Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 2,709

0 members and 2,709 guests
No Members online
Most users ever online was 6,337, 01-24-2020 at 04:30 AM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,031
Threads: 248,489
Posts: 2,568,439
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, isismomma
Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Crap....Mites

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-27-2018
    Posts
    122
    Thanks
    24
    Thanked 121 Times in 56 Posts

    Crap....Mites

    Ive kept plenty of snakes before, but this will be my first run in with mites. My suri has been soaking since Friday evening. Checked her over over the weekend, and continued checking. I noticed them today about 10 minutes ago. about to go tear her cage apart, and replace the bedding with paper towels. Gonna have to throw away a whole bag of the reptile prime bedding...that craps expensive! Anyone have some tips for me on getting rid of these pests?

  2. #2
    bcr229's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-18-2013
    Location
    Eastern WV Panhandle
    Posts
    9,494
    Thanks
    2,888
    Thanked 9,842 Times in 4,771 Posts
    Images: 34
    I wrote this after my second battle with mites for people in the US. While other treatments, such as ivermectin injections and wiping the snakes with Frontline, do exist, I have not tried them so I've not included them in my own writeup. You can find out about Frontline at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwCAuhSVRV4

    Mite Eradication 101:

    *** Permethrin ***

    Permethrin comes in many forms - Provent-A-Mite (PAM), NIX/RID head lice treatment, Permethrin-10 from a livestock supply store, etc. Once mixed with water its half life is 30 days if kept out of direct sunlight.

    PAM has several advantages. It has been tested for use with reptiles, and it comes ready to use. The disadvantages are that it's expensive and most reptile stores don't have it in stock, so you have to wait for it to be shipped to you if you don't have any on hand. Meanwhile the mites are busy feeding and breeding.

    NIX/RID is cheaper than PAM and is readily available at WalMart, CVS, and other drug stores. It is also easy to dilute: mix one two ounce (59 ml) bottle of the cream rinse with one gallon of water.

    At a dollar per ounce Permethrin-10 is the cheapest of the three options; one eight ounce bottle will make 240 gallons of solution, as only 6 milliliters of it are needed per gallon of water to make an effective mite spray. The upside is that if you have a lot of snakes to treat this will do it very economically. The downside is that it's all too easy to make too strong of a permethrin solution which can seriously injure or kill your snakes.

    No matter which product you use, it must be used correctly. I've never applied any permethrin product directly onto my snakes as it's not needed for mite treatment, and permethrin poisoning in a snake can cause irreversible neurological damage or death.

    Permethrin use: spray the enclosure, paper substrate, and hides with the diluted solution or PAM. DO NOT SPRAY THE WATER BOWL. Allow everything to dry completely before returning your snake to its home. Also keep a supply of treated and dried newspaper or paper towels and treated hides available so that when a snake makes a mess, you replace the soiled paper and hides with treated ones. Treat the enclosure every two to three weeks.

    *** Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray ***

    Reptile Spray kills mites on contact while wet, once it dries it loses its effectiveness pretty quickly. Reptile Spray is a solution of salts rather than an insecticide; it kills mites by dehydrating them. I don't spray the snakes as more ends up on the floor than on the snake. Instead, I spray a white paper towel with it and wipe it on the snake. That way you get even coverage on the snake, you can work it into the area under their chin really well as that's a favorite hiding place for mites, you don't stress out your snake, and you can look for mites on the paper towel to see how quickly they're being eradicated. Apply twice a week. Note - this stuff hurts like hell in an open wound.

    *** Hot Shot No-Pest Strips ***

    Some people take a Hot Shot No-Pest strip, cut it into pieces, put each piece into a small sealed container, poke some holes in the container, and put each container into the snake's enclosure. I've used the No-Pest strip but I just hang it in the snake room and close the door. Either way is effective, especially if you have a major outbreak.

    If you do use it, remove the water bowls as the insecticide is strongly attracted to water and you don't want the snake drinking it. After 24 hours remove the strip (or pieces), put them into an airtight container for future use, air out the room, and put the water bowls back. Repeat treatment weekly.

    Important! If you also keep tarantulas, feeder roaches/dubias, crickets, etc. do not use the No-Pest Strip as it can kill them too!!!!

    *** Mild Dish Soap ***

    One or two drops of mild dish detergent in your snake's bath water will break the surface tension and prevent mites from floating in the water so they drown. No more than that is needed, your snake should not look like it is taking a bubble bath.

    *** Heat ***

    Don't laugh, but a temperature of 135*F for five seconds will kill mites and the eggs. I purchased a heat gun used for stripping paint that can be set to blow hot air from 180*F through 1200*F. Using the heat gun and a temperature gun I heated the surfaces and crevices of my racks and enclosures to kill off any mite eggs that may have been laid outside the tubs. Don't get your enclosure surfaces and joined/glued areas too hot or you can damage them.

    Mite treatment should continue for 30 days after you stop finding mites on your snake, as an egg can take that long to hatch.

    *** FINAL NOTE ***

    Effective quarantine means that you treat every new arrival as if it has mites, and new snakes are kept as far away from your established collection as possible for at least 90 days. I treat the quarantine enclosure, hides, and paper with permethrin a day or so before the new snake arrives, and I wipe it with a paper towel soaked in Reptile Spray as part of my inspection process when it comes out of the shipping box. If it has mites I will know it within a day or two at most. This also goes for snakes from "trusted" sources, my first mite outbreak ever came from someone I trusted.

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to bcr229 For This Useful Post:

    sur3fir3 (09-09-2019)

  4. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-13-2019
    Posts
    14
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts

    Re: Crap....Mites

    I don’t have a boa yet but I’m assuming mite eradication would be similar to my ball pythons. I just used hot shot no pest strips. My enclosure is 3x2x2 and I cut a quarter size piece into smaller pieces and put them in a little deli cup with a bunch of holes in it. Put it in the enclosures a month ago and no signs of anymore mites. My bigger snake had them worse and he cleared up within 2 days. I didn’t even need to change the substrate. Highly recommend it. Although look into how your snake might take being around the poison. A few species don’t fare too well.

  5. #4
    Bogertophis's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-28-2018
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    20,182
    Thanks
    28,081
    Thanked 19,739 Times in 11,797 Posts

    Re: Crap....Mites

    Quote Originally Posted by Jackinthabox View Post
    I don’t have a boa yet but I’m assuming mite eradication would be similar to my ball pythons. I just used hot shot no pest strips. My enclosure is 3x2x2 and I cut a quarter size piece into smaller pieces and put them in a little deli cup with a bunch of holes in it. Put it in the enclosures a month ago and no signs of anymore mites. My bigger snake had them worse and he cleared up within 2 days. I didn’t even need to change the substrate. Highly recommend it. Although look into how your snake might take being around the poison. A few species don’t fare too well.
    And just to be clear, if you try this method, it's NOT something that you leave in the cage for very long (not a month as your post sort of implies).

    Many years ago, before there was PAM, I used a bit of No-Pest strip in a similar manner, to effectively eradicate mites without harming my new snake that came with them.

    I used the strip for roughly 12 hours, then repeated that exposure some days after (I'm thinking it was 5-7 days after but don't recall now?) for another 8 hours. That's all it took, no more mites thereafter. It's definitely toxic if left in for longer times, but you many not see the bad health effects right away, so please be careful. Kill mites, not snakes.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 09-24-2019 at 10:18 PM.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

  6. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Bogertophis For This Useful Post:

    bcr229 (09-25-2019),dr del (09-25-2019)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1