Mites.

[DaNeal31]

How long can a mite live WITHOUT a host?

How long after I have seen one can I assume I am rid of them?

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[piedlover79]

They are amazingly hardy. And the eggs can last a while too. I didn't consider myself to be mite free until I went three months without seeing any and I had retreated everyone after a month just to make sure.

[bcr229]

An egg can take up to 30 days to hatch out.

A female mite apparently can go almost a year without a meal BUT that doesn't mean she will just hang about in your snake room and not attempt to feed for a months since she can smell your critters. Racks and stacks are like an all-you-can-eat buffet for mites and they will take full advantage.

Female mites leave the host to lay eggs and then go back once they are done, which is why treating the enclosure and paper substrate with a permethrin-based product is important; they will be killed when they travel on the treated surface.