Mites

What's the best way to get rid of mites?

A local pet store reccommended to put the snake in a plastic box with water as deep as the snake is wide and put Betadine or Iodine in the water and let her soak for 3 to 4 hours. While doing this, bleach everything in and including the cage.

Is this a good idea?

Are there any side effects to putting a snake in iodine or betadine? Aside from staining them, would/could this create any health problems?


Marcus

Bleaching the cage is good, and soaking too. Iodine...not sure. I've heard of people using a powder though.

I had mite problems with a few kings in the past, and the pet store reccommended an air purifier made for birds. It worked like a charm...

Commercially available products for mite treatment are Black Knight and Provent-a-mite. Never heard of anyone using betadine or iodine, so I would be leery of that. My experience with pet store employees is that most don't know their head from their *ss when it comes to snakes, so I always consider doing the opposite of what they tell me. I can tell you that mites drown, so a good bath would help a lot. Just make sure the temp isn't too high. It should feel slightly cold to you. Water temp around 80 degrees. A bleach solution wash would be ok for her cage, just make sure it airs out completely.

If you wouldn't put it on yourself, do not put it on your herp.

Anybody ever heard of or used the product called "REPTILE RELIEF"? It's supposed to be "so friendly it can be applied directly to the reptile, gentle, yet powerful" enough to kill the mites and larvae on contact.

Sound too good to be true? Maybe. I've read some reviews on it by some folks that have supposedly used it and they've left positive feedback. Not just on the site for the people trying to sell it.

Here's the link: http://www.naturalchemistry.com/pet/

If any of you have used this, PLEASE let me know because I'm thinking of ordering some.

The "Provent-o-mite" sounds powerful. Maybe too powerful. I read somewhere that after using that stuff that any bug that even comes near the room where it's used could die. Not a good idea for me since I keep all of my tarantulas in the same room as my snakes.


PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU'VE HAD EXPERIENCE WITH THIS STUFF.

Thanks,

Marcus and a whole bunch of critters

I'll takea peak into it for ya.

I use Black Knight for mite break outs and even when I get in a "new addition". It works like a charm for me. You can buy it at ProExotics.com or tr ythis link: http://www.proexotics.com/supplies.html

All the other suggestions (except the Iodine, I've never heard of) seem to work well, too.

Good luck!