Frustrated beyond belief... help me out!

Great so I'm holding onto Furio and he's been kinda jumpy the last day or so and all of a sudden what do I see? Another god D@%* mite! Then another... we found two... after the PAM treatment. So when I take him out to feed him tomorrow should I bake all his hides and wood things and soak him and then re-treat his cage with Provent A Mite again?

Be patient. PAM takes a few days to kill all the buggers. Unless you're saying that you saw them weeks later, just give the stuff time to take effect and let your snake slither through a washcloth with warm water to try and get those off in the meantime if you're really frustrated with them.

Patience, grasshopper. :)

It was only a week ago that I sprayed but I think I'm gonna spray it again and bake all his wood stuff and put a wet washcloth or two in with him in a separate bin for a few hours and hope it works. Good idea or not so much?

just take him out and give his cage a nice soaking of pam. soak & stir the bedding as you spray sometimes you will get a few that hide in the bedding for a long time. wait for it all to dry. you shouldnt have any more problems.

I would spray the whole darn room and throw all the cage furnishings out

Alot of people suggest throwing all the cage furnishings out but is that always needed? Wood I can understand becuase of eggs that can be laid inside of it but everything platic can just take a good soak of PAM and be good to go I would think. Correct me if I am missing something but personally I have got some cool cage furnishings I would not be very happy about parting with if I didnt have to.

I haven't had any mites, and not sure what type of substrate you are using, but I would think it would be easier to use paper towels or newspaper as substrate until all mites are gone (I am just going by your avatar pic). I would also soak all of the cage furnishings in a 10% bleach solution for about 1/2 hour, rinse it all really really well, and then bake it all at about 350* for about 30 min to an hour (until it is all completely dry). I would even leave out all of the cage furnishings for now until mites are gone. That is how I normally clean all of my real wood furnishings. Hope this helps.

I agree with sunny. I use a diluted bleach solution on all of my new cage furnishings before putting them in (plastic), rinse and then I air dry them. The wood I bake. Great tips.

Thanks for adding that missi182. When I was talking about soaking and baking I was referring to wood furnishings. Anything plastic I air dry as well.

my switch from an aquarium glass enclosure to a tub, and from aspen to paper towels was the best thing I ever did for myself and my snakes. Not only is it easier to clean, but I have never seen a mite (usually came with the aspen). They shed perfect and eat like champs because they are happy :)

it doesn't look as appealing, I'll admit

Well I will be baking all of the wood in his cage for 2-3 hours at 250 degrees. I will also be cleaning the cage out again and dousing everything with Provent A Mite and then I will put him in a tub with a hide and a heat lamp for a few hours with some wet towels on one side to see if he rubs any off.

Just keep a good eye on the wood. If it starts to smoke, turn off the oven. I don't know if this is such a great idea but I have been lazy and dampened the wood then stuck it in the microwave for 2 minutes. It is darn hot when it comes out, I dont think any mites could live through that but I could be mistaken. I found a mite on my bp one day and tore his enclosure apart, diluted bleached all the plants, washed the tank with diluted bleach, and microwaved his wooden hides. I have not seen another mite luckily and I hope it stays that way. This was about 3 weeks ago and I have been watching closely for any. If I find another I will have to pick up some PAM

LOL microwaving wood probably isn't a good idea. Baking at 250 for 30 minutes is more than enough.

LOL whats the real hurt in microwaving the wood? I guess it could catch fire....but it could do that in the over too couldnt it? I watch it the whole time its in there.....still it does sound funny doesnt it lol.

Does this mean I shouldn't put paper plates or paper towels or cardboard food containers in my microwave anymore?

Somebody that advised against putting wood in the microwave please explain the dangers to me. I thought microwaves acted directly on the water contained in the food (or wood) that you place in it. Doesn't that mean that when the water is all evaporated out, the wood would no longer be heated????

All this assumes there are no nails or screws in the wood (metal in a microwave).

I really don't want to be a smarta**, but come on.

Steve

There is a very big possibility that I will sound like an idiot, but seriously I am asking, is it unsafe to put the wood in the microwave?? The above post confused me a tid, I dont know if the whole thing is sarcastic or not. What is more safe about putting it in the oven??

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Originally Posted by missi182

There is a very big possibility that I will sound like an idiot, but seriously I am asking, is it unsafe to put the wood in the microwave?? The above post confused me a tid, I dont know if the whole thing is sarcastic or not. What is more safe about putting it in the oven??

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Yes, I was being sarcastic. Microwaves are made to be able to use paper plates, paper towels, paper containers, etc in. It works because the microwaves work on the water molecules in the food. No more water, no more heat. As long as there is water there, its not going to catch fire. A paper plate or paper towel would catch fire much quicker than a chunk of wood. It just doesn't happen.

Search on google using the following search terms -

microwave wood -cart -stand

You'll find that people use microwaves in curing wood, bending wood, and other processes that involve removing the moisture from wood. The one warning that I might heed is that some woods may produce toxic fumes. I haven't researched that, so I really don't know.

By the way, there is water in mites and mite eggs. If you microwave a mite infested chunk of wood, the bugs will get nuked!

I would say that it is NOT more safe to put it into a conventional oven. It uses direct heat, which could cause a fire if the temp is raised to the combustion temperature of the wood. A quick search on google suggests that the temp would have to be 395 degrees or higher. I suggest doing your own reseach before trying it though.

Steve

So bake it then or not? I got that from Melissa Kaplan's article on mites.

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Originally Posted by V1L3 DiaL3cT

So bake it then or not? I got that from Melissa Kaplan's article on mites.

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Well, as you can tell from my previous posts, I'll go against the grain and say microwave it. You can soak it first to increase the water content, which will allow it to heat up. But I really think just sticking it in there dry would kill any bugs.

Again, do your research before baking it in a gas or electric conventional oven. Google for combustion temperature of wood (the specific type of wood you have would be even better - oak, pine, etc). But to me, the microwave would be safer. Shoot if your not sure if its safe, throw an empty (dry) paper plate in your microwave, cook it for a couple minutes and see if its hot. Then get it wet and try it again. Just be careful after you cook it wet. Don't want you to get scalded by the steam!

Steve

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Originally Posted by V1L3 DiaL3cT

So bake it then or not? I got that from Melissa Kaplan's article on mites.

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Have you thought about using a different substrate while you get the mite situation under control? It would be helpful to use paper towels; easier to see the little buggers!

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Originally Posted by starmom

Have you thought about using a different substrate while you get the mite situation under control? It would be helpful to use paper towels; easier to see the little buggers!

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Paper towels or newspaper work really well for treating with PAM. You don't use as much PAM, you get good coverage, and its easy to change. And like starmom said, you can see the dead bugs in the enclosure. You do still need to sanitize all the furnishings and the enclosure though. Also, if the mites have been around very long at all, they do travel. It wouldn't hurt to treat (spray with PAM) the stand and the floor near where the animal is housed.

Steve

Oh yea, you should try that for sure, the paper towel or newspaper, while going through the cleaning process. Youll save money on throwing out substrate and be able to see and the mites and clean them out faster if they return. Great tip

Thanx hoo-t, Now I don't feel crazy:) When I baked the hides the first time I saw smoke and was like ummm...smoke=fire doesnt it? So I opted for the microwave but didnt know if it was worse or better. I love learning:)

If anyone has any info on Baking vs. Microwaving, that's the last little bit of info I need...

Id say you can try either, if you opt for the oven, keep a close eye on it, if you go for the microwave, dampen it. Both will do the job.

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Originally Posted by V1L3 DiaL3cT

If anyone has any info on Baking vs. Microwaving, that's the last little bit of info I need...

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Google can be your best friend.

I'm out.
Steve

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Originally Posted by V1L3 DiaL3cT

If anyone has any info on Baking vs. Microwaving, that's the last little bit of info I need...

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If the mites are coming in on your aspen then maybe you should dump the bag you've got and change suppliers. Just a thought! ;)