I would like to hear some options on preventive mite treatment. Personally I am against it as I feel the Cons outweigh the possible PROs.

Here are my PROs and CONs:

PROs:

1. Could prevent a mite infestation:
This is a pro, but it isn't guaranteed one.

CONs:

1. Unnecessary exposure to chemicals:
Many mite sprays have some really nasty chemicals in them that I personally don't like my pets or family to be around on a regular basis. Especially PAM which has chemicals in it that are known carcinogens. (can cause cancer)

2. Possibility of creating a strain of "super" mites that are resilient to current mite sprays
As with bacteria overuse of pesticides can lead to strains of mutated mites that are resistant to current mite sprays.

3. Cost:
Especially with large collections regular treatments will add up to a lot of money. I'm all for spending money where necessary, but this just seems excessive.


#1 is a big deal to me when using tubs. The small volume of air inside the tub combined with very little airflow makes a potentially bad situation much worst. With other larger cages the exposure is still there, but it isn't as big of an issue. (still something I like to avoid)

Instead of preventive treatments I just keep everything I could possibly need to treat a mite outbreak on hand (PAM, Reptile Spray, Dawn dish soap, etc.) While all of the CONs still apply when treating a mite outbreak there is a legitimate reason to take those risks.

I'm open to non chemical preventive treatments like high temperature baking, but again cost and time to do so in a large collection really make it seem excessive.


So what do you think? What do you do? I've attached a poll to this thread with a few options as well as other. If you choose other please post below what your "other" is.