Mite / sickness questions.

Hello everyone! So I have been closely monitoring the enchi clown I recently purchased I noticed that sometimes when I check on him is head is kind of tilted...like he is sick? Then plenty of other times he appears just fine. I can't find anything specific on this behavoir. I haven't been able to snap a pic yet. But imagine him resting his head on his body but slightly tilted. I haven't noticed my other snakes doing this. Am I paranoid?

Question #2. Maybe his issue is directly related to the mites I found on him. I hate receiving a snake with mites I start wondering about the collections I get these snake from smh. Anyway I sprayed PAM with one fast pass over paper towel then let it sit 24 hours and put him on that. I have read plenty of info about it but I guess I need my questions answered directly.

Is one quick pass good enough?

How long before I switch back to regular substrate and should I treat that too?

What minimum recommended drying time?

When your snake is housed on the dry paper towels and he urates how does that not activate the PAM and hurt him?

When receiving new additions can I give a pass over the substrate (reptibark/cocoa fiber mix) let it dry and feel save from infestations?

The snake was in a full rack. If I want to treat my whole collection for piece of mind what is the best way to accomplish the task?

Sorry if my questions seem ignorant.

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Q1: not quite sure. Obviously monitor it. If the snake starts corkscrewing or stargazing, vet asap! It could just be something he does on his own. Mine spooked me a couple times with a tremble while she eats. Otherwise, fine.

Q2: this is part of why a good quarantine is important!

You are going to have to treat every animal in that room (possibly your whole household) as infested. Any bedding that was exposed (even unused) I would just toss. Start fresh in 3 weeks.

The lifecycle of a mite is about 21 days. Depending on how long you had this snake around the others, you may have moved mites all over on yourself or on items from the rack. Right now you are killing off the adult mites on the snake, but there can be eggs or larva in so many places...they may still cause issues for the next 2-3 weeks.

If you have animals in another room that still seem okay, a shower and fresh change of clothes before working in there is not a bad idea. Mites can be picked up on clothes and dropped in other enclosures.


I would take every animal in that rack and put them on paper towels for mite monitoring. A quick PAM treatment for them wouldn't hurt.
While you are changing out the bedding, make sure you are wiping down every surface on that rack that you can. Mites can travel pretty far just on thier own.

The snake that you are actively treating should be moved as far as possible to avoid further risk of transferring mites. A weekly mite treatment protocol will help get things under control since the next batch of eggs can hatch anywhere from 1-4 days after being laid.

I've never had to worry about mites myself at home, but I've used bleach and frontline spray to treat for them at my job.
Maybe some more advice will show up soon on the bedding questions and such.

That's for responding. I would love to switch the whole rack to paper towel before it becomes a real problem. So should I switch everyone over then pray a bunch of paper towels and after they dry put them into each tub. What is a common dry time for PAM if you spray ad intructed?

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I personally haven't used PAM so I wouldn't be able to say exactly. Sorry about that.

Someone should peek in to help out I hope!

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Originally Posted by Armiyana

I personally haven't used PAM so I wouldn't be able to say exactly. Sorry about that.

Someone should peek in to help out I hope!

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I hope so I'm waiting patiently.

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FYI, I saw this post but have never needed to use PAM either...so I was letting others who have, take your questions.

Don't know if "one quick pass" is good enough...but "drying time" is as long as it takes! (humidity varies from place to place...Florida is humid so it takes longer)

I would NOT switch back to regular substrate UNTIL you are SURE that ALL mites are gone...you won't see them in other substrate until they're so plentiful they
might kill your snakes. Other abnormalities show up better on white paper towels too...new snakes should be observed for any tinge of blood in stools, etc etc.

Housing your snakes on dry treated paper towels should not be a problem when the snake defecates (urates or stool), assuming there isn't a huge amount of
liquid...I'd recommend you clean it up (change paper) promptly if there is.

Not sure about using PAM on other substrates...(what does the can directions say? everyone only talks about using paper towels with PAM...)

Sounds like you'll need to treat your whole collection if you didn't quarantine your new snakes (w/ mites) from the others you already had. Big mistake...not fun
to have to treat entire collection, it's much easier to miss a few & keep getting re-infestations. :(

Yes, you need to switch the whole rack to treated paper now...good luck!

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

FYI, I saw this post but have never needed to use PAM either...so I was letting others who have, take your questions.

Don't know if "one quick pass" is good enough...but "drying time" is as long as it takes! (humidity varies from place to place...Florida is humid so it takes longer)

I would NOT switch back to regular substrate UNTIL you are SURE that ALL mites are gone...you won't see them in other substrate until they're so plentiful they
might kill your snakes. Other abnormalities show up better on white paper towels too...new snakes should be observed for any tinge of blood in stools, etc etc.

Housing your snakes on dry treated paper towels should not be a problem when the snake defecates (urates or stool), assuming there isn't a huge amount of
liquid...I'd recommend you clean it up (change paper) promptly if there is.

Not sure about using PAM on other substrates...(what does the can directions say? everyone only talks about using paper towels with PAM...)

Sounds like you'll need to treat your whole collection if you didn't quarantine your new snakes (w/ mites) from the others you already had. Big mistake...not fun
to have to treat entire collection, it's much easier to miss a few & keep getting re-infestations. :(

Yes, you need to switch the whole rack to treated paper now...good luck!

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I'm currently in the process of treating the entire collection. Everyone is on paper towels now. I agree it's much easier to see things going on. I'm going to receive new snakes directly into quarantine tubs (that I already had sadly enough) with PAM paper towels as a future safety measure. The reason they were all together is because most were received within 60 days. I'm thinking I should spread the purchases out a little more. The enchi clown I received appears to be infested. It breaks my heart but he is in good hands now. I completely agree also with drying time being as long as it takes. But the reason I asked because its very hard to tell. Nothing actually looks wet when you spray this stuff. It's not like a standard reptile spray. I can sense vapors for a very short time but its scary. I'm scared to death of hurting one of my babies, I guess I will stick to 12-24 dry time. Thanks for your response Boger.

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Originally Posted by Knowell

...I completely agree also with drying time being as long as it takes. But the reason I asked because its very hard to tell. Nothing actually looks wet when you spray this stuff. It's not like a standard reptile spray. I can sense vapors for a very short time but its scary. I'm scared to death of hurting one of my babies, I guess I will stick to 12-24 dry time....

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I get you now, as I said, I've not had to use PAM & didn't realize the spray didn't appear to wet the towels much...like you, I'm extremely cautious about using such
chemicals around my snakes (or for that matter, around me or my dogs), but sometimes it's the only option. Trust your judgement in this...I'd probably do 12 hours
or more too, though if you're in a hurry, you could "blow-dry" them with a hair dryer?

I prefer to play it safe too and wait for at least a full 24 hours for it to dry. 48 hours before putting water bowls back in.

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

I prefer to play it safe too and wait for at least a full 24 hours for it to dry. 48 hours before putting water bowls back in.

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For the hides/bowls I used the reptile spray. I've only put PAM on the paper towels. So you use it on the whole enchilada huh?

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Originally Posted by Knowell

For the hides/bowls I used the reptile spray. I've only put PAM on the paper towels. So you use it on the whole enchilada huh?

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Hides, decor, paper towels and tubs/enclosure (and the stands they are on) yes. I actually don't spray the bowls because I don't want anything I know that will be wet or hold water to potentially absorb chemicals.

Knowing PAM when wet is deadly makes me wanna be extra safe, even if the bowl wasn't sprayed I rather not have a water bowl placed near anything treated with Pam until I know everything is 200% dry. 48 hours have been often quoted and practiced as the safest time frame that I prefer to stick by.

Forgot to add: I think you should thoroughly wash your water bowl to get the reptile spray off. Although reptile spray is meant to be used on reptiles it's not safe for them to ingest it and I personally wouldn't chance having any residue (even after it's dried) mixed with water.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

Forgot to add: I think you should thoroughly wash your water bowl to get the reptile spray off. Although reptile spray is meant to be used on reptiles it's not safe for them to ingest it and I personally wouldn't chance having any residue (even after it's dried) mixed with water.

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Thanks I surely will do that! So what scare me to death is let's says I wait 48 hours for it to dry. I put it in the tub and within and hour it gets wet. Why doesn't that hurt the snake like if it was fresh sprayed? It would make you think that only the actual vapors were toxic.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Knowell

Thanks I surely will do that! So what scare me to death is let's says I wait 48 hours for it to dry. I put it in the tub and within and hour it gets wet. Why doesn't that hurt the snake like if it was fresh sprayed? It would make you think that only the actual vapors were toxic.

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I agree, but if I'm not mistaken, don't the instructions suggest leaving the water bowl OUT of the cage for a few days?* And a few days would NOT hurt the snake.

That's what I'd do, if I had to deal with mites. (*I'm pretty sure they tell you to take the water bowls out so as not to contaminate the water that the snake might
drink, but without the product label, I'm not sure if they also suggest LEAVING the water bowl out...I would, & I agree with you, I wouldn't want to risk the snake
spilling water & absorbing the PAM thru their skin in the wet, ie. "reconstituted" form.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

Forgot to add: I think you should thoroughly wash your water bowl to get the reptile spray off. Although reptile spray is meant to be used on reptiles it's not safe for them to ingest it and I personally wouldn't chance having any residue (even after it's dried) mixed with water.

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I really don't see any reason to even expose a water bowl...there isn't any place on a glass or plastic water bowl for mites to hide, so why spray it at all???
Remove the water bowl & give it a good scrub with soap inside & out...put it back in after the cage is treated. Glass cannot absorb such chemicals, but
plastics maybe can to some small degree...I'd never chance that either.

So that's exactly what I did Boger. I soaked hides/bowls in warm soapy water then afterwards sprayed the hides with reptile spray. PAM is only on the paper towels.

If you would Google "provent a mite label" and click the very first link it is a PDF. For the snake portion I see no reference to water.

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Good job! And if you're worried about the snake needing a drink of water while being treated in cage for mites, just offer water outside the cage & put the
snake back in...not the water bowl. Anyway, that's what I'd do.

I found this link on a LLL provent a mite page. Although it seems rather fast they are having success with it.

http://www.lllreptile.com/products/391-provent-a-mite

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