Termites?

[Aaron_M]

I was looking in my cage a few mins ago and on my store bought wooden branch I saw what looked like a few termites. I am sure they are not snake mites because i have had those before and these bugs move much quicker and are very small. I am going to clean the cage in the next day or so but I was just wondering if termites pose any harm to snakes? My whole cage is wooden so what would be the best way to clean it? Thank you!
-Aaron

[Chuck]

sounds like your cage is in far more trouble than your snakes. I am not sure the best thing to use to get rid of them sorry.

Chuck

[rabernet]

Termites look like this: http://www.internet4classrooms.com/s...mites_many.jpg

They are not smaller than snake mites. Provent-A-Mite is what I'd recommend for treating your enclosure. It needs to dry COMPLETELY before putting your snake back in.

[hoo-t]

Sounds like wood ants or wood mites. I would treat the wood with a bleach/water solution, then rinse, then bake in the oven at about 150 - 200 degrees for an hour or so to kill everything in the wood (assuming it will fit). If it won't fit in the oven, soak it in the bleach solution for a longer period of time, and allow plenty of time to air out (like a week). And treating the entire cage with Provent-a-Mite is not a bad idea!

Steve

[Aaron_M]

Sounds like wood ants or wood mites. I would treat the wood with a bleach/water solution, then rinse, then bake in the oven at about 150 - 200 degrees for an hour or so to kill everything in the wood (assuming it will fit). If it won't fit in the oven, soak it in the bleach solution for a longer period of time, and allow plenty of time to air out (like a week). And treating the entire cage with Provent-a-Mite is not a bad idea!

Steve

Well I just checked those out on Google and it does not appear to be either one of them. I held mr snake last night and I did not see any on him, mostly just on his branch. What solution of bleach/water should be used on the whole cage and how long should it dry out? I made the cage myself out of wood and I sealed it as well. The front is plexie glass so that doesn't get messed up from bleach does it?

[Aaron_M]

Well I just checked those out on Google and it does not appear to be either one of them. I held mr snake last night and I did not see any on him, mostly just on his branch. What solution of bleach/water should be used on the whole cage and how long should it dry out? I made the cage myself out of wood and I sealed it as well. The front is plexie glass so that doesn't get messed up from bleach does it?

bump.

[2kdime]

I'd use a 10:1 water to bleach ratio. But a full blown enclosure is gonna take a while to dry out. Like said above. Like a week.

Soak anything you can in the solution for a few hours. Then I soak in water for another hour. And bake at 250 for an hour. Plastics I rinse many more times and let air dry.

Let cool and it should be good to go. Start off with treating your WHOLE enclosure with provent a mite. Since the bleach solution is probably a very hefty task.

Not saying you shouldn't bleach it. But at least starting with the provent a mite is a good start.

[Shadowspider]

I probably have no place in this thread, however, I'll give my 2 cents on what I do know if that's OK.

I have not had to treat my snake's containers for uninvited freeloaders before, but I have had to treat my tarantula and scorpion containers/deco.
I've always had an aversion to using bleach on any pets' containers, deco, etc. unless they were glass. Not only is bleach toxic, it does *not* rinse completely clean from porous materials. Airing out helps to cut down the fumes but the chemicals still remain within the pours of the material, be it plastic or wood. In addition, the longer you let your materials sit in the bleach, the more the material absorbs. As an equally effective disinfecting alternative that is *not* toxic (at least not to invertebrates), I use a mixture of vinegar and very hot water. For minor pest problems, I use a 1:4 vinegar/water solution, for major infestations I use a 1:2 solution.

Also bear in mind that when baking wood, if it is unsealed, the longer you bake it and the higher the temperature, yes, the more "bad" bacteria and such it will kill, but it will also kill the "good" bacteria as well, thus promoting the invitation of mold; and seeing as how BPs need to be kept more humid that my tarantulas, that could be a mess waiting to happen.
Anyway, that's just my 2 eight legged cents.

Good luck and I hope you get the little pests gone.