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Thread: Help! Mites

  1. #31
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    little Orla and don't worry, things will get better! You picked a great snarent.

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    Re: Help! Mites

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    That's all I've ever used too, way long ago...just a tiny piece. It worked with no side effects, done carefully (a specific way). Been lucky ever since...whew!
    I remember buying these tiny little Rubbermaid containers. Drilling holes in the lid. Putting one in each cage, removing the water. Letting it stay in there x amount of time. Returning the fresh water and repeating. It worked great. It was so long ago, I promised myself never again, lmao. Been lucky or careful, but thank God ever since.
    1.0 Black Pastel Pinstripe
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  5. #33
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    Re: Help! Mites

    Quote Originally Posted by Sonny1318 View Post
    I remember buying these tiny little Rubbermaid containers. Drilling holes in the lid. Putting one in each cage, removing the water. Letting it stay in there x amount of time. Returning the fresh water and repeating. It worked great. It was so long ago, I promised myself never again, lmao. Been lucky or careful, but thank God ever since.
    Same here...Shell No-Pest Strips, not sure they're still on the market, & definitely contains a nasty pesticide that could harm if not used sparingly. Just a piece (.5-1")
    that I suspended in a "welded wire cage" (so the snake couldn't touch it) in their cage, with airflow mostly restricted except for 2 places, one over UTH (out-flow, warm
    air rises) & one other side (cool air going into cage). As I recall, first treatment about 12 hours, a follow-up (maybe a week later, I can't recall now) for 8 to 10 hours.
    Mites gone, never to return, & snakes apparently* unharmed. *I say "apparently" because most such chemical exposure to us or animals probably raises cancer risks
    that won't be seen for years. People who over-used this product or who didn't follow directions for sure harmed some, just as is the case with PAM & other methods.

    I wonder if anyone has ever tried to kill mites with diatomaceous earth??? It supposedly kills fleas pretty fast & it's probably much safer.
    (would probably need to re-treat for eggs that hatch later) Ditto, you might look into this??? It is sold in home improvement and health
    food stores...some ppl consume it, it has several uses...I am by no means an expert on the stuff, but if I had mites, I'd be looking for the
    LEAST toxic way to rid my snake of them. And it should be available locally, much faster. Just a thought...
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 03-03-2019 at 04:23 PM.

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  7. #34
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    There's a lot of info online about using diatomaceous earth to kill all kinds of bugs- it apparently dries them out so they "dehydrate to death"...you'd want to
    make sure your snake (or you) doesn't breathe it in, but it could probably be dabbed (via Q tip) on the mites adhering around your snake's eyes...it's said to
    kill fairly soon after contact...it must make contact, & while it's irritating to eyes, they aren't thinking about snake's eyes which are covered & protected. I would
    think it would be fairly safe on the snake's body (much like what Natural Chemistry does?). I dunno, any other thoughts on this stuff? As I said, I'm just throwing
    a suggestion (another possible solution) out there.

    A sample from Wiki:
    "How long does it take for diatomaceous earth to kill fleas? Well research shows that once the fleas come into contact with the powder, they usually die about 4 hourslater. However, I recommend leaving it for 12 hours before vacuuming up all the powder (and any dead fleas) to ensure they die."

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    Re: Help! Mites

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    There's a lot of info online about using diatomaceous earth to kill all kinds of bugs- it apparently dries them out so they "dehydrate to death"...you'd want to
    make sure your snake (or you) doesn't breathe it in, but it could probably be dabbed (via Q tip) on the mites adhering around your snake's eyes...it's said to
    kill fairly soon after contact...it must make contact, & while it's irritating to eyes, they aren't thinking about snake's eyes which are covered & protected. I would
    think it would be fairly safe on the snake's body (much like what Natural Chemistry does?). I dunno, any other thoughts on this stuff? As I said, I'm just throwing
    a suggestion (another possible solution) out there.

    A sample from Wiki:
    "How long does it take for diatomaceous earth to kill fleas? Well research shows that once the fleas come into contact with the powder, they usually die about 4 hourslater. However, I recommend leaving it for 12 hours before vacuuming up all the powder (and any dead fleas) to ensure they die."
    I actually know someone who uses diatomaceous earth for a whole range of things & seems to know a lot about it, I'll ask her & do some research on my own, it never occurred to me to use it for this sort of thing

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  11. #36
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    This is regarding ball pythons, but it may work for other species.
    A very safe and effective method is soaking. It is the snakes first line of defense in the wild. I have ball pythons and the two times I had mites, I discovered it because the pythons were crammed in their water bowls. I then take them out of the tub, clean the tub spotless, soak and wash the snake off, (optional, but recommended: spray a piece of paper with NIX and let dry, if you do this step, make sure not to add the water bowl until the paper is totally dried out)

    Then you put the snake back in the tub, and give them a water bowl large enough that they can submerge their entire body in it. THEY WILL submerge themselves as this is their natural instinct to drown the mites and relieve the pain. Every day, take out the water bowl, dump out the water with the dead black mites laying on the bottom of the water bowl. Wash the entire enclosure, put back the paper, put the snake back with a fresh water bowl.
    Repeat every day for about 10 days, and the mites and their eggs will be completely drowned out. I know it is said the eggs can last 30 days, but in my experience, after 10 days of soaking, the entire colony is destroyed, eggs and all.

    good luck!

    p.s. The second time around, I also used Nix on the paper substrate as an extra measure, but you can skip this part if you are afraid of toxins and such.
    Last edited by Godzilla78; 03-03-2019 at 06:00 PM.

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  13. #37
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    Re: Help! Mites

    Quote Originally Posted by Godzilla78 View Post
    This is regarding ball pythons, but it may work for other species.
    A very safe and effective method is soaking. It is the snakes first line of defense in the wild. I have ball pythons and the two times I had mites, I discovered it because the pythons were crammed in their water bowls. I then take them out of the tub, clean the tub spotless, soak and wash the snake off, (optional, but recommended: spray a piece of paper with NIX and let dry, if you do this step, make sure not to add the water bowl until the paper is totally dried out)

    Then you put the snake back in the tub, and give them a water bowl large enough that they can submerge their entire body in it. THEY WILL submerge themselves as this is their natural instinct to drown the mites and relieve the pain. Every day, take out the water bowl, dump out the water with the dead black mites laying on the bottom of the water bowl. Wash the entire enclosure, put back the paper, put the snake back with a fresh water bowl.
    Repeat every day for about 10 days, and the mites and their eggs will be completely drowned out. I know it is said the eggs can last 30 days, but in my experience, after 10 days of soaking, the entire colony is destroyed, eggs and all.

    good luck!

    p.s. The second time around, I also used Nix on the paper substrate as an extra measure, but you can skip this part if you are afraid of toxins and such.
    The only problem is that many mites don't drown without a bit of soap in the water to break the surface tension...they just float & survive. I have a feeling that the
    NIX you used this way is what actually did the mite-killing. (And please, don't anyone leave soap in a snake's drinking water hoping they'll drown their own mites,
    as drinking soap water WILL have gastrointestinal consequences on the poor snake.)

  14. #38
    BPnet Veteran Godzilla78's Avatar
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    Help! Mites

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    The only problem is that many mites don't drown without a bit of soap in the water to break the surface tension...they just float & survive. I have a feeling that the
    NIX you used this way is what actually did the mite-killing. (And please, don't anyone leave soap in a snake's drinking water hoping they'll drown their own mites,
    as drinking soap water WILL have gastrointestinal consequences on the poor snake.)
    No. The first time I didn’t use nix, nor soap, just water.
    The mites didn’t float, they drowned. It was so satisfying dumping the water bowls out every day with the tiny black specks at the bottom of the bowl!


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    Last edited by Godzilla78; 03-03-2019 at 06:49 PM.

  15. #39
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    Help! Mites

    The first time, when I used the soaking method, I only had one snake .

    a couple years later, when I brought a snake home with mites.... i has too many snakes to worry about, so I just used the nix sprayed paper substrate the second time and it worked as well.

    I hope there is a never a third time. I am keeping all new snakes on nix sprayed paper while in quarantine from now on, no matter how perfect and healthy they look.


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    Last edited by Godzilla78; 03-03-2019 at 11:54 PM.

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    So the PAM arrived today and I've realized I have a bit of a problem? It's been below freezing temperatures here the past few days, and I don't have access to a ventilated area in my house to spray anything. Will it work okay if I use it outside? Also, what all should be sprayed with it? I know to do the paper towels but I'm not sure if I should do anything else?
    Slightly unrelated, but it's been a week since I last fed her and I'm wondering if I should even try to feed her again this week? She's probably too stressed, right? And if I have to move her once a day to clean I don't want to risk a regurgitation (but someone mentioned pinkies being easily digestible so I dunno). And on that note, one last question for now. How often should I be cleaning her cage? I've been replacing the paper towels and wiping everything down with the nat chem spray once a day, is that too much?

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