bag of baking soda (3), a plastic box perforated with holes in the upper half (4), a tightly closing larger container into which the plastic box (4) fits (5), a stereomicroscope (6), a few cosmetic tissues or blotting paper (7) and a syringe with at least 20ml capacity (8). Pic 4 - first, load the spider into the perforated plastic box (4) and close it with the lid. In most cases this can be done easily by putting the can with the opening over the spider. The spider usually escapes upwards into the can and you can then close it without any problems. Pic 5 - now fill the larger container (5) with the bag of baking soda (3). Pic 6 - then shake the larger container (5) with the baking powder a little back and forth so that the baking powder is evenly distributed at the bottom. Pic 7 - once the baking powder is evenly distributed, use a syringe (8) to spray about 20 ml of water evenly onto the baking powder. This immediately starts a chemical reaction with the sodium hydrogen carbonate in the baking powder, releasing carbon dioxide (= CO2). This can be clearly seen from the foaming substrate. Pic 8 - now transfer the plastic container (4), containing the spider, as quickly as possible into the larger container (5). Pic 9 - once the plastic can (4) is in the larger container (5), close it tightly with a suitable lid. The spider is now forced to inhale the CO2 that forms in the larger container (5) through the perforated plastic can. Probably the CO2 blocks the oxygen uptake and thus the spider "falls asleep" after a certain time. Video 11 - after about 20 minutes, the spider can be released from its "prison". It is now "asleep" and you can place it on the petri dish (2) under the stereomicroscope (6) and brush off the mites from the spider's body with the help of the brush, or squash or collect individual, attached mites with pointed tweezers.. Pic 10 - if you notice movements of the chelicerae and/or extremities of the spider again, you should put it back into a newly set up quarantine terrarium, because usually the spiders wake up again very quickly. In this case, we were able to work on the spider for a good 15 minutes and the time the spider was asleep was enough to remove most of the mites from the spider's body. We repeated the procedure again a day later to remove the remaining mites as well. The spider is currently enjoying good health.

Refernces:

von Wirth, V. (2011): Vogelspinnen. Gräfe & Unzer Verlag, Munich