Another mites question

[Cop]

I think my snake may have mites so I am going to get some Prevent a Mite tomorrow. I am going to spray everything in the cage and remove the bedding.

I have some questions:

What should I soak the snake in? Do you just use luke warm water?

How long should I soak him for and what should I put him in? I heard using a Tupperware container with newspaper on the bottom works best.

What should I clean the cage with or should I just spray it with PAM?

[tigerlily]

You should use luke warm water to soak. I believe you can put a drop of dish soap in there to break the surface tension of the water, to drown the little mites. Make sure to put the snake in a warm area too. You don't want that water cooling off too quickly, nor do you want to cook your snake either.

You can soak for about 20-30 minutes, and can use a Tupperware container. You also don't want the water level high enough so the snake has to swim to stay afloat. There no need to put newspaper in the water, as that will just be a huge mess. If you have an old rag, you can use that to wipe your snake down with after the soak (or a paper towel will work)

I would clean the cage with whatever you normally use to clean. Soap and water will work fine, then I'd follow the directions on the PAM. You want to spray the cage and all the accessories with the Provent a Mite.

[Schlyne]

You can use luke warm water with a very small amount of mild dishsoap in it. You might want to let him soak for a little while without any dishsoap, as the snakes often drink some of the water.

No need for the newspaper in the soaking tub. Just make sure the water is not any higher than halfway up the side of the snake. That keeps them from panicking.

[shadi11]

We have had to give a helping hand to someone who had a spider with sever mites and we soaked him in warm water with a drop of dish soap it was so bad that we had to change the water like 5 times because there was so many mites floating in the water. I guess needless to say the spider came back around quickly after getting rid of all those blood suckers. I think he is still health last i heard but mites suck. We both came home and took shower. We both felt them crawling under our skins after we got home. i am curious about these bugs that supposedly will kill the mites but i haven't heard of anyone using them.

[anendeloflorien]

i am curious about these bugs that supposedly will kill the mites but i haven't heard of anyone using them.

Bugs that kill mites? I'm not sure adding another insect to the enclosure with a snake that is already stressed from one thing crawling all over him/her would be a very good solution for them. I use Black Knight II and it works awesome!

[Schlyne]

i am curious about these bugs that supposedly will kill the mites but i haven't heard of anyone using them.

There are predatory mites. They are often used in the invert hobby. Predatory mites only eat other mites and then die.

I've heard of people trying them on snakes, but I don't know how well it works.

This site seemed to have some good info
http://www.benemite.com/