Can't Get Rid Of Mites

[Eazyyyb]

Hey guys, my baby has had mites for about 3 weeks now and I just cant beat it. I change his bedding and wash his hides and stuff every few days and ive been using Mite Guard by Nature Zone on the snake and the enclosure several times. Every time I check him for mites I find some and it breaks my heart. Is there something else I can do?

[DooLittle]

Prevent a mite. Follow directions to a tee. *knocks on wood* I've never dealt with the little buggers. But from what I have read, this stuff will do the trick. But do not spray on your snake!

[Baileybones0413]

I had been going through the same thing. Bought a can of prevent a mite and a bottle of reptile spray from petco. Changed his substrate to paper towels, treated him and his tank. So far I haven't found any more live mites and there is nothing on him. (He was covered in them) I can't recommend this combination enough! Just be sure to follow all directions on the bottles closely.

[bcr229]

Provent-A-Mite (PAM): http://pro-products.com/provent-a-mite/

Get it, use as directed on the enclosure, hides, and paper towels you'll be using as substrate. I repeated the PAM treatments every 7-10 days when I fought my last infestation. Unlike the product you are currently using, PAM persists for 30 days. Female mites leave the snake to lay their eggs in the enclosure - the PAM will get them as well as any newly-hatched mites during the off-snake parts of their lifespan.

[satomi325]

Provent-a-mite. Magical stuff.
Regardless of having mites or not, everyone should treat new additions in quarantine. Its a good preventative practice.

In the mean time, you can bathe him with a drop or two of dish soap daily. Change out his substrate and use paper towel. Take out cage accessories and wash them and the cage in bleach and hot water. Keep his set up as simple as possible: hide and water dish only.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Eazyyyb]

Do they have PAM at petco?

[DooLittle]

Do they have PAM at petco?

No. You'll have to order it online. Bcr posted link.

Edit: Petco carries this. Which I have heard works too.
http://m.petco.com/product/109610/Na...ile-Spray.aspx

[Eazyyyb]

No. You'll have to order it online. Bcr posted link.

Edit: Petco carries this. Which I have heard works too.
http://m.petco.com/product/109610/Na...ile-Spray.aspx

I actually just got that for christmas today. I treated yesterday so i will wait 2 more days and treat again with that

[Productmur]

I can vouch for the Petco Natural Chemistry reptile spray. Did not work instantaneously or anything magical, but is readily available in-store. Took three applications to rid my guy of them, so about 9-10 days (it says repeat in 3 day intervals, but I think I missed a day on the last shot), and then after a week I sprayed everything down again just to be safe, but didn't notice anything.

It says you can spray it directly on your snake, but...I worried about it, so I went with the other option of spraying it onto a paper towel and letting him "run" through it. I would wipe him down (be careful of eyes, pits, mouth--essentially, don't get it in his face), put him in one of those critter keeper carriers (my guy's a small hatchling, not sure about yours) with some water to let him soak while I cleaned his tank, sprayed the tank down, let it sit for five minutes or so while I vacuumed the area around the cage and wiped his shelf down with the reptile spray, then rinsed it thoroughly and dried the tank REALLY well before sticking him back in. Don't forget the lid in all of this.

Save yourself some money and use paper towels for bedding right now. Don't leave any wood in there like climbing sticks or wooden hides, as I hear mites are virtually impossible to get rid of on wood. I cluttered his tank using an old hand towel that I loosely lay on the bottom of the tank for him to crawl through--he loves hiding in it and moving it around, and it's easy for me to take out and throw into a heavy duty wash load. Water bowl was a couple of tupperware containers I weighed down with a few rocks; could switch them out and use the dishwasher to sanitize them, and boil the rocks (make sure they've cooled before returning to cage). I would use disposable hides for the time being--if he's small enough (and really, if he's a hatchling at least, he will somehow be small enough xD), toilet paper rolls are awesome; also, mine really, really liked a Lipton soup mix box. Guess it was cramped enough to let him touch all sides and feel secure. Anyway, disposable or sanitizable items only right now. Throw away bedding and hides with every cleaning and replace with new ones that haven't been in the area to avoid recontamination. Process is to be repeated every 3 days until no mites are detected, and then I would do it again after another week of no mites just to be extra certain.

I'm no expert, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Just repeating what worked for me.