Mites? Arghh! Is there any sort of consensus?

Okay, well, my snake has mites. We've had a Ball Python for a while and just recently bought another from a pet store and the thing brought mites in. So now to get rid of them.
Everyone has a different idea, and man are they different. One person swears by one thing another says the same thing kills snakes.
I was leaning toward the predator mite idea, as it sounded like it would work, but I found a couple people say it didn't work. I was wondering if anyone has tried it.
We did the Betadine bath, that didn't seem to help too much. They were back out of the scales the next day. We're trying it again as I speak. Does anyone have the best way to get rid of these things??
Also, I was curious, if these things drown, while the snake is out of the tank in another quarantine tank. Could I just fill the tank with water for a day or so? Would that help at all? I don't know, but I would think it may. I would get provent a mite, but same say it's deadly, same with pest strips, mothballs, and everything else.
Something has got to work on these things. I just want to know what would be best for them, we can't stand the chance of loosing them. They aren't just snakes, they're family. How can we help?

Joey

P.S. Predator Mites sound REALLY cool, though.

Prevent-a-Mite or Mite Off sprays work wonders...

Now that is mainly to just treat the cage right? You can't use it to treat the snakes themselves? I've read you can and I've read you can't.

mite off i know you can spray directly on the snake, just keep it away from his head

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Originally Posted by trikcard

Now that is mainly to just treat the cage right? You can't use it to treat the snakes themselves? I've read you can and I've read you can't.

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I use Provent-A-Mite - and swear by it.

Yes, you treat the enclosure, not the snake. Once you put the snake into the enclosure, any mite that is living will not be living for much longer - including eggs. Awesome stuff that Provent-A-Mite is!

In fact, I always pre-treat enclosure of new additions, and re-treat the enclosures of my established colony when I bring home a new animal, just to be sure (you never know when a mite has hitch-hiked on your clothes). I've not seen a mite since I started this routine.

Prevent-A-Mite works like a charm!:P

here you go. this is from what i have found the cheapest price. as well it should be because you are buying it directly from the company that makes it not a middle man.

http://www.pro-products.com/miteandtemp.html

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Originally Posted by trikcard

Everyone has a different idea

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Actually, in the world of professional ball python keeping and breeding, everyone uses the exact same thing ... Provent a Mite ... treats the enclosure and by doing so, kills the mites on the snake and kills the mite eggs so that they don't come back.

-adam

Another vote for PAM!


Our only run in with mites (to date) was cleared up handily with it!

The Active ingredient in PAM (Permethrin) has been shown to kill and prevent mites time and time again. We pre-treat our substrate as a measure of preventative maintenance.

how do you know if your snake has mites?

are they very visable?

Yes....they're tiny little dots crawling all over your snake. If it has them, it will likely try to soak and you will find them drowned in the waterbowl, too. If you are using a dark-colored substrate, they can be harder to detect.

Have any of you guys with large breeding collections ever had an epidemic? I know quarantine for this sorta thing does wonders, How long does everybody quarintine for, 6 mo?wildlifewarrior

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Originally Posted by wildlifewarrior

Have any of you guys with large breeding collections ever had an epidemic?

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My collection is only 17 right now - but I would hazzard a guess that none of the breeders with large collection have had an epidemic of mites, because they all take the preventative measures of pre-treating enclosures of new additions with Provent-A-Mite.

That's what I do, and other than one time (before I had Provent-A-Mite) with mites, I've never had them again.

And I did not see mites on my girl - I even pre-treated her with Reptile Relief before bringing her home with me and into my house. She still carried in either some stray mites or had some eggs on her. About four to five weeks later - she was soaking in her water bowl and I found four or five little black specks in her water and that was enough to send me flying to the computer to buy some. The best price I found was at http://www.entirelypets.com

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Originally Posted by natanya

how do you know if your snake has mites?

are they very visable?

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My Surinam had mites and they are extremely difficult to see because a lot of her pattern is very small dark spots on a light gray/taupe background...but she was in quarantine away from our other snake when we discovered the mites...PAM to the rescue, mites dead no problemo.

See? Speckly pattern made the mites hard to see. (She does not have mites in this picture - just an example of her speckles)

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...enscarleft.jpg

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Originally Posted by cassandra

My Surinam had mites and they are extremely difficult to see because a lot of her pattern is very small dark spots on a light gray/taupe background...but she was in quarantine away from our other snake when we discovered the mites...PAM to the rescue, mites dead no problemo.

See? Speckly pattern made the mites hard to see. (She does not have mites in this picture - just an example of her speckles)

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...enscarleft.jpg

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It looks like she has some scales missing? Like something was eating them... what is that cass?

Yeah I should have found a different picture...these are from a post from before you joined these boards...long story short, she's scarred from Baytril shots. Anywho, ignore those...they seem to be getting better. =)

Carmen's due to shed in the next day or so and we'll get some new pictures of her up. =)

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Originally Posted by cassandra

Yeah I should have found a different picture...these are from a post from before you joined these boards...long story short, she's scarred from Baytril shots. Anywho, ignore those...they seem to be getting better. =)

Carmen's due to shed in the next day or so and we'll get some new pictures of her up. =)

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Awesome! Although I have no clue what Baytril shots are for... glad to know she is doing better! I thought at first it might have been a serious mite attack or something lol.

Provent a mite:D


Best thing on the market to get rid of mites.

Forget about that orange smelling stuff. It doesn't work.

Thanks so much for your help. I have taken my two Ball Pythons and given them a bath in water with a tad of betadine to drown the mites. Then I applyed some miteoff on them after they got out just to make sure.
While they are out, I have provent-a-mite and sprayed the cage just now. I sealed it and am now letting it air out. The only thing is I sprayed it good amount in there and it seems to leave a residue. Most say to leave the residue as it will keep killing the mites and the eggs. Is that the case? It just seems that there is quite a lot of residue still in it. I just don't want to hurt them and do it all right.

Joey

P.S. Thanks for all the info, someone sent me this link to go by the information by Mark Berger, I hope all agree it's good information. http://www.bobclark.com/bcforums/top...e+Python+Forum

if you are getting all this good feedback provent a mite, get it. i am using reptile relief because that was all that was available here. i am treating the snake and the tank and then soaking it in bath water the next day for about 10 mins and it has now been 4 days since the first day of mite treatment and i am still finding a few here and there

I had a mite problem with a red-tail boa i use to have(got too big and made my landlord uncomfortable).but i tried sprays and other mite be gone remedies and they kept coming back.i met a vet in maryland that said "to get rid of mites soak your snake in a tub of water for 1 hour a day, mites can't breathe in water and they will float to the surface". they did.he said "to clean the tank with a 2% bleach water solution(fill the tank, mites can't breathe in water and don't like bleach)and keep the snake from the tank till the mites are gone".i did this for about a week and never had the problem again.i didn't need powders and sprays. just water, and a little bleach to clean the tank.he told me most vets will say the snake needs shots and chemical soakings just to get business. a little comon sense and a week cured my snake with no repercussions.:)

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

if you are getting all this good feedback provent a mite, get it. i am using reptile relief because that was all that was available here. i am treating the snake and the tank and then soaking it in bath water the next day for about 10 mins and it has now been 4 days since the first day of mite treatment and i am still finding a few here and there

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Reptile Releif is that fruity smelling junk.
You're basically wasting your time and money with that.

Soak the snake, replace all of the substrate, spray the enclosure with PAM, and the mites will be gone before you know it.

I just ordered PAM; used RRelief and it did just that; it provided temporary relief and the mites returned.... grrrr!
I plan on using white paper-towels as substrate until this whole thing is cleared up.