RE: [Gecko] uroplatus mites?

[Neal Grant]

Good Morning folks,   I was admiring my recently acquired WC Uroplatus sikkorae yesterday, and much to my chagrin, I noticed several very very tiny red-orange spots on her. With the help of a loop I could tell that they were some variety of bug. So I called the reptile shop that I got her from (which for the time being, shall remain nameless) and I told them I thought they were mites (primarily cause they were sooo tiny), and they said, oh, orange mites, those are ok, they just eat dead skin. Well, needless to say, I was just a bit skeptical. I removed her from her tank and began by trying to wipe them off with a wet q-tip. No dice. Soooooo, bless her cold little heart, this poor little lizard "allowed" me to man-handle the heck out of her and pull these little buggers out of her with a pair of jeweler's tweezers.  All modesty aside, the "surgery" I performed was miraculous. Without the aid of magnification, I removed about 8 of them, two of which were uncomfortably close to her eyes. What a trooper she was.  The fact that I had to pull them off makes me wonder if they were mites or, perhaps, ticks. I did a pretty reasonable search of her underside, leg pockets, etc, and didn't find any others, so I know it's folley to say she's clean, but she certainly isn't infested... So, I'm looking for a little advice here. Mites or ticks? Has anyone heard of these supposed OK orange mites? What kind of follow up, if any, do I need to perform on my little trooper? Many thanks! Neal Grant