Substrate from reptile shows.

I went to the LA super show and picked up some sanichips and was wondering how should I go about making sure that it is mite free for sure?

Treat your enclosures with PAM monthly to be on the safe side? That's all I can think of really. There's no way to treat all the chips at once that I can think of

Possibly put it in a large, heat proof container, like a glass or ceramic baking dish, and pop it in the oven on a low temp (about 200) for around 10 or 15 minutes. I mean sani chips are already heat treated so shouldn't be a problem as far as I can tell. If you got a lot or don't have a good sized container you might have to do it in batches though.

Edit: additionally, if where you live gets cold enough (not generally the case in socal, but I know there are places that see snow sometime so...) you could stick it outside for a few nights and let the little bugiges freeze.

I heard tossing the substrate in the freezer works too. I just try and avoid the whole issue by buying substrate from places like Walmart or Target or order online from stores that just sell reptile supplies like Bean Farm. That way, no snakes....no snake mites :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Treat your enclosures with PAM monthly to be on the safe side? That's all I can think of really. There's no way to treat all the chips at once that I can think of

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It took me a couple seconds to realize that you meant prevent a mite. I'm sitting here thinking why on earth would you pam the inside of the enclosure? Keeping in mind that this is the PAM i'm thinking of.

http://www.blogher.com/files/imageca...cesImage_0.jpg

Lol thanks, I needed that giggle!

The idea of baking it sounds like a good course of action. I recently got some eco earth from a reptile expo and did have some trouble with wood mites, although I can't be sure it was the bedding. I do have a large wood branch in the tank as well and there were two half log hides at the time. I wound up switching out the wood hides for ceramic, baked the branch and replaced the substrate and haven't had any issues since. Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't some mite treatments been linked to neurological issues in snakes after even a single use? I would be really scared to use any chemical in the tank as a part of regular maintenance, but I may be remembering a different brand. Just something to consider maybe. I have also read that the mites are usually dormant in the bedding and that quite a bit of wood anything will have them, but that it takes certain conditions for them to hatch and spread. If I remember correctly the main condition for their development is high moisture. This seems to make sense given that they showed up immediately following a shed cycle and the bedding had been consistently damp for about a week and a half. I suspect that the bedding wasn't the issue for me however, since I am still using it and haven't had any further problems.

I had a pic of that can of Pam in my head too thinking how do you treat with cooking spray

When I used to use sani chip or any wood substrate I would dump the bulk bag in a large rubbermaid or trash can, something with a lid and spray it down with PAM. Then when adding it to an enclosure I would treat the enclosure with PAM as well, it may have been overkill but it seemed to work.

I have used sanichips and other aspen bedding for a LONG time and never had any issue, you could pre-treat the bedding but personally I would avoid subjecting my animals to chemicals on a regular basis.

Chances are you will not have any issue, if you do it will be wood mites which are harmless to snakes.

So basically I would treat if needed but not do preventive treatment.