mites wont go away...

for the past few weeks after I noticed he had mites iv been cleaning him along with his enclosure every couple of days, ill spray reptile relief on his hides and im using paper towel for now and iv been spraying that too, they wont seem to go away and he will always be soaking in his water bowl for the majority of the day, Is there anything else I should do to get rid of them??

Reptile relief is more for maintenance. If you have them I would order some PAM online. I've had mites once a couple years ago and they've never come back after using that. When you get it, spray all enclosure's and around the enclosure's.

Order Provent-a-mite and use it on the cage, all hides and stuff as well as outside around the cage, the table or whatever you have the cage on as well as make a circle around the floor like a barrier. Then repeat as directed on the bottle. It will take more than 1 or 2 or 3 treatments to get rid of them as they get everywhere. If its in a main room with furniture and drapes etc, you might need to spray the furniture and drapes as well.

Reptile Spray is the new name for Reptile Relief. Is it possible the bottle you have is old and no good?

I had mites once and used nothing more than Reptile Spray. The stuff is great and much safer than PAM. The one time I used it I killed them all in one treatment. I cleaned EVERYTHING, even the carpet with Reptile Spray. I also sprayed the snakes as directed and let them soak while I cleaned.

Are you finding any dead mites?

Reptile spray has worked wonders for me as well. It's safe to use on the animals themselves, as well as on their enclosure and on the carpet around. When I got mites I threw out all the old bedding, wiped everything down with lysol, then with water, then let it dry. Put in white paper towels, sprayed them with reptile spray, and sprayed the soaked and cleaned hides with reptile spray. Soaked each snake in water, wiped them down with a towel, and then wiped them down with reptile spray. I wiped down the shelves on my racks as well. If you have a rack, don't forget to wipe it down too and not just the tubs! :) That stuff works wonders if you are diligent.

Reptile Spray is the way to go here as well.
You have to be thorough with it though.
Sprayed twice a day for a couple days and ever saw them again.
Did wash all the curtains and vacuum the hell out of the carpet.
Depends how bad you really have them.

So this reptile spray stuff is better than PaM? I've been fortunate enough to never have had to deal with mites as I'm pretty anal about my reptiles(knock on wood). But if I ever do need to do it, I would like to know the best/safest stuff. And you are talking about the stuff you can get from Petco? The natural stuff?

I use the reptile spray made by natural chemistry and the provent-a-mite both together in the event of actually getting a visual infestation ... But I also use the provent-a-mite once a month as a preventative ... With the provent-a-mite the fumes from it, is what actually kills the mites (works exactly as a flea bomb would) ... In my personal opinion the provent-a-mite is some really handy stuff to keep around, just be sure to read the directions thoroughly as the fumes can also be harmful to your snake if you do not allow time for the provent-a-mite to dry and the fumes to dissipate before reintroducing your snake back into it's enclosure. You are NOT supposed to use provent-a-mite on the water dish or hides (says so right on the can) ... If you are using a natural hide such as bark or anything that has pores or deep crevices you need to throw it away and get a smooth plastic style hide. Hope ya get rid of them lil boogers :gj:

I just went through mites with my pied who has been in quarantine; I used the Reptile Spray from Petco and it worked great. Thoroughly cleaned his tank and his hides while I let him soak to drown the little pests.

Placed paper towels in his tank along with his clean hides; then I sprayed him with the Reptile Spray. I also put a little mineral oil around his heat pits, eyes and under his chin in the fold of skin (found a few hiding in there before I soaked him). I repeated this treatment 3 times and I haven't seen any more mites in a few weeks so I'm hoping I killed all of them.

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Originally Posted by 04vette

for the past few weeks after I noticed he had mites iv been cleaning him along with his enclosure every couple of days, ill spray reptile relief on his hides and im using paper towel for now and iv been spraying that too, they wont seem to go away and he will always be soaking in his water bowl for the majority of the day, Is there anything else I should do to get rid of them??

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Reptile Spray is good but the instructions say that it has to come in contact with the mites/eggs to be effective. So you need to go FULL ON CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE to get rid of these parasites that are attacking your snake.

Put snake in a separate tub. Take everything out of enclosure. Spray each item individually, then wash off and either soak or bake, as appropriate.
While that's going on, clean the tank with water, then Repti Spray, then water. This type of manual pump sprayer is fantastic for both cleaning and misting (and useful for cleaning other items too). You should be able to find at local hardware store in the gardening section for around $10:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hudson-Multi...-/400795902122
The sprayer is adjustable so you can use it for misting, to really soak the tank when cleaning, and to shoot a stream into hard-to-reach places.
I put on latex gloves and used paper towels to make sure every surface got a good dose of the Reptile Spray.

If it's really cold where you are you could put stuff outside for an hour or more to really finish off the buggers.

Take off the lid and do the same cleaning routine to it. And the heat lamp fixtures. And the cables, probes, thermometers. As others have said, mites can travel so you also need to treat the surrounding area, furniture in the room, towels you've used for the snake - and yourself! You could be carrying them, so after cleaning put your clothes in plastic bag until you can wash them.

Once everything's been cleaned, set up the enclosure with fresh substrate, clean your pet with the Reptile Spray and put in the enclosure, then wash the tub it was in. And even after doing all this... you might not have got them all!
Wait a few days and if you see any signs of mites on your BP or in the water bowl you will have to repeat this entire process.

10% Permithrin works great on ALL kinds of mites...... rodent mites, snake mites, wood mites, etc. Dilute 1-2oz per gallon and you can mist this mixture from a garden sprayer right on your animals and enclosure. There are no fumes to deal with such as with PAM.

Just remove water dishes for 24 hours so they don't rinse it off their body in the water dish. A 32oz bottle of 10% Permithrin is available at any Tractor Supply store for less than $20. That goes way farther than PAM or any other mite treatment product. You will find it in the horse supply section at Tractor Supply.

My rodents had mites last summer. Treated 3 times 3 days apart and they were gone.

Let your snakes soak in their water dishes after treatment when you replace the water dish the next day. Drain the water through a coffee filter after a day or so and you should see plenty of dead mites on the filter ;)

PAM is the easiest to use. Just take a paper towel, spray it with PAM. Let it dry for about a half hour. Toss it in the enclosure. Repeat in 2 weeks. DONE.

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Originally Posted by coreydelong

10% Permithrin works great on ALL kinds of mites...... rodent mites, snake mites, wood mites, etc. Dilute 1-2oz per gallon and you can mist this mixture from a garden sprayer right on your animals and enclosure. There are no fumes to deal with such as with PAM.

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This, though I've never used it on the snakes, I use Reptile Relief for that, as some species are more sensitive to permethrin than others and I keep more than just BP's.

If you don't want to mix up a whole gallon for just 1 snake, 3 milliliters (about 1/4 teaspoon) of P10 in 2 liters of water is effective. TSC sells the 8-oz bottles of P10 for $8.

i'm having a bit of a mite problem as well

i'm in the middle of washing tubs out using water with bleach added

i already moved just about everything out of the room and sprayed it down with reptile spray


since my snakes seem to hate water, what's the best way to soak them w/o causing them undue stress? :confusd:

Soak the snake in water just deep enough that the water only comes about half way up the snakes side. You don't want the snake having to swim to keep its head out of the water.

Also make sure the water is a good temp for the snake.

Once those two things are accomplished just leave the snake to soak and it should settle down fine.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Soak the snake in water just deep enough that the water only comes about half way up the snakes side. You don't want the snake having to swim to keep its head out of the water.

Also make sure the water is a good temp for the snake.

Once those two things are accomplished just leave the snake to soak and it should settle down fine.

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got it:gj:

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Originally Posted by KMG

Soak the snake in water just deep enough that the water only comes about half way up the snakes side. You don't want the snake having to swim to keep its head out of the water.

Also make sure the water is a good temp for the snake.

Once those two things are accomplished just leave the snake to soak and it should settle down fine.

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with a few drops of Dawn ;)

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

PAM is the easiest to use. Just take a paper towel, spray it with PAM. Let it dry for about a half hour. Toss it in the enclosure. Repeat in 2 weeks. DONE.

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That's a lot easier than what I did.
Where can I buy PAM in Toronto, Rick?

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Originally Posted by The Golem

That's a lot easier than what I did.
Where can I buy PAM in Toronto, Rick?

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I think that AllReptiles carries it. I ordered it through their website when I needed it. It took about a week to arrive.

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

I think that AllReptiles carries it. I ordered it through their website when I needed it. It took about a week to arrive.

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Thanks, the store is about 5 km from where i work, will have to check it out soon.

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

I think that AllReptiles carries it. I ordered it through their website when I needed it. It took about a week to arrive.

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Finally went to All Reptiles on Friday, it's a great shop with a lot of supplies that my neighbourhood exotic pet store doesn't carry. Ended up getting the Provent-A-Mite and oh also bought a 2x2x1 PVC cage - it's so light! They also stock Flexwatt, THG heat tape, F10, and a huge assortment of cages, decor etc.
Thanks for letting me know about this place, Ricky.

Provent-a-Mite is by far and away the best method. It unquestionably works, and fast!

It's very potent toxic chemical. READ THE DIRECTIONS and follow them EXACTLY. DO NOT put it on your snake.