hello, friends! [MITES, PAM, DEATH, and the gang]

[Gocntry]

tttaylorrr, As a new guy here, Thank You for posting your experience, and I'm sorry for the loss of your snakes.

That is a terrible thing to go through, but by posting your experience, I as well as others can be aware of the dangers of PAM.


I believe one of the salt based products you mentioned is this.....

https://www.chewy.com/natural-chemis...pray/dp/132115


I am going thru the "mite thing" right now, with 2 baby snakes I read about PAM and it was a great mite eliminator but the use of it could be really hard on the snakes.

I chose to use the Frontline, that Bogertophis and you mentioned, and was thinking about adding PAM if needed but will now avoid it.

[tttaylorrr]

tttaylorrr, As a new guy here, Thank You for posting your experience, and I'm sorry for the loss of your snakes.

That is a terrible thing to go through, but by posting your experience, I as well as others can be aware of the dangers of PAM.


I believe one of the salt based products you mentioned is this.....

https://www.chewy.com/natural-chemis...pray/dp/132115


I am going thru the "mite thing" right now, with 2 baby snakes I read about PAM and it was a great mite eliminator but the use of it could be really hard on the snakes.

I chose to use the Frontline, that Bogertophis and you mentioned, and was thinking about adding PAM if needed but will now avoid it.

hello new friend!

yes, Natural Chemistry is the one. i hope i never have to use it, but if i ever have mites again that is what i will be using exclusively.

again: PAM works. it is the best at what it does. i still have my can of it. but knowing that there are less risky products out there, it's just not worth the risk to me anymore. honestly i keep it around as a "just in case".

im going to strongly urge you or anyone not to use two separate products. i have no evidence to support this, but it is one of my tinfoil-hat type theories as to why my snakes passed away: possibly mixing two strong products.

good luck with your snakes! you'll have much better luck than me, i know it.

[tttaylorrr]

tttaylorrr,

So glad to see you on here.

I can only imagine what you went through.

I think other users are correct, we are not here to judge. It is very brave of you to share the sad part of your post so that others can learn from it. We all make mistakes and anyone who questions your intentions is insane.

It's good to hear the crew is doing well.

Keep posting.......we miss you.

ugh i miss all my faves! it's so good to "see" everyone again. i just had to focus on me (and us) and not try to project some "okay-ness" on the forum. i just can't.

but im here! i love you all! i think about you all so often! this is my favorite social place on the internet!!! i will do my best to keep up with posting and being an active member of the community like i once was.

thank you, dakski. i hope yours and katie are well.

[tttaylorrr]

honestly part of my healing was finally realizing no one else was going to die.

i was literally traumatized. i truly believed i messed up so bad that my whole collection was going to die as well. like i said in the OP: for months after their deaths, i would walk in the door and try to smell for dead snakes. it ****** me up.

but no one else has been affected. everyone is doing just fine. Spaghetti is likely gonna shed tonight (if she hadn't already).

im okay. we're okay. so let's move on.

[Bogertophis]

...
im going to strongly urge you or anyone not to use two separate products. i have no evidence to support this, but it is one of my tinfoil-hat type theories as to why my snakes passed away: possibly mixing two strong products...

I very much agree with you, mostly from years of reading the posts of others whose vets "over-treated" (in MY opinion) their pets, trying to make them healthy. I'm not in any way saying not to treat, but whenever possible, do so sparingly, whether internal or external snake ailments. Don't kill the creature while eradicating the problem. With mites, barely-soapy water will drown most mites & is a harmless method, though incomplete on it's own.

[tttaylorrr]

With mites, barely-soapy water will drown most mites & is a harmless method, though incomplete on it's own.

100000000000000%

there's the wonderful study floating around the forum which details p much everything you need to know about mite murder: mites WILL NOT survive a submerged bath for a long amount of time. snake mites are VERY susceptible to drowning.

[Waterman]

Sorry to hear about your loss. How did you apply the PAM? I’ve used it recently on my Suriname with no issues. I sprayed the paper towel in my basement, out in the open, far away from the enclosure and waited at least 12 hours to put it in the cage. It was also the only thing I sprayed. Didn’t spray it directly into the enclosure. Didn’t spray the hides. Just the paper towel substrate. Put the water in about 5 min after the snake, once she went into her hide. Paper towel got wet and everything at times. Fed on it. No issues. Not trying to say anything so please don’t misunderstand me...just trying to further my education on this stuff in case I ever have to use it again.

[RedRabbit]

A warm welcome back, tttaylorrr. I remember that I was dealing with mites on my second BP around the same time that your battle with the mites started, and it actually gave me comfort and reassurance to see your can-do approach to such a stressful thing, since I have a lot of respect for the kindness and readiness to help that you've always exhibited in your posts. Since I took a similar approach (PAM for the enclosures, a spray for the snake itself - although I used the Natural Chemistry salt solution spray instead of Frontline) and things turned out okay, it was heartbreaking to read about what had happened with your two little ones.

I genuinely believe that you were not at fault for following several mainstay mite treatment guidelines to a T, but am glad that you gave yourself the ample time needed to heal from your grief and the feelings of guilt - often disproportionate, and yet unavoidable - that came attached with it. It's wonderful to hear that all your current snakes are doing well, and that speaks for itself as a testament to your dedication to them. It's great to have you back.

[SilentHill]

it was my husband that recently ppsted about the PAM poisoning. i felt horrible and responsible for quite some time as i was the one that put our baby IJs in those tubs that had recently been sprayed with PAM. thankfully the girl that was poisoned pulled thru and is absolutely fine now.
it can happen to anyone and i'm sorry you had a horrible outcome. i am glad you are back though!

[Godzilla78]

Condolences to you. I agree with one of your theories...I will venture to say that it was somehow a combination of the toxins that did it, not just the PAM, by combined with frontline. Also, how much PAM are we talking?!

Advice to readers: A little goes a long way, so I’d always be conservative with any kind of chemical for your reptiles. Better too little than too much!


Kaos Balls