What to expect with mites

[justinsane82]

I found out today that my male has mites. He spent most of yesterday and this morning soaking which then during feeding, I found a single mite. I cleaned out the cage as instructed as well as treated him and outside of him being obviously upset about the fact that he now only has two hides and a water dish in his tank, all was well. I got up for a drink tonight and he's back soaking.

So my question is, what should I expect moving forward here. Will he continue to soak even if the mites are gone? How often should I treat him as the spray doesn't specify. I'll continue to research this online but I figure there is no better source of information than this group here.

[Vypyrz]

So my question is, what should I expect moving forward here. Will he continue to soak even if the mites are gone? How often should I treat him as the spray doesn't specify. I'll continue to research this online but I figure there is no better source of information than this group here.

For starters, what kind of spray are you using?

Edit* I just noticed you also have a boa. Go ahead and start checking it as well. Mites will migrate or hitch a ride..

[justinsane82]

The only spray available to me up here in Canada was Jurassimite. I treated the boa also but she's been in quarantine for the 3 weeks that I've had her. I've seen no mites in her tank nor has she displayed any signs of them. It's my opinion that the mites came from my bp's eco earth that I will never be using again as that is a common occurrence with using the stuff.

[Vypyrz]

I'm sure people are going to respond with a variety of products and techniques that work for them. I have heard everything from rubbing olive oil on your snake to one member who claimed to dump flea powder in a pillow case and leave his snakes in it over night . The only product that I can recommend with 100% certainty is Provent-A-Mite (PAM). You can order it here...


http://www.pro-products.com/

It's a little more expensive but it works. One can will last a while because you don't have to saturate everything with it. Basically, you remove the snake and water bowl from the enclosure, spray everything in the enclosure, let it dry and put your snake and water bowl back in the tank. You will start seeing dramatic results in 1-2 days. One treatment will usually last for about 30 days, unless you change the substrate, then you will need to re-treat it. After I used it the first time I just started treating each of my tubs once a month and never had another mite...

[Vypyrz]

Ah! You are in Canada. I'm not sure if you can get Provent-A-Mite shipped up there. Hopefully someone with Jurrasimite experience will get on in a bit.
The thing about mites is that they don't stay in the enclosure. So if an animal in a pet store gets mites then they can be on just about anything, and since most reptile supplies are kept in close proximity to the animals, I think that is a most likely way of them getting into your home...

[flynn]

It is possible to get PAM up here, but very hard to find. When you do find it, don't expect a cheap price tag. I managed to find a place selling it for around $75 a can.

Where are you exactly? I know the store I went to will ship PAM within Canada (http://www.reptilekings.com/).

Before PAM I used NIX with much success. I switched to PAM because (I was finally able to find some and) its so much easier than NIX.


Good luck.

[itskrystle]

I just had this problem with one of my ball pythons. I purchased Natural Chemistry Reptile Relief and PAM. I put on a pair of gloves, sprayed some of the Reptile Relief on my hands and ran them over the snake. I then put the snake in a separate tub while I sprayed his hide and substrate with PAM. I did this for all of my animals. I'm paranoid so I let the PAM dry for about an hour and then put the snake and water bowl back into the tub. I haven't seen him soaking in his water bowl since and it's been about two weeks.

When I sprayed the PAM, I did this in a separate room and left the tubs in that room to dry. As I said, I'm paranoid and refuse to use PAM in the same room that houses my reptiles.

[shescountry89]

When treating the tank, or whatever he is in don't put his water dish back with him for 24 hours. He should be fine.

I recently had a mite scare, and I got recommondations from 2 close friends to use Equate, that you can pick up at Walmart to treat the cage itself. I used Reptile Relief to to treat the snake outside of the tub, which i put it on my hands and rubbed the snake down with it.

Worked perfectly. Most people are afriad to use Equate, considering it hasn't been proven to not harm snakes like PAM has. I have had no issues using it, as of others who use it on a regular basis.

Hope all is well, and that you fix your problem!

[justinsane82]

When treating the tank, or whatever he is in don't put his water dish back with him for 24 hours. He should be fine.

I recently had a mite scare, and I got recommondations from 2 close friends to use Equate, that you can pick up at Walmart to treat the cage itself. I used Reptile Relief to to treat the snake outside of the tub, which i put it on my hands and rubbed the snake down with it.

Worked perfectly. Most people are afriad to use Equate, considering it hasn't been proven to not harm snakes like PAM has. I have had no issues using it, as of others who use it on a regular basis.

Hope all is well, and that you fix your problem!

Thanks everyone for all your comments and suggestions. I was thinking about taking his water dish away to ensure that he doesn't wash the jurassimite away as he does go back in the water dish. I'm going to give that a go and see if that helps. I would think it would. I'm going to cross the border down into washington state and pick up some reptile relief on the weekend too just in case the jurassimite doesn't cut it.

[Sarin]

You should be able to get reptile relief over here. I know I can. When I had to act fast I used Mite-Off and it worked.. Eventually.. Too much stress on me and the snake to ever do that again.

It is possible to get PAM into Canada. I contacted Bob and this is the e-mail he sent me.

"Nicole,

These are the terms on international orders regarding our Provent-a-mite spray. We can send the product to you, however, since Provent-a-mite is not registered with your country, there is a theoretical chance it could be seized at the border. We have not had any problems to date, but it could potentially happen.

When we ship Internationally, the customer must assume this risk and understand that we will not provide a refund should the order be confiscated. To date, we have not had a package refused, including regular shipments to Canada.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, bank checks or a money order in US funds. To ship one can of Provent-a-mite to Canada would be $24.90, two would be $42.85. Larger orders can be quoted on request. The order is sent via USPS first class mail which does not provide for insurance coverage, so we can't guarantee the parcel will be delivered and will not be responsible for lost or undelivered mail.

We could just send Provent-a-mite Internationally without explaining all of this and you would most likely just end up just getting the parcel, but we want to be as honest as we can with our customers up front as so to avoid any problems later on.

If you would like to order this online, you can do so by ordering the product and then in the special instructions section, tell us that you agree with the terms of this e-mail. We will e-mail you a confirmation and a shipping date. You will be charged per this e-mail and not what will automatically show up on the shopping cart"

I suggest getting a can any way. It's always good to have just in case.

P.S. the above prices are the PAM product as well as the shipping totals. Not a bad price IMO.