Mite treatments and prevention

Buddy has mites. :( I noticed him soaking in his water dish and changed the water and saw them floating around in there. I feel so bad.
I ordered Reptile Relief spray and Provent a Mite to treat him and his enclosure.
Will these products be enough to protect against the mites coming back? What other things can I do to make sure he doesn't get mites?

Mite prevention is all about good quarantine when acquiring a new animal, preventive treatment of said new animal, not going to your snake room if you just came back from a show, having a clean feeder source (while mites are species specific snake mites can hitch hike on a feeder etc)

It's really not that hard, in 10 years I have never had any mites the only thing I do is pre-treat new incoming animals while in quarantine and avoid my snake room when I return from a show at least until I shower, shampoo my hair and change cloth.

Ok sounds good. I just hope treating the enclosure with provent a mite and my snake with reptile relief will get rid of them for good.

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Originally Posted by kath_

Ok sounds good. I just hope treating the enclosure with provent a mite and my snake with reptile relief will get rid of them for good.

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If it is reptile mites, then what you have planned should do the trick. A lot of people see "bugs" and instantly assume they are mites that feed on reptiles. It is quite possible some type of mite/bug that is in the bedding. "Aspen mites" are quite common and don't really harm your snake...but they look bad and seem to annoy more than anything.

If you don't want to microscope the mite for proper identification, then your next best bet is to change your substrate in addition to the treatment you referenced. Use paper towels or newspaper while treating/in-between treatments. If the mites appear to be gone while doing this, but they immediately return once you change substrate back to aspen/coco/etc. ....then it may be a substrate bug issue.

he has coconut fiber bedding right now but I think I'll change to paper towels after I treat the enclosure and him just to make sure they're gone. He was ok enough to eat just now, so I hope he can make it til the treatment products come in.

You can also spray the PAM on the paper towels. Just make sure they completely dry before using them as substrate. I would keep a supply of treated and dried ones on hand for when your snake makes a mess.

Remember PAM is never to be applied directly to the snake or its water bowl, just the enclosure, hides, and paper substrate.

I prefer to spray a white paper towel with Reptile Relief and wipe it onto the snake. That way you can ensure good coverage under its chin where mites like to hide.

That's a great idea. Thanks for all the advice. I just feel so bad he got them in the first place. I did a checkup on my temps and humidity and other husbandry and everything seems to be ok but maybe it's the feeder source or the bedding now or something I didn't have any idea about until now. So many thanks to the forums for educating me.

Also a question about PAM if anyone is still viewing. Would it be ok to feed him on the treated paper towels/substrate once it is completely dry or should I feed him in a separate enclosure until the mites are gone.
should I also treat his water dish? Or will soaking it in water be enough to get rid of any eggs/mites in there? I'm cautious to use chemicals on something he drinks out of.

Don't treat the water dish. I would just clean it with some kind of disinfectant and rinse very well. I soak mine in a weak bleach solution and rinse really well in very hot water.

Thank you. Will do this. Any advice as far as feeding on treated substrate goes?

Can you guys not get hold of Callingtons somehow , Online ?

Also go to Walmart and get some no pest strips take some old rx bottles drill some holes and put the no pest strip in the bottle leave in the enclosure for 48 and take out for 24 remove the water bowl when the no pest strip is in there so that for about 3 months to make sure the life cycle is broken if the mites. You can also put the no pest strips around your reptile area /room will help keep them away.


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Originally Posted by kath_

Also a question about PAM if anyone is still viewing. Would it be ok to feed him on the treated paper towels/substrate once it is completely dry or should I feed him in a separate enclosure until the mites are gone.
should I also treat his water dish? Or will soaking it in water be enough to get rid of any eggs/mites in there? I'm cautious to use chemicals on something he drinks out of.

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I've never had a problem with feeding on treated paper but if you want to swap it all out the day before feeding day it wouldn't hurt.

I just run the water bowls through the dishwasher, as mites and eggs die in seconds at temps over 135*F so the hot water kills them.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I've never had a problem with feeding on treated paper but if you want to swap it all out the day before feeding day it wouldn't hurt.

I just run the water bowls through the dishwasher, as mites and eggs die in seconds at temps over 135*F so the hot water kills them.

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Thanks very much. Do I have to worry about my entire room being infested? I only have one snake in my bedroom but do I have to bug bomb the whole room to make sure they don't come back? Or is it more localized to just the snake's terrarium?

Sorry for all the spam I'm just very worried about him. The PAM and reptile relief come in on Thursday so I just hope he won't be too uncomfortable. He ate last night at least but I'm holding off on handling or disturbing him until I can demite him. Also really worried about killing him with the PAM because I did some research and apparently it can be dangerous if used improperly. Ugh.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Can you guys not get hold of Callingtons somehow , Online ?

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I think callingtons only delivers to the U.K.

Good job. Remember to retreat in 2 to 3 weeks to kill any mite eggs that will have hatched. The half life is thirty days or more. If you can keep the animal out of the treated enclosure for 24 hrs. that will be a safer duration and ensure complete drying. Don't overspray either bc that is where a lot of keepers make a mistake when treating with PAM. 1 sec spray per sq. ft of enclosure. Retreatment is key also. :)

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Originally Posted by kath_

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I think callingtons only delivers to the U.K.

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Quite possibly .... I just presumed that if drugs and pharmaceuticals were readily available online them so would Callingtons Mite treatment . 100% effective plus safe to spray ON the infested snake !!


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Originally Posted by kath_

Thanks very much. Do I have to worry about my entire room being infested? I only have one snake in my bedroom but do I have to bug bomb the whole room to make sure they don't come back? Or is it more localized to just the snake's terrarium?

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Snake mites only feed on reptiles. When presented with one confined to an enclosure - or a rack - it's like an all-you-can-eat buffet. There's no reason for them to travel far from it.

Now that said, you could inadvertently transport a mite to snakes in another part of your house which is why strict quarantine is so important.

Update: the reptile relief came in early so I followed the instructions on the bottle which were to spray directly onto the reptile and lightly on anything that could hold mites. I didn't handle him, I just sprayed it on top of him twice. I also did 2-3 sprays around the enclosure. His water bowl is in the dishwasher right now because I didn't want to hit that with any chemicals he might drink. This is just to give him some relief before the PAM comes in and I can demite the tank completely. Should I spray him again with the reptile relief when I completely clean out the tank?

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Originally Posted by kath_

Update: the reptile relief came in early so I followed the instructions on the bottle which were to spray directly onto the reptile and lightly on anything that could hold mites. I didn't handle him, I just sprayed it on top of him twice. I also did 2-3 sprays around the enclosure. His water bowl is in the dishwasher right now because I didn't want to hit that with any chemicals he might drink. This is just to give him some relief before the PAM comes in and I can demite the tank completely. Should I spray him again with the reptile relief when I completely clean out the tank?

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IIRC the directions state to use the Reptile Relief every three days.

Also I like to spray it onto a white paper towel, then use that to wipe the snake, let the snake crawl on it, get the product up under their chin, etc. You get more even coverage, you don't get the stuff in their eyes, and most snakes hate getting sprayed.