How do i get rid of sand mites from a sand box?

Question

My 2 year old had bites that I thought were chicken pox.. The doc said it might be sand mites. He loves his sand box and I want to let him keep using it. I already bleached inside the box. I took out all the toys and will watch them with bleach. Is that too much or should I do more?

Answer 1

you might want to call your Dr and ask what the devil is a sand mite and where did he hear of one. And if he didn't have a good answer to begin with why not just say so....

guessing some type of biting midge, any sort of insect repellent should work, but sort of a hassle to just to go out and play in a sand box

Chances are though you will find springtails (the like moist conditions but they do not bite) in the sand box and there isn't a good remedy for them other than drying out the sand completely.  If you wanted to kill them this is the one time boiling water might be used for pest control, but there isn't a practical way to properly treat all the sand and the critter would be right back in no time.

Answer 2

you just have to step on them

Answer 3

Melva,

I knwo you alreadybleached inside the box but unless you treated the sand, then the mites will still be there.  And to have your little one playing in bleached sand could be dangerous to his health as the fumes are quite strong.

There are some products that are chemcial free that you could use to get rid of the sand mites that would also be much safer for his health.  These are enzyme based cleaning products that are used for industrial cleaning without chemicals and/or for pest control.  As a pest control product these work to break down the shell of the pest onto which they are sprayed which causes it to shed its skin prematurely and die.

I woudl think that in a sandbox, you could spray it on the sand and then turn over the sand and spray again until you feel that you have covered most of the sand quite well.

The product I see mentioned most often is called Kleen-Free and you order it online (link below with a tab that takes you to their store).  This kind of product is a contact killer so you mix it with water (8 to 1) unless you buy the premix that they have but if your sandbox is a good size then you likely need the premix and some of the concentrate to contiue to spray in the future.  Then you spray it everywhere the bugs may be.  That is why I said to turn over the sand so you get good coverage.  He could probably help you with this as the product is safe for kids etc.

Good luck...  

Answer 4

Remove the sand and the fleas / mites ( if that is what it is) will not return.