New snake mite treatment is looking good

[Caitlin]

Some of you may already know about this but I wanted to share it here as it's looking so promising.

NexGard (afoxolaner) has been used to treat fleas, ticks, and mites in dogs and cats for some time. Now it looks as though it's an excellent option for treating mites in reptiles. I'll link a recent study here that you can discuss with your reptile vet. Basically in reptiles, it looks like a single treatment is effective - your vet will determine dosage and will cut the pill down to appropriate dosage size for your reptile. It's given orally and can even be inserted in a prey item for administration.

So far it's been effective and safe even with gravid animals or neonates. Veterinarians who are members of the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians are aware of it and I know quite a few practitioners who are now using it and recommending it to their clients.

I am so happy to see this treatment, as I am tired of hearing about ivermectin resistance, neurological damage or dead snakes due to keepers using the popular and toxic remedies either too heavily or incorrectly, all of the ineffective 'natural' remedies that don't really interrupt the entire life cycle of the mites, and the old-school methods like No-pest strips with their associated risk of organophosphate poisoning.

A breeder I know who had battled mites endlessly says, "I am using it myself right now with 30 diff reptiles. No side effects and good results so far. Much more desirable than ivermectin or any other tx I have tried over the years. I think I have tried everything. Even moved to new location, did quarantine tresti g before and after, built brand new PVC enclosures and literally burned everything else and the mites STILL followed along. I vote Nexguard!"

https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-022-05611-1

[bcr229]

This is GREAT news!!!

[Homebody]

That is awesome!

[Bogertophis]

How interesting! (My dogs are on NexGard, lol.) Sounds very promising indeed-