Vet found 1 mite Now what??

Update:

Both Bean and Bitey are still on paper towels, with glass water dish, and 2 hides only. Separated from snake room and each other

Bitey has a Dr appt on Nov 22nd, to recheck for mites, I'm going to do a second Frontline wipe down mid next week.

Now how do I know when all the mites are dead?? I haven't seen any on the paper towel substrate, none floating in the water dishes.

I purchased a lighted 20x magnifying glass to look at the snakes with and don't seen any bugs on them either.

Does this mean I have the situation handled? Or the little buggers are just hiding from me? Could the mite the vet found just have been a stray?

Being they went from the pet store to a split 20 gallon to separate 10 gallon tanks

Could they have had minimal mites on them to carry into the 10 gallon tanks?? and they have been eradicated??

I guess I'm just paranoid about an infestation getting out of control, but can't believe I haven't seen any at the same time.....

A mite egg can take up to 30 days to hatch out. So, when I treat I continue for 30 days after I last saw a mite on my snakes.

If you caught it early you have a good chance of being mite free by now.

I use RID spray to demite my tanks and my NON-POROUS plastics. Do not spray water bowl. Make sure your snakes are out of the room while spraying and while drying. Spray lightly but as evenly as possible, on the inside and outside of the tank. Wait for RID to dry completely, then wipe down the tanks and any hides to remove any excess film from the spray. You are probably fine to spray the paper towel, but I don't, as once it dries out you don't have a solution anymore, and if the snake spills water or goes to the bathroom on it, you can have very high localized concentrations of permetherin, no matter which product you use. Any mites or eggs should have been killed on contact with RID anyways, so the paper towel is just there to make it easier to see mites falling off the snake.

Mites can crawl so treat the area surrounding the tanks as well. I also sprayed the doorways and the carpet outside the doorways, as mites can crawl a really long ways and I wanted to be safe.

To treat the snake, I have lots of success using the hand sanitizer method, but if you decide to go this route, make sure your ambient temperatures are ~80+ in the enclosure as well as the room you apply the hand sanitizer in. As the hand sanitizer evaporates, it will draw heat away from your snake, so you want them to have somewhere warm to go to immediately. DO NOT apply to the head or anywhere near the eyes and mouth. The mites will fall off in your hands, dead on contact.

If you see mites on the face/head, gently and carefully try to get them off with your fingers.

Use frontline spray. I’ve found it to be very effective and easy to treat mites. There are some great videos online about using it one from muscle serpents university and Mr paulumbo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Phillydubs

Use frontline spray. I’ve found it to be very effective and easy to treat mites. There are some great videos online about using it one from muscle serpents university and Mr paulumbo

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frontline is what I used.

It's been 30 days since the vet found a mite on bitey, I changed her substrate to white paper towels, 2 plastic hides, glass water dish big enough for her to fit in

Gave her a treatment of frontline, and checked her with a 20x lighted magnifier..... Ugh......

Just got back from the vet today, she did multiple tape tests and looked at her through the microscope/magnifier she has

She found NO mites,

And I haven't seen Bitey soaking in her water dish, have seen no mites on her paper towels, or in the water either.

So I have to believe I'm safe to clean her tank again, switch her back to normal substrate, giver her her climbing log back and plastic plants

and integrate her into the snake room.

Or should I give it a little more time? I DO NOT want a mite breakout with the rest of them. (that really worries me) But I would like to get Bitey in the temp/humidity controlled room.

Thoughts?

And Bean goes for her checkup, mite check on Dec 03, so she will not be added to the snake room till after that.

room.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gocntry

Question about her Accurite Temp/humidity gauge... It has slots for the air to go thru, could mites go it there and lay eggs??

The one I have is an all in one gauge that just sites in the tank, no probes with it.

What should I do with it? Heat it up with a hairdryer? Put it in the garage for the cold, and leave it out there for 30 days to make sure everything is dead?

All the other plastic plants ect are getting washed in soap and hot water. But don't think I can through the temp gauge in there.

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Somehow I missed this earlier post & I would say yes, mites can hide in that gauge too so you should be treating it either chemically or time/temperature methods.

Not sure your plastic plants will be safe either with just a wash off...I think most ppl toss fake plants, as there's too many crevices & it's risky, but if you bag them up
tightly & treat with Frontline or whatever, & leave them out for long enough (over 30 days+)??? Take your chances, I guess?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gocntry

It's been 30 days since the vet found a mite on bitey, I changed her substrate to white paper towels, 2 plastic hides, glass water dish big enough for her to fit in

Gave her a treatment of frontline, and checked her with a 20x lighted magnifier..... Ugh......

Just got back from the vet today, she did multiple tape tests and looked at her through the microscope/magnifier she has

She found NO mites,

And I haven't seen Bitey soaking in her water dish, have seen no mites on her paper towels, or in the water either.

So I have to believe I'm safe to clean her tank again, switch her back to normal substrate, giver her her climbing log back and plastic plants

and integrate her into the snake room.

Or should I give it a little more time? I DO NOT want a mite breakout with the rest of them. (that really worries me) But I would like to get Bitey in the temp/humidity controlled room.

Thoughts?

And Bean goes for her checkup, mite check on Dec 03, so she will not be added to the snake room till after that.

room.

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Finding no mites at the vets office is reassuring but still is not a guarantee. Mites & mite eggs are sneaky. Magnifiers are very good to have on hand, but you can't look
under every scale & probably won't see eggs either, so stick with the program until it's been long enough with no evidence. It's your call...I'd hate to see mites return,
so it might be worth a little more wait. Your call...

You can bag up the fake plants and throw them into the deep freeze for a few days. Heat will also kill mites and eggs but it may damage the décor.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Finding no mites at the vets office is reassuring but still is not a guarantee. Mites & mite eggs are sneaky. Magnifiers are very good to have on hand, but you can't look
under every scale & probably won't see eggs either, so stick with the program until it's been long enough with no evidence. It's your call...I'd hate to see mites return,
so it might be worth a little more wait. Your call...

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My call could be wrong..... That why I look for advice from the people who have a LOT MORE experience than me!

I have no problem going another 30 days waiting to integrate Bitey into the snake room. I'm sure she could care less either, as long as she's warm and fed :D

I appreciate the input, Thanks