Hi all,

Last night I was checking up on my ball and I saw this tiny, tiny white speck moving on a bare patch of glass where the substrate was pushed aside. I mean this thing was tiiiiny - like smaller than a pin head; like almost invisible, it was so tiny! Anyway, I searched the tank and saw one more, but then couldn't find anything else... I keep the snake on plantation soil which I usually keep in the freezer but the last time I had run out I just picked up a pack at the local pet shop and used it without freezing it. I have read about some kind of white (wood mite?) bug that can sometimes be found in soils of that type but I've never come across such a thing since using it for years. As far as I know they're not harmful to the snake. Does my description fit what these things look like?

Today I did a full clean/disinfect of hides, dishes, plants, baked the wood and took the steamer to the entire enclosure. I didn't replace the substrate as I want to freeze this next stuff just incase that's where this little bug thing came from. I just put down newspaper for now. During cleaning, I didn't see anymore of these tiny white things nor have I seen any atop the newspaper.

Does anyone think this could be something more than just something from the soil? I get the compressed blocks but I always thought these bugs were more common in the loose soil. Is there anything else I should watch for? I don't want any sort of tiny bugs in there (harmful or not.) What about eggs? If anything, using the steamer probably just helped them to hatch! Maybe I'm overreacting...