Preventing mites, "old school" method?

So while on vacation down in Florida, I got to meet a few different breeders. One guy kept baby food jars with holes poked in the lids in each tub. I asked him about it and he had told me something along the lines....

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Well, back in the old days of snake collecting, we had a lot of WC snakes which would often carry mites. The jar has a little piece of flea collar in it. The snakes can't get to it so it doesn't bother them and if any mites go into it, they die.

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He went on to say that it's a great method of preventing mites from taking over and now that everything that comes into his collection is CH, he probably doesn't need to do it anymore.

I don't think I have ever read this in any FAQ. Does anyone here do this, or is it something that has died over the years?

ive never herd of it being put in a jar but i have spoke to a local vet who use to use flea powder or a small piece of the flea collar

I have heard of people with glass enclosures putting flea collars on top of the screen and covering it with newspaper...no idea if it works or not...and as long as them make PAM I wont!! :)

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Originally Posted by FatBoy

I have heard of people with glass enclosures putting flea collars on top of the screen and covering it with newspaper...no idea if it works or not...and as long as them make PAM I wont!! :)

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I have also heard of people using "No-Pest"strips on top of glass enclosures. I will also stick with Provent-A-Mite...

Thanks for the info guys. It wasn't something I read, so I wanted to get some more info.

This is interesting! I have heard of people throwing a flea band for dogs in their snake tubs.

Some of our first snakes were infested with mites from the stores we bought them from (this was like 10+ years ago) and we tried everything to get rid of them. For some reason PAM wasn't available at any store near us (come to think of it I'm not even sure it was available period). We ended up using one inch pieces of cat flea collars enclosed in deli cups (with holes to allow the chemical to escape) and placed in the cages. The deli cup was to keep the collar piece from coming into contact with the animal. I was also told to use the no-pest-strips found in local hardware store but could never find it. Using the flea collar and cleaning the cages every 3 days with 1:10 bleach/water mixture eventually killed off all the mites. Plus, we soaked each snake in a betadine/water mixture to help ease the irritation from the mites (it also helped kill adults on the snake by drowning them) once a week.

I wouldn't suggest that method now however because Prevent-a-Mite is so much easier, more affordable and less stressful on the animal. :gj:

This method works well to control mites and fleas around the entire house...my family has done this for years, hiding pieces of flea collar in each room. We barely even get spiders anymore :D

PAM for the specific problem/specific cure win, though. One of my snakes came home with a couple mites, and a week or two of treatment worked that right out; never even thought about using a flea collar, though.

Its same as the No Pest Strips sold at stores. They kill insects very well

http://www.growkind.com/gallery/data...m/IMG_2982.JPG

Ive got few around house for killing insects during summer months and it kills large amount

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Originally Posted by BallsUnlimited

ive never herd of it being put in a jar but i have spoke to a local vet who use to use flea powder or a small piece of the flea collar

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I just noticed the flea powder comment and it reminded me of this thread from a while back in which that recommendation sparked a highly spirited debate...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ht=flea+powder

Keeping the (insert whichever method) in your regular collection's cages to "prevent" mites seems rather ridiculous. Mites don't just appear. They come from somewhere. If you aren't bringing in animals, you shouldn't suddenly have mites appearing in your cages, right?

I personally have never seen a flea collar work. I've seen dogs that don't have fleas, and didn't wear collars, and dogs wearing collars that were covered. Conversely, I've seen the opposite. There's never seemed to be a dog that HAD fleas, the owner put on a collar with no other preventative, and the fleas disappeared.

Now understand.. I'm not talking about my dog or the neighbor up the road. I work in the grooming business. I see an average of 10-20 dogs per day, five days a week, for the past 20 years. I've seen a lot of flea collars used, and a lot of "I give them a few drops of garlic" and tons of home remedies. The ones without fleas were always dogs that never HAD fleas, and dogs that were on other preventatives. That said, as long as the animal doesn't have fleas, I don't care if you credit rubbing an apple on his head each morning. If he DOES have fleas, I don't care if you're spending a thousand dollars a day, do something that actually works to get rid of the fleas. Same principle to me about mites and snakes. If they don't HAVE mites, great. If they do, then do SOMETHING to get rid of the mites.

Also, some flea collars are really fumey and chemical-ly. Just keeping the snake from touching it wouldn't seem to be enough to me. I don't want my reptiles exposed to a lot of the chemical fumes coming off some collars, breathing that stuff. I'd prefer to make certain to practice good quarentine procedures and treat with a approved reptile mite treatment than a home remedy.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Keeping the (insert whichever method) in your regular collection's cages to "prevent" mites seems rather ridiculous. Mites don't just appear. They come from somewhere. If you aren't bringing in animals, you shouldn't suddenly have mites appearing in your cages, right?

Also, some flea collars are really fumey and chemical-ly. Just keeping the snake from touching it wouldn't seem to be enough to me. I don't want my reptiles exposed to a lot of the chemical fumes coming off some collars, breathing that stuff. I'd prefer to make certain to practice good quarentine procedures and treat with a approved reptile mite treatment than a home remedy.

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I don't think anyone here is suggesting this method in treating a mite infestation or preventing mites. The OP was just asking if anyone knew about it and if it was still practiced.

It worked for me personally but, if given a better option, I would not have used it nor would I ever suggest someone using it. There are too many factors that if done incorrectly could result in a dead or sick animal. Also, I removed the flea collar pieces after the last mites were witnessed. No need to expose my snakes to it for longer than needed.

And I agree, mites shouldn't "just appear" in a collection. As long as the keeper practiced QT with mite treatment and has good hygiene practices when dealing with other peoples' collections or pet stores, a preventative chemical shouldn't be needed. I can see, however, a large breeder/importer using a constant preventative because of the volume of animals being brought in.

Is it possible to use cbd oil for sick snakes? I've seen many pet owners use this thing in dogs,cats etc. but how about snakes? I've been reading this article here in http://www.ilovegrowingmarijuana.com...cal-marijuana/ about this CBD oil and how it helps. Any thoughts about it guys?