Mites!

Hi everyone, i just had two female ball pythons delivered to me, a normal and a lesser, it was 200 dollars for both so i should have thought about the mites situation. they're now in a different room away from the two i currently have

as of right now i'm at school so i don't have a car, what can i do TODAY to help them get rid of the mites? the people brought them in two separate containers one is in a cage type of thing and the other is just a container.

i guess should i start by cleaning their cages completely with watered down bleach? is there anything i can do for the snakes? bath them?

Soak the snakes for a good long while to drown as many of the mites as possible. Assume that your current collection of snakes is likely to get mites as well if you are unable to treat these new ones today.

Short term, soaking the snakes and keeping them on paper towels is your best bet. I'm hoping you have actual cages for them prepared, and you weren't relying on the containers the people brought them in to use as permanent caging options?

You'll want to get actual mite treatment, both a spray for the snakes (reptile relief) and Provent a Mite, as soon as possible. Here's our article on treating mites - honestly, the best and easiest way to get rid of them is to get the right products and start ASAP!

-Jen

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Originally Posted by LLLReptile

Soak the snakes for a good long while to drown as many of the mites as possible. Assume that your current collection of snakes is likely to get mites as well if you are unable to treat these new ones today.

Short term, soaking the snakes and keeping them on paper towels is your best bet. I'm hoping you have actual cages for them prepared, and you weren't relying on the containers the people brought them in to use as permanent caging options?

You'll want to get actual mite treatment, both a spray for the snakes (reptile relief) and Provent a Mite, as soon as possible. Here's our article on treating mites - honestly, the best and easiest way to get rid of them is to get the right products and start ASAP!

-Jen

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i have racks for them so no they definitely weren't going to stay in that. should i treat my current bp's with the reptile relief as well?

Rule of thumb, always treat new additions for mites regardless if they have them or not. It's a good preventative measure.
Soak your mite infested snakes with a drop or two of dish soap.

Take out all enclosure accessories and keep the set up minimal. Paper towel substrate, hide, and water dish.
Everything else should get sanitized in boiling water. Same as the enclosure itself with bleach if you want.

Provent-a-Mite is the best mite treatment. You cannot spray it on the animals themselves, only the enclosure. But it works very well.
Spray down the empty enclosure and wait for it to air dry. I personally dry it out for an hour before putting any animals in.

I do this for all new additions as well as one that I bought with mites. Never saw another mite after the first treatment ever again.

someone told me i can use a brand called nyc lice treatment, the petstores here don't carry reptile relief, and better yet they don't have this nyc lice treatment at our drug store either. can i use a regular lice treatment? the man told me to dilute it with a gallon of water

Quote:

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Rule of thumb, always treat new additions for mites regardless if they have them or not. It's a good preventative measure.
Soak your mite infested snakes with a drop or two of dish soap.

Take out all enclosure accessories and keep the set up minimal. Paper towel substrate, hide, and water dish.
Everything else should get sanitized in boiling water. Same as the enclosure itself with bleach if you want.

Provent-a-Mite is the best mite treatment. You cannot spray it on the animals themselves, only the enclosure. But it works very well.
Spray down the empty enclosure and wait for it to air dry. I personally dry it out for an hour before putting any animals in.

I do this for all new additions as well as one that I bought with mites. Never saw another mite after the first treatment ever again.

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should i treat my current snakes too?

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Originally Posted by purlaze

someone told me i can use a brand called nyc lice treatment, the petstores here don't carry reptile relief, and better yet they don't have this nyc lice treatment at our drug store either. can i use a regular lice treatment? the man told me to dilute it with a gallon of water

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It's NIX lice treatment, you'll want the 2 oz (59 ml) bottle, mix with one gallon of water to create a 0.5% permethrin solution. You can treat the enclosure with it, just use a clean spray bottle to lightly mist the enclosure, paper towel, and hide (not the water dish!!!), allow everything to dry, and put the snake back into it.

Some people treat the snake with it, but I don't recommend it as people often overdo treatment and then the snake suffers from permethrin poisoning. My vet also didn't recommend it, he said to use a spray like Reptile Relief or just one drop of dish soap in water while they soak is enough to kill off the mites.

ETA: If you get the NIX you'll have enough solution to treat your current snake enclosures and rack as a preventive.

If they're mite free, you don't have to.
But it's a good preventative measure and practice to spray Provent a Mite(pam) in quarantine for new additions.

I've never used Nix before. But some people here have used it with success.

lice treatment sounds to me as if it could be a shampoo to wash furry animals like cats or dogs with, or something to put into the fur. snakes dont have lice, lice live in fur. doesnt seem fitting.


for bathing your snakes, you really just need to add one little drop of dishwasher fluid to the water, that breaks down the surface tension and ensures the mites will drown. i see no need to apply anything else to the snakes.

provent a mite is the quick and easy way to kill all mites in or around the enclosure, but good old hands-on cleaning with hot water and diluted bleach will also do the job.

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

lice treatment sounds to me as if it could be a shampoo to wash furry animals like cats or dogs with, or something to put into the fur. snakes dont have lice, lice live in fur. doesnt seem fitting.


for bathing your snakes, you really just need to add one little drop of dishwasher fluid to the water, that breaks down the surface tension and ensures the mites will drown. i see no need to apply anything else to the snakes.

provent a mite is the quick and easy way to kill all mites in or around the enclosure, but good old hands-on cleaning with hot water and diluted bleach will also do the job.

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While I wouldn't use nix personally, it has the same thing that Provent a mite has, Permethrin.