Mites.... yok

Well... Like I said, its been a while so I'm looking for advice. When I went to spritz my litttle guy this evening I notice tiny red moving dots.... From my recollection, mites... correct? We also have 4 cats and 2 dogs, but have never had a flea problem, could this be fleas? No body is itching...

Anyways, I got rid of all the sibstrate, gave him a couple of warm soaks, and now am using white 8.5X11 paper as his substrate.

Any other suggestions?

Also, I have an under the tank (stick on) heater... Will this be too hot for him with no extra subsrtate layers?

Thanks!

- Chris

P.S. Why is it when you find mites or something you start to feel like you are itchy all over.... psychosematic I guess. :)

Reptile UTHs usually get SUPER HOT, so you should use a dimmer and a digital thermometer to check the temps.

By the way, if I was you ... I'd pick up the ten dollars human heater from Walmart.

Provent-a-Mite..... check it out
http://www.pro-products.com/miteandtemp.html

I just orderd the "Provent-a-mite". And will pick up the heat pad today.

Thanks for the help. I had forgotten about how poorly kept most snakes are right from the store.

Thanks again!

I don't think it's fleas. We just fought a battle against them in our house, and if you had them, every mammal in the house would be itching miserably. you should see my poor bit-up ankles! And my poor cat was miserable. I got them frrom visiting this friend of mine who has a bunch of cats running around. You'd see tiny jumping black things on your clothes and body whenever you sat for more than five minutes, lol.

I never had mites on my snakes, but I had a tick problem that was somehow overlooked and led to the ticks breeding (which shouldnt happen if you remove the big ones just after you buy a snake, but apparently we missed one tick, and Bam...) Preventamite does wonders on ticks, and should knock those mites out fast. Good luck!

I don't think snakes can get fleas. Fleas prefer hairy creatures as hosts. We fought a royal battle some months ago w/fleas ourselves (having 3 dogs and 2 cats). In Florida fleas are a year round problem..can be up north as well, but at least they die outside in the winter...in any case, definitely sounds like mites. Good luck w/the treatment. Oh and like Blink said, the human heating pad is a great idea. Also, I would use papertowels or newspaper.

THey were red, you say?

Red sounds like chiggers, but I never heard of chiggers feasting on reptiles.

I agree with Marla.... mites are usually a dark brown color. For some reason I cant find a pic of the mites that used to be floating around... I will keep hunting though.
As for the treatment... You can save a lot of money by going to Walmart and getting Repel Permanone (in the camping section) or RID Lice Spray (in the personal care section). Check to make sure that the active ingredient is .05% permethrin. A can of that can be had for arond $4.00 :) It's good to keep a can or two of that stuff around for pre-treating substrate and other stuff too. I have also found that it works like a champ at getting rid of those annoying little black ants when they find a way into your house.

I honestly don't know about that Repel because it could have some ill effects on your ball python. I have used provent-o-mite before and it works pretty well. I would house your snake in a sterilite with some papertowels for a little while so you can monitor the mites easily. You can then work on cleaning his permanent home. A soak in warm water also works good too.

I have use provent a mite with great success and hear great things about NIX dilutions as well - but getting rid of mites relies heavily on your process as much as grabbing a particular product:

http://www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/...SnakeMites.htm

Well... They may be brown, I'm colorblind (red/green) so its entirely possible.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Smulkin

THey were red, you say?

---

Diggin' the Ash avatar, 'gimme some sugar baby!'

ABout the 0.05% permethrin spray (RID). SHould this be applied to the snake as well, or only the enclosure? I know the provent-a-mite says to spray the snake directly.

No it doesn't and please DON'T.

Quote:

---

Directions for use: Please note that it is a violation of Federal Law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with it's labeling. Reomove birds, arachnids, amphibians and insects far away from the area in which Provent-A-Mite will be used. Cover fish aquariums and turn off air pumps before spraying. Remove reptiles and feeding and water bowls from cage. Shake can well before using. For control of mites and ticks on reptiles and their enclosures, remove protective cap, hold can upright and spray at a distance of 12" to 15" from the surface of the substrate at a rate of 1 second per foot. Ventilate the enclosure well until the spray has completely dried and all vapors have dissipated then replace reptile and bowls. Reapply Provent-A-Mite once a month to prevent future reinfestations.

WARNING: Do not allow reptile to breath vapors. Do not apply to heating devices or heating device covers. Do not use Provent-A-Mite within the vicinity of any arachnids or amphibians. Provent-A-Mite will kill any feed insects introduced into a treated enclosure at least 2 weeks. Treat or feed any carnivorous reptiles in a seperate cage. Provent-A-Mite & it's vapors will kill spiders and insects.

---

(EDIT: from a Provent-A-Mite can)

Don't know how I thought that..... Probably all the research I've been doing, it all must have started blending together.

Thank you!!!

But back to the issue.... is the only way to get the bugs off him soaking? I read about the using dishsoap trick.

Before I had heard of the NIX methods I had this stuff called Reptile Relief ( http://www.naturalchemistry.com/pet/...p?idProduct=65 ) which COULD be applied directly - i used it in conjunction with soakings and provent-a-mite (for the enclosure etc) and got rid of a pretty nasty infestation of a new arrival. Again - solid logic for quarantining any new herp you add to your collection.

You can also mix a bottle of NIX with ~5 gallons of water and soak the snake in that (Henry Piorun and a slew of others have reccomended this but I confess I have not had a chance to test it out firsthand).

Smulkin is completely correct you do not spray the reptile directly . The reason i reccomended this product is that it is patened and proven on reptiles . I will aslo add since I keep several thin skinned arboreals around it has proven much safer than many other products and or home remedys I know of several people who have used other products" Black Knight, and pest srtips"with their chondros and have had very bad effects such as skin burns and neurological damage thinking that they were safe
since they have thinner skin and a more delicate nature they show symptoms a little more easily than a ball or a burm or a corn snake alot of these products when used probably are doing some damage but it isnt apparent to the naked eye

About 4 years ago when I got my big male BP he came with a mite problem. I used this stuff

http://www.worldpetstore.com/bensonsnakoi.html

Benson & Sons snake oil

to treat the snake. Just covered him with the stuff and left him in the bathtub for around 20 minutes. He was a bit hard to handle but damn it it didn't kill every mite on him after two treatments.

I kept him in a clean rubbermaid and kept him on white paper towels for a week or so just to make sure I he didn't still have any.

I used a bleach and water solution to clean out his tank and soaked his hides in the same mixture.

I have not had a single mite problems since thank god.

Good stuff, but I have never heard anyone else talk about it. I got it from a local guy who keeps a lot of snakes and he swears by it.

Scott

Well,

Got home from work and he had shed. I helped him with it a bit, but it all came off nicely. The bonus, the mites came with it. I quickly bleached the enclosure and everything and now no mites. Well see how long this lasts.

Trying to get him to eat right now, fresh killed. He seemed interested at first then just ignored it. I figure I'll leave it in the cage for a while and see. He was being fed fuzzies, and these are small adults. Maybe he's just still freaked out being new and all.

Good to hear man, and good luck with everything.