Mite Journey Post/Questions

[Bogertophis]

@ M A- I'm glad you jumped in on this (I didn't know they travel upwards, etc) & I agree that we all have to make our own decisions, what we're comfortable using, which is why I linked bcr229's write-up early on, which covers the options pretty well. And for any new snake-keepers it may confuse, "PAM" as referenced for fighting snake mites is NOT the cooking spray- the letters P-A-M stands for "Provent-A-Mite", as praised in the previous post. I've no doubt it's effective, as it's one of the stronger options. No matter what you use, following directions closely is so important.

[bcr229]

Treating mites: I wrote this up after my second battle with the little so-and-so's. 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=BwCA...&feature=share


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.


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. Do not use natural substrates such as cypress mulch, coco, Reptichip, spaghnum moss, etc. while treating for mites, as these provide too many hiding places for the mites to avoid the permethrin. Use paper.


*** 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 NOTES ***


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. At the very least new critters should never be in the same room with your established collection.


I treat the quarantine enclosure, hides, and paper substrate with permethrin a day or so before the new snake arrives, and I wipe the snake with a paper towel soaked in Reptile Spray as part of my inspection process when it comes out of the shipping box. If the snake 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.


Finally, a mite egg can take up to 30 days to hatch. So, suppose you treat for a week or so and you think the mites are gone... but there are some eggs left. You stop treating. The eggs hatch a few weeks later, the mites grow up, and the females lay eggs. After six to eight weeks those eggs are hatching and you notice a full-blown infestation. So, if you think you "keep getting mites", you're not: you failed to eradicate the original infestation. Mite treatments should continue for 30 days after you stop finding them.

[GuardianHunter]

@ M A- I'm glad you jumped in on this (I didn't know they travel upwards, etc) & I agree that we all have to make our own decisions, what we're comfortable using, which is why I linked bcr229's write-up early on, which covers the options pretty well. And for any new snake-keepers it may confuse, "PAM" as referenced for fighting snake mites is NOT the cooking spray- the letters P-A-M stands for "Provent-A-Mite", as praised in the previous post. I've no doubt it's effective, as it's one of the stronger options. No matter what you use, following directions closely is so important.

im glad you mentioned this for the benefit of folks like me. Although I dug in a little deeper instead of taking it at face value, I did at first think it was cooking spray. As I mentioned, our hennies had mites and one method of suffocating them was in fact cooking spray directly to the scales on the feet. So, PAM and not Pam the cooking oil was a great distinction to make, since it’s an effective and encouraged treatment for mites on other animals. At first I was like “oh ok. Same method.”

Further digging revealed: no.

[Bogertophis]

im glad you mentioned this for the benefit of folks like me. Although I dug in a little deeper instead of taking it at face value, I did at first think it was cooking spray. As I mentioned, our hennies had mites and one method of suffocating them was in fact cooking spray directly to the scales on the feet. So, PAM and not Pam the cooking oil was a great distinction to make, since it’s an effective and encouraged treatment for mites on other animals. At first I was like “oh ok. Same method.”

Further digging revealed: no.

I've heard of people smearing their snakes with whatever cooking oil (olive, etc) they had on hand & they swore this was an accepted treatment they saw somewhere. I suspect they got started when they misread about "PAM"/Provent-A-Mite, and thinking "Oh yeah, Pam the cooking spray" as they run to the kitchen... (Face>Palm) Poor snakes!

[GuardianHunter]

He handled it really well all things considered. He’s been with us only about two weeks, so he has every right to feel crabby about all the changes. But he seems to be a good natured fellow. He was very tolerant of handling and having his mite soak— didn’t even get defensive on us.


Noodle man in his bare bones tank.

[Bogertophis]

He handled it really well all things considered. He’s been with us only about two weeks, so he has every right to feel crabby about all the changes. But he seems to be a good natured fellow. He was very tolerant of handling and having his mite soak— didn’t even get defensive on us.


Noodle man in his bare bones tank.

I'm glad. Most BPs are pretty tolerant (mellow) anyway. What MOST snakes hate about a "soak" is the loss of traction- you want to keep the water shallow (not higher than their height is); you don't want to force a snake to keep swimming- most will go thru the motions instinctively even in shallow water, but if they can feel some traction- like a rubber mat or even a small towel under them in the water, that helps reduce their stress & panic too. And keeping the water with just a hint of warmth helps too- not cold or too hot.* Use a thermometer to check- don't rely on how it "feels" because our bodies are 98.6*, so to feel "warm" to us means it's too warm for the snake. Water temperature can be very deceptive. And I'm sure you handled him gently thru this- that all helps too. BTW, with a drop or 2 of soap added, also make sure the snake doesn't drink the bathwater- that would upset their digestion. Another reason to stay "right there" with the snake.

[GuardianHunter]

I'm glad. Most BPs are pretty tolerant (mellow) anyway. What MOST snakes hate about a "soak" is the loss of traction- you want to keep the water shallow (not higher than their height is); you don't want to force a snake to keep swimming- most will go thru the motions instinctively even in shallow water, but if they can feel some traction- like a rubber mat or even a small towel under them in the water, that helps reduce their stress & panic too. And keeping the water with just a hint of warmth helps too- not cold or too hot.* Use a thermometer to check- don't rely on how it "feels" because our bodies are 98.6*, so to feel "warm" to us means it's too warm for the snake. Water temperature can be very deceptive. And I'm sure you handled him gently thru this- that all helps too. BTW, with a drop or 2 of soap added, also make sure the snake doesn't drink the bathwater- that would upset their digestion. Another reason to stay "right there" with the snake.

So, for anyone reading this thread for information, what we ended up doing was hooking a thermostat to a heat pad and programmed it at 80 under his little scrub a dub tub. We didn’t add the soap immediately so he could drink if he wanted to first. And I’m glad we did it like that cause he ended up guzzling some water. His water stayed at a steady 80 when we checked with the heat gun.

[Bogertophis]

So, for anyone reading this thread for information, what we ended up doing was hooking a thermostat to a heat pad and programmed it at 80 under his little scrub a dub tub. We didn’t add the soap immediately so he could drink if he wanted to first. And I’m glad we did it like that cause he ended up guzzling some water. His water stayed at a steady 80 when we checked with the heat gun.

You're a very conscientious owner- your snake won the lottery.

[GuardianHunter]

Aw, that’s kind of you. We just love our animals. It’s so important to teach my kids (I have 3) regard for living things. We are one of those catch the bug in the house and let it go outdoors folks. 😂

I’ll keep documenting progress and setbacks as they occur. Hopefully it’ll be useful for someone else along the way.

[GuardianHunter]

Geez man. I have cleaned the tank with alcohol and reptile spray 3 times. Noodles has done 3 soaks and I wiped reptile spray on him today. Amazingly with all this, he took a meal. So he’s going to rest a couple days. Not two hours after having some reptile spray on him that sucker had a mite crawling on him.

Am I doing something wrong?