Wood mites

[Mommabear.Yoli]

So to make a long story short I had tiny white almost microscopic wood mites in all 3 of my snakes enclosures. Took everything apart. Cleaned with reptile relief and put everything back. Few weeks later they are back again . This time I used PAM and put them on paper towels for the time being and will PAM again in 2 weeks to ensure they are all gone and have stayed gone .. then I plan to add substrate again and use PAM preventatively every 30 days .

.my question is has anybody had any experience with wood mites and using PAM as a preventative measure ?



I was using coco block. Not sure what I'll use this time. Paper towels are horrible at keeping up with the humidity and do nothing for odor control.


Any one been in this position. I'm happy they are not snake mites. But wood mites are still a bug and do not want them in my house or my snakes house. Lol


Thanks in advance for any advice or help

[pretends2bnormal]

Not sure about killing them, though I would assume PAM would work as it is a pesticide type chemical.

They're harmless as far as bugs go, but to prevent them in the future, you'd need to bake all wood or wood-like items entering the cage. Substrate, cork bark, wood decor like logs or branches, etc. An hour at 200-250F should be enough to kill any bugs on them, of any kind.

Anything not safe to bake, ceramic, plastic, etc. Can be given a bleach or vinegar soak, but those likely won't be bringing wood mites in anyway.

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[Bogertophis]

Your substrate has to be where they're coming from & rather than risk my snakes (from the side effects of PAM) I'd bake the substrate to kill them off
before using it. Or just toss it outside in the garden & buy something else to use. If you're determined to use the same substrate, you might have more
luck from a different supplier? I would never ever use PAM (or any other pesticide) just to eradicate harmless wood mites...

[pretends2bnormal]

Your substrate has to be where they're coming from & rather than risk my snakes (from the side effects of PAM) I'd bake the substrate to kill them off
before using it. Or just toss it outside in the garden & buy something else to use. If you're determined to use the same substrate, you might have more
luck from a different supplier? I would never ever use PAM (or any other pesticide) just to eradicate harmless wood mites...

Agreed, there are far too many exposure horror stories of neurological damage to snakes to be worthwhile to use PAM for harmless things like these. I took OPs post to mean they had already used it, so didn't think to emphasize that part.

Baking is far more effective without the risk of chemicals harming the snake.

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[Bogertophis]

BTW, pesticides like PAM aren't good for humans either, so the less you use, the less exposure you ALSO accumulate (that may cause cancer etc later) the better.

[Mommabear.Yoli]

We've gotten substrate from two different suppliers and I've even froZen it for 5 days prior to use to make sure it was pest free. I think maybe because I've had so much rain in my area. (Virginia) that they are coming in from outside and just so Happen to find wood to eat in the enclosure.. my issue with them is they were getting bad. I could see them climbing on the outside of the tank as well as inside along the bottom and also on the wire rack that holds the two 30 gal tanks . My son tanks his snake out almost daily and when I can see wood mites crawling on him I don't even want him to touch him and get them spread around the house. I may have to find a more mild bug spray to just use in the room and do the baseboards and windows so they don't even get in at all.... It's just so much work to take down 3 whole tanks clean and reset up again. The last two times were 4-5 hours ! .

[Mommabear.Yoli]

I'm going to have to try a different substrate and keep an extra close eye on it daily . I've tried cocoblock. Eco Earth and the coconut shavings stuff I forget the name- it's super fine. What have you all used that has not been an issue.

I live in a townhouse so I wouldn't think I'd have a wood mite problem.... Grrrr

[Tmacsballs]

So to make a long story short I had tiny white almost microscopic wood mites in all 3 of my snakes enclosures. Took everything apart. Cleaned with reptile relief and put everything back. Few weeks later they are back again . This time I used PAM and put them on paper towels for the time being and will PAM again in 2 weeks to ensure they are all gone and have stayed gone .. then I plan to add substrate again and use PAM preventatively every 30 days .

.my question is has anybody had any experience with wood mites and using PAM as a preventative measure ?



I was using coco block. Not sure what I'll use this time. Paper towels are horrible at keeping up with the humidity and do nothing for odor control.


Any one been in this position. I'm happy they are not snake mites. But wood mites are still a bug and do not want them in my house or my snakes house. Lol


Thanks in advance for any advice or help

Id honestly if u really want the problem to go away. Id buy 3 sterolite tubs, a hot iron to make holes in the plastic n maybe gp that route. Then u will be able to clean out ur enclosures with something stronger since ur not putting the animals back in there right away and go from there. Use newspaper for now.
Are ur enclosures wood? If so maybe treat the entire enclosure with some type of sealer that wont allow these mites to actually get at the wood on it. N then go back to ur regular substrate. If u have branches id just throw em out
if u brought anything from the outside in there get rid of that for sure. Id only have stuff that can be cleaned and is fake in there. Also you will then have time to freeze ur stuff longer or bake it n then freeze or vice versa n boil anything solid. U can also chuck ur enclosures if they are glass or water proof in the shower for about 20 min each on super hot is a great way to kill actual snake mites too n very safe obv. Frustrating for sure.