Bleach Vs. Mites?

[Texas Dan]

Ok, So i've found some mites on my snake, most likely from the pet store. It's weird, I didn't see anything on my snake for 3 weeks and all of the sudden this weekend I started to find mites.

I purchased some reptile relief (which by the way, does seem to work for the moment, killed every dam mite on Vincent). I took EVERYTHING out of his tank and bleached it twice.

I am going to get PAM for when the eggs hatch, but my real question here is, Will bleach destroy mite eggs? Like I said, I bleached his tank out twice. I understand there may be eggs on my snake still..

[LadyOhh]

Bleach is a harsh chemical, so I would assume it would kill the eggs. BUT! To be safe, I would suggest treating the enclosure as well with an anti-mite regimen.

[rabernet]

So you had mites AND ticks? I remember the picture you posted was a tick. I don't know if the bleach will kill them, but the PAM when you get it later this week will.

[Texas Dan]

So you had mites AND ticks? I remember the picture you posted was a tick. I don't know if the bleach will kill them, but the PAM when you get it later this week will.

See that's the thing, I was told by several it was a tick, and others that it was a mite. I've seen them, and when I reptile reliefed him, I saw about 15-20 little specks on the paper towel. And then soaking him I found even more.

My vet suggested they were mites. The only problem with determining if it's a mite or a tick is that NO ONE HAS A PICTURE OF ONE ON A SNAKE! (sorry for yelling, frusterated here). But seriously, a big blown up, drawn picture really does me no good because it's not being compared to a snake, and unless I decide to go buy a microscope, i'm SOL.

I also did see them crawling around his mouth and head. So far since I RR'd him, I haven't found anything, and everything is his tank is just temporary stuff I RR'd before I put in.

Mites get up under the scales as well right? I found a couple that were dead that I could just scrape out using some tweezers.

P.S. Hey Heather! How are those eggs coming? :-D

[rabernet]

Maybe you had both. Mites look like poppy seeds and are about as big as the period at the end of this sentence. Ticks look like what you posted a picture of.

[LadyOhh]

Mites are small, they live under scales, are black with a white speck in the middle when they are adult. When adolescent, they are RED. Tiny tiny red dots.

Ticks are much larger...

[LadyOhh]

I just saw the picture you posted. That is a mite. 100% guaranteed.

And my eggs are still non existant I promise I will make a post as SOON as they come into fruition.

[frankykeno]

Here you go....

Snake soaking - note the mites that look somewhat like black pepper flakes in it's water bowl (thanks to this snake's owner who kindly allowed me to use this photograph)....



Further information and illustrations......

http://www.vpi.com/publications/the_...of_snake_mites

Close-up photo's of snake mites (try Google Images )....

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...ake+mite&gbv=2

Close-up photo's of the more common ticks (again found through Google Images)....

http://images.google.com/images?gbv=...&q=common+tick