prevent-a-mite question

[lpnaz480]

i just got a bottle of pam. my reptiles are on paper towels right now as i cleaned the cage out and didn't want to put the aspen from the same bag in. should i spray the aspen in the bag or lay it out in the cages then spray?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I used PAM once a long time ago to get rid of mites, and now as a preventative, and I would say lay it out in the cage. If it's still in the bag, you won't be evenly treating all the aspen. The mites didn't come in your aspen, they can from another reptile somewhere down the line!! Make sure the water bowl and the snake are not in the cage, and then treat the cage. I think they recommend about 1 second of spraying for a square foot of cage, I just kind of spray it in there. Maybe while you're treating/drying the cage let the snake soak. Just make sure that you don't put the snake, or the water back in there until it's aired out very well and all of the residue has completely dried. It really does work though! When I had to kill some off that a carpet python brought with it, this stuff worked a charm

[lpnaz480]

i'm kinda 50/50. my crestie had the mites, but my bp was right next to his cage so i decided to assume they were in there. so do you mix the substrate as you spray or just let it settle and it'll soak thru to the bottom?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I have always sprayed it over, waited a minute and fluffed up the aspen a little. No heavy mixing or anything like that. It's probably not even necessary but i just feel better doing it.