mites,horned mountian dragon

Question
Hopefully you can help. I have had a HMD for about 2 years and this is the first time I have seen little tiny bugs in his tank.  I assume they are mites. I have read other questions on this site for treatment, but I would also like to know and they harmful to people, and can they also infest my room. Do I have anything to worry about?

Answer
Dear Wendy,
thank you for your questions.
There are a number of bugs that can be found in herp enclosures and not all of them are necessarily mites or even  harmful for the dragon. If you have a magnifying glass or  a microscope, try to count the legs: eight legs = arachnid, probably mite, six legs = insect, more legs: for example woodlice (crustacean - although it's too dry for them). If you find mites sitting on the dragon, especially on his head and at the joints, they are probably harmful mites. Other mites feed on any leftovers in the enclosure, same as some insects (booklice for example) and some are insect parasites, maybe they were brought in with the food.

There are a few types of mite that will prey on mammals, birds and herps alike. The most common are the bird mite D. gallinae:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermanyssus_gallinae
and Ornithonyssus bacoti, who usually targets rodents, but isn't that choosy. I haven't heard of a case of infestation with either of these mites in a household with herp only, though. If you want to know for sure, collect some of the mites with a piece of adhesive tape and let a vet have a look at it.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer