For those who have used Equate to treat mites...

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I'll try and give them a call later today. I'd be interested in hearing what they have to say.

-adam

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That'd be cool Adam, although the funny part of this is anyone with half a brain knows the company will say "The product is not approved for reptiles, and shouldn't be used as such."

Think it will convince anyone? Probably not.

Now here's the thing that I find odd. I've heard several people say they heard about Equate from a "big" or "well-respected" even "major" breeder. Yet I haven't seen any names. I'm really curious who these major breeders are.

If you believe this then your sadly mistaken. Snake mites can and will possibly come in bedding. Where do you think they lay eggs? Where do you think they spend time when they're not feeding? Lets say a pet store that sells bedding, has animals which are harboring mites. The mites can possibly get inside the bedding. If you haven't had them, then congradulations but it can happen and there is a potential for them to come in with the bedding. I think of it as kind of low to make claims that it will not happen, and that there is no possible way that mites can come in on the bedding.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I have never heard of snake mites coming in bedding. They are host specific. Unless the bedding manufacturers are keeping infested snakes near where they package the bedding, I don't see any way that snake mites or eggs are transferred to the bedding. I've certainly never had mites from aspen or cypress that I've used and NOT baked.

Snake mites come from other snakes, not bedding - that is why it is important to always quarantine new additions. That's also why I always pre-treat the enclosure of any new addition with Provent-A-Mite and re-treat the established colony's enclosures to give them additional protection should I unwittingly transfer mites or eggs from a new arrival to my established collection.

I only had mites one time, from a pet store rescue, who I pre-treated with Reptile Relief before bringing her home. That wasn't enough to kill the eggs, and I placed an order for my can of Provent-A-Mite a month later when mites showed up. Thankfully, due to my quarantine practices, it was limited to that one snake, and since then, I've been anal about my pre-treatment of new arrivals' enclosures and re-treatment of the established groups enclosures with Provent-A-Mite when a new animal entered my home and haven't seen a mite since.

Provent-A-Mite also travels with me to Daytona, and I pretreat the enclosures I take with me to transport any new acquisitions.

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andrew i disagree with you.

first off, i wouldn't buy bedding from a store which is overwhelmed with mites and second... it's in a sealed bag. it's not a clump of aspen in the corner beside the snake enclosures where you scoop your own!

and andrew... just because you say it's so... doesn't make it a reality!

First off, how would you know the store has mites?...


And if you disagree with me, you disagree. Thats your opinion. Just because you disagree with me, doesn't make it incorrect...

well personally i know which stores are good in my area and which ones are bad. you can usually tell by looking at the way the animals are housed... that's a good sign. if they are housed together in crummy looking bins... you know no one cares if they have mites. if they are housed singley in clean bins... you know someone cares.

and andrew... i've never heard of anyone getting mites from aspen bedding... some people want to blame it on their bedding rather than where they picked up their snake... but no one has had total non-mite animals... brought in a bag of aspen and had an infestation take over immediately.

so... i think my opinion is more valid.

so there :P

LOL :rofl:

Just a note. Aspen and Cypress for animal bedding is usually pretreated for mites before being packaged, since they breed in wood chips. So if you buy a bag of aspen or cypress that's already open, there is a possibility of having mites in it.

That said, I've never heard of mites appearing in an unopen bag of bedding.

Oh? Take a look at most large chain stores. Take a look at smaller ones as well. Every single store in my area houses snakes together. Their cages may be cleaned, and the snakes may look in tip top shape, but it doesn't mean they can't be harboring them. Same with those that house their animals individually. I can see this conversation going only one way. Either you agree, or disagree. It doesn't make either point more valid...

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

well personally i know which stores are good in my area and which ones are bad. you can usually tell by looking at the way the animals are housed... that's a good sign. if they are housed together in crummy looking bins... you know no one cares if they have mites. if they are housed singley in clean bins... you know someone cares.

and andrew... i've never heard of anyone getting mites from aspen bedding... some people want to blame it on their bedding rather than where they picked up their snake... but no one has had total non-mite animals... brought in a bag of aspen and had an infestation take over immediately.

so... i think my opinion is more valid.

so there :P

LOL :rofl:

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Originally Posted by AndrewH

If you believe this then your sadly mistaken. Snake mites can and will possibly come in bedding.

I think of it as kind of low to make claims that it will not happen, and that there is no possible way that mites can come in on the bedding.

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Don't confuse other insects that could be present in types of bedding and even in newsprint. There are a variety of insects that could possibly be present in these substrates but would not adversely harm the reptile living on it.

Snake mites are a very specific species of insect that originates from Southeast Asia. So, if you are saying that bedding is the primary source of snake mites- you're wrong. It's the animals that are imported that are responsible for carrying the mites. Of course, areas exposed to these animals may harbour mites, but who's buying used bedding anyway?

Maybe if all the big FL importers would switch to using Provent-A-Mite instead of Equate, we wouldn't see mites at all! ;)

Now who said I had claimed it was the main source for snake mites? I know exactly what the snake mite is.....

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Originally Posted by jhall1468

Just a note. Aspen and Cypress for animal bedding is usually pretreated for mites before being packaged, since they breed in wood chips. So if you buy a bag of aspen or cypress that's already open, there is a possibility of having mites in it.

That said, I've never heard of mites appearing in an unopen bag of bedding.

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