Mites...cripes

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

Snake mites don't come from rats.

They are species specific. Where did you get the rat?

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I asked my herp vet about this when I took my spider ball to see her. She says almost all mites are species specific EXCEPT ones you find on rodents, they can live on just about anything.

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Originally Posted by Lesserlove

I asked my herp vet about this when I took my spider ball to see her. She says almost all mites are species specific EXCEPT ones you find on rodents, they can live on just about anything.

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So i guess i really won't fully know if the mites hitched a ride on the rat..or if they came with the snake, since i officially noticed them 1 month (to the day) after we picked her up..I'm thinking she had the mites before we got her..

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Originally Posted by Lesserlove

I asked my herp vet about this when I took my spider ball to see her. She says almost all mites are species specific EXCEPT ones you find on rodents, they can live on just about anything.

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Yes, rodent mites can live on various species - but not generally cold-blooded species. Snake mites, on the other hand, do not go to warm-blooded mammals so the odds of snake mites hitching a ride home on a few rodents are pretty remote. Not saying it couldn't happen, but it isn't likely. :gj:

this was a few days old but Im bored lol Ive used pam I hated it. not only is it expensive at 18 a bottle but its a pain in the arse to use and I used pam only for several months fighting off the mites I had on a boa I got back from a breeding loan. They just kept returning. So to me pam doesn't kill all life stages. I tried the nix treatment did it once never saw a bug again!! and that was almost a yr ago! good luck, mites happen to everybody at some point don't sweat it!

Hotsalza,

Luckily I haven't had to deal with mites, but I have never heard of PAM not working when used properly. So I'm wondering why you had an issue with it? Strange! did you treat all of your snakes and all of your enclosures? If not, that is probably why they kept returning.

Also I have heard that wood enclosures, as well as carpet make mite treatment a freaking nightmare!

I had one boa with mites and he was in a completely different room, in a 28 qt tub with no substrate lol nothing in my collection got them it was only him all by himself. Its pretty hard for error. remove animals and water bleach, rinse, dry, spray, dry/air out. replace animal repeat in 2 weeks. by 2 weeks they would show up again Im assuming it was eggs that had hatched on the animal?? anyway did this for 2 months with him, gave up and did nix not a problem since. I don't know?? most people do recommend pam and use it with great success, but I know quite a few that prefer the nix over pam. I am now one of them :)

NIX and PAM have exactly the same active agent. I know LLLreptile did a video on using reptile spray to kill the mites on the snake and at the same time using PAM to treat the enclosure. She recommended doing it weekly for two-three weeks to kill all of the mites in each stage of life. Sounds like you had treated the enclosures but not the mites on the snake so it could be possible that when you used the NIX (on the animal too I assume so correct me if I'm wrong, that's how I've seen it recommended) then you may have knocked out the last piece of the puzzle. ?

yup I think that's exactly what happened, because the nix treats the actual animal as well

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Originally Posted by ewaldrep

NIX and PAM have exactly the same active agent. I know LLLreptile did a video on using reptile spray to kill the mites on the snake and at the same time using PAM to treat the enclosure. She recommended doing it weekly for two-three weeks to kill all of the mites in each stage of life. Sounds like you had treated the enclosures but not the mites on the snake so it could be possible that when you used the NIX (on the animal too I assume so correct me if I'm wrong, that's how I've seen it recommended) then you may have knocked out the last piece of the puzzle. ?

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No they don't. They both use Permethrin, but Permethrin is simply a blanket name for a pesticide, not the actual chemical.

This thread here has some pretty valuable information:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-in-particular

OHHH MYYYY...ok y'all ready for this..i found out where the mites came from..the place i bought specs my RTB from is the same place where i by most of my feeders and herp supplies from..and where my fiancée is about to start working at...he has located the mite source...aspen bedding that he buys in square plastic wrapped bales from Tractor Supply Company..he said he just bought a bunch more bales and he opened one to start bedding up some of his reptiles and he seen a bunch of them walking up his arm..i just bout died

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You can "bake" aspen and other wood-sourced bedding in the oven to kill mites and any other critters that might be in there. Bake a tray of bedding for 20min and 350. :gj:

It won't catch fire?

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...D-skeletal.png
I'm not so sure about this, when I googled permethrin, this specific chemical with it's 4 stereoisomers is what popped up.

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

No they don't. They both use Permethrin, but Permethrin is simply a blanket name for a pesticide, not the actual chemical.

This thread here has some pretty valuable information:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-in-particular

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Originally Posted by cowbully

It won't catch fire?

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No it won't. There are several threads here that talk about how to do it. There may be some suggestions addressing those concerns. :gj:

Ok.thank you Evanstar..as always :D

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You're welcome! ;)

- - - Updated - - -

You're welcome! ;)

Well i must update.its been almost 2 months in QT for my RTB Specs..i must say i love reptile relief! After three weeks there were no visible mites in cage or on her..and I'm positive we are mite free again..we will be moving her back to her normal home, hopefully, Sunday.. 10-12 hrs 6 days a week of work is rough..thank you all again..i well give a pic of her back in her happy home once completely moved :D

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Glad to hear things are going well!!

Isn't three weeks about time for eggs to start hatching? I'd be leery of adding her back to your collection if you only used Reptile Relief. As far as I know, PAM is the only thing that kills the eggs, but I'm not 100% sure on that, so please take my words with a grain of salt!

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

Isn't three weeks about time for eggs to start hatching? I'd be leery of adding her back to your collection if you only used Reptile Relief. As far as I know, PAM is the only thing that kills the eggs, but I'm not 100% sure on that, so please take my words with a grain of salt!

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No, Reptile Relief (also known as Reptile Basic's Reptile Spray) will also kill eggs. The active ingredient breaks down the insect's exoskeleton and the critin of the eggs which prevents the eggs from developing and kills the mite itself.

But I do agree that 3 weeks is a little early - I'd wait a full 6 weeks to be sure. As with any product, sometimes eggs can be resistant or a mite could survive. Better to be safe than sorry. :gj:

Ok she stays is quarantine.i agree better safe than sorry

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Good to know, Evenstar!

Good call on keeping the quarantine going, as well!