PAM and mites

Hey guys,

So my BP's have mites :( and I picked up a can of PAM today from the reptile expo. I have a few questions tho, before I try and use it.

1. Do I, and how do I treat the snake itself?

2. It says to spray the substrate with the prevent a mite. All my substrate has been possibly exposed to the mites - I was planning on using paper but how would I go about spraying the paper :S. Is it safe to use the tub of cocohusk that I have from before this issue?

thanks guys,
Im trying to get this done now so imediate answers are greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Do NOT spray the snake unless you want to kill it.

Follow the directions exactly. Lightly spray the enclosure and bedding. Allow to completely air dry for at least 15-20 minutes before putting the snake back in. Id leave the water bowl out for a day.

Any other decorations and hides can be washed and disinfected using diluted bleach/water. Allow to dry before putting back.

Do not over treat. Do not do it more often then the can suggests. Do not spray until everything is wet. Just a light spray will work.

You don't have to treat the snake itself when using PAM. Trust me. It will kill everything before you know it. You can give the snakes a bath in luke warm water with a couple drops if dawn dish soap to get mites off the body if you like but the PAM will take care of everything else and any stragglers.

**edit.. It would be best if you just dumped all the bedding being used and use paper but it isn't really necessary. The PAM will still work with bedding.

100% agree with everything that the previous person posted. We just rescued a BCI a few weeks ago and it had mites. We ordered PAM and treated the enclosure following the directions very carefully. I kept the snake out of the enclosure for apprx an hour before placing back in.

Its been 2 weeks since we have treated with PAM. No evidence of mites where as before you could see them crawling all over the snake and you could also see them in the water dish from the snake soaking to try and get some relief.

As long as you follow the directions to a T everything will be fine and your snake will be mite free within a couple of days.

Hey - thanks so much for your responses!!

I treated with PAM last night and followed the directions exactly. I let the tubs air out on the balcony for about an hour before I put them back in. I couldn't smell any fumes and the substrate was dry but when i put them back in they didn't want to touch the substrate. Two of them went on top of their hides and the other one didn't care but I'm pretty sure nothing bothers her. It was weird because they were arching up part of their bellies to avoid touching it..

Is this normal behaviour with PAM treatments.?

Thanks again for your help.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shadows Valkyrie

100% agree with everything that the previous person posted. We just rescued a BCI a few weeks ago and it had mites. We ordered PAM and treated the enclosure following the directions very carefully. I kept the snake out of the enclosure for apprx an hour before placing back in.

Its been 2 weeks since we have treated with PAM. No evidence of mites where as before you could see them crawling all over the snake and you could also see them in the water dish from the snake soaking to try and get some relief.

As long as you follow the directions to a T everything will be fine and your snake will be mite free within a couple of days.

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My mite infestation is very mild. I actually only ever seen one mite, and than maybe 6 or 7 in the water after they have been soaking for a few days. I'm trying to figure out how they got it. I don't really go hang around other snake people LOL and they have been on quarentine for over a month and a half. It started with our pastel girl - she was always in her water but we checked her for mites, there was none in her water or on her that we could see. we even moved her to paper substrate and saw nothing! All of a sudden they were all in the water and the mites were starting to make appearances.

it sucks. We have an OG that is in a separate room and had been set up with $1000 worth of cool tank stuff - most of which is now either garbage or needs to be sterilized thoroughly. At least i got a good deal on PAM at the expo (which was pretty cool btw) in Missisauga.

Anyways thanks for the response!
Cheers.

You may not have smelled anything but the snakes are very sensitive to any changes. They most certainly could tell there was something different about the substrate. That's why they acted weird about it. Their enclosures are well ventilated correct?

That's why I said only use a light coating like the can says. Making it overly wet with the spray could lead to problems with an overly sensitive snake.

Sounds like you did everything right. They'll be mite free in no time. You can change everything out and re-treat in 4-6 weeks to make sure you got them all and completely killed the mites life cycle.