I may have a mite problem. But to what extent?

[DavesChillaxin]

I have a 3 year old who seems fine, but all of a sudden began hiding in his dish (like he did when I first got him, and was located in a high traffic area) this is no longer the case so I'm concerned. I know it might be mite because last night I noticed on one of my new baby BPs there were black specs. He had just shed so I was first worried it was a damaged scale. I keep watching for a while until it moved! Then I noticed another, then another! I freaked out.. Gave him a bath immediately which killed a bunch of them as I could see black specs at the bottom of the water filled container. I put him back in his tank and inspected my other new comer. He seemed clean but like my baby, he to slept in his dish an awful lot.

Today I was hoping Petco or someone would have mite-off, but no one has anything on their shelves. It was something I thought I could temporarily use while I wait for Reptile Relief to come in the mail. So since that failed I gave them both another bath. Cleaned out their terrariums and put them in a isolated tote with just paper towels, breath holes, water dish and a single UTH between them. I threw away the substrate and packed all the "non wood" stuff like some hides, logs and dish in a bag. Then I put their wood hides in another, then the lights in a third. Storing them in the garage for now. I cleaned their terrariums with a bleach/water solution and I will let them dry and air out over night. Tomorrow I intent on spraying down their bare tanks with the Reptile Relief. Then I will spray down their "non wood" stuff, put them back in the tanks. Spray down the snakes in the totes then put the snakes back in their tanks. I'm not sure what to do about the wooden hides, any suggestions?


I'm just looking for advice as this is my first infestation, and if this is a good approach to eradicate these mites. Also how to check how far it got. I do not visually notice anything with the two, but the smallest definitely has them! Still not sure where they came from, but that's another day. For now it's about helping my babys.

[Kat_Dog]

Best methods to fighting mites:

http://pro-products.com/provent-a-mite/
or
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/gener...ake-mites.html

The methods above are for the enclosure. Dawn soap baths will work well with getting the mites off the snake as well as using vegetable oil on the snake. Keep them all an white paper towels. It'll keep the mites from hiding and you'll be able to see them when they fall off. I would keep them in basic smooth plastic or disposable hides too since those are easy to clean. A flipped over bowl with a hole cut out will work well and can be bought at dollar stores.

Be sure to follow the directions VERY closely. If you use too much PAM/Nix then it can cause severe neurological issues or even death. You may want to dilute it a little more for baby snakes.

Wooden hides can be baked in the oven at 250 I think, someone else would have to chime in on that.

[Pythonfriend]

i would not spray anything on the snakes. its not necessary to eliminate the mites.

oil will dissolve the scales and cause something like a forced shed. thats not good.

a bath in soapy water is not good either. you can make the mites drown faster by breaking the surface tension using ONE drop of dish washing liquid per GALLON of water. no bubble bath, no soapy bath.

if you first spray down the snake with something, and then use oil on them causing the top skin layer to flake off, and then give them a soapy bath, you will cause some (temporary?) damage for sure. thats a triple burger of bad ideas. these 3 ideas have one thing in common: unnecessary risk for the health of your reptile.

just use PAM, follow the instructions to the letter. dont spray the snake or the water bowl. let it air out before you return the snake and the water bowl. any difficult-to-clean hides or decoration, just spray it down and bag it up. or you can leave it in and treat it with PAM whenever you treat the substrate / paper towels. and remember: you only want to kill the mites. no need to experiment with risky ideas. one product, the right one, used in the right way, is all you need.

[bcr229]

You can use NIX or RID cream rinse to make a weak permethrin solution by mixing the 2 oz (59 ml) bottle very well with one gallon of warm water. Put the solution into a clean spray bottle and use it the same way you would use PAM - spray the enclosure, dampen (don't soak) the paper towels, and spray the hides. Do NOT spray the water bowl or the snake, you can give your critter neuro damage from permethrin poisoning. Once everything is dry you can put the snake and water bowl back into the enclosure. Keep some treated and dried paper towel on hand as well so when your snake makes a mess you can change the paper towels quickly.

PAM is 0.5% permethrin. The NIX/RID solution is much weaker, but since it comes out of a spray bottle rather than an aerosol can and you use more of it, there's also enough permethrin on the surfaces to kill of the mites.

I don't use the oil treatments as they can cause scale damage. A mere drop of dish soap to break the surface tension so the mites will drown in a water bath is enough.

In the future any new snakes should go into a pre-treated enclosure when they come home; during the quarantine period you should assume they have mites until proven otherwise. In fact, the first thing I do after unboxing is wipe them down carefully with a paper towel that I've sprayed with Reptile Relief/Reptile Spray. My vet suggested spraying the paper towel and wiping the snake with it, as opposed to spraying the snake directly, as most snakes hate to be sprayed and you end up with more product on the floor of the tub, the carpet, in the air, etc. than you do hitting the snake. Plus, you can treat the areas under the chin and on top of the head while avoiding the snake's eyes and heat pits.

[DavesChillaxin]

Thank you everyone. Seems most of you are on the same page. Very good advice and I'm feel a lot less stressed out Lol.

Can mites climb? I have my two smaller ones on the ground and my larger in his 55gal on my dresser. He shows no signs of mites but he randomly started sleeping in his water dish to. He isn't now. Maybe he was just stressed those couple days for who knows what. He's a bit moody sometimes

I treated the two and everything in their enclosure with an overnight spray and dry down of RR. Today I sprayed them down (their body) then finished of with a moist towel and wiped down their faces Ie heat pits and eyes. Then I put everything back together. Let it air out a bit more then reintroduced them.

I'm just wondering if this is typical that when one has them. The mites will find their way to all snakes in the room. Therefore I have to treat everything? So expensive. But I have PAM coming in. Hopefully I was thorough enough that they shouldn't return. But if they do I'll return my snakes to the tubs. Treat them again with RR, treat the tanks with PAM and see how it goes.


I'll probably stick with the two products Prevent-A-Mite and Reptile Relief. I like the Reptile Relief as it seems to have good ratings and effectiveness. Mostly I like it because it has no harsh chemicals. The Prevent-A-Mite made me worry. But it seems when used improperly. There WILL be adverse side effects. I mean come one? It's poison! Proceed with extreme caution and contamination care.


Thanks again guys! I'll keep you all posted on their state in a couple days.

[bcr229]

1 - the mite insecticide brand name is Provent-A-Mite, from Pro Products.
2 - mites can and do climb
3 - mites can and do travel

[kylearmbar]

1 - the mite insecticide brand name is Provent-A-Mite, from Pro Products.
2 - mites can and do climb
3 - mites can and do travel

Adding on to this, you should treat any other reptiles and their cages the exact same because theres a good chance they have gottten to them even if you can't see them, mites are very very small before they feed and extremely hard to see. I would also spray the shelf and immediate area around the enclosures because they often lay eggs outside the enclosures.