Spraying Mice with NIX before feeding

[vintod]

Hello. I just eradicated a mite problem from my BP enclosure and I am now close to feeding time. I am concerned that the mice I bring home from the pet store may have mites and restart the entire problem again, so I was wondering:

Is it okay to spray mice with NIX solution or Mite-Off (I'm talking a good healthy amount - they will need to dry off) a day or two before feeding to the BP?

I appreciate all the help you guys have given me over the past week. You guys rock. Any input you have here is welcome.

[JLC]

I'm not doctor or anything, but I'm gonna offer up a rather emphatic NO. You don't want your snake ingesting poison!

I've never had snake mites come home on feeder rodents from the pet store...and never heard of anyone else who had. If you treat your snake's enclosure with P-A-M (as directed on the can), any mite that DOES accidentally find its way in there will die off anyhow.

Please, please don't spray your snake's food with poison!

[5snakes]

I brought home mites from the pet store. I have this organic stuff that gets rid of mites. It can`t be sprayed on the prey, but I would check out Dr. foster`s.com. If anyone has something to treat prey before feeding, they would. I would also look on the internet for home remedies for mites. it is amazing what you can find on line. I am NOT by all means saying to use organic mite spray on prey, but there might be SOMETHING you can do about it to make sure.

[JLC]

P-A-M .... Provent-a-Mite

http://www.pro-products.com/index.ph...d=53&Itemid=59

I know there are other methods that work...but this is the only one I know of that ANYone can just pick up a can and follow the directions with confidence that it will work and not harm your animals.

[vintod]

What if I spray the NIX solution in a small holding tank and let that air-dry. Then I will keep the mice in there for a day or two before feeding - that way if any mites are on them, they should hopefully get killed by the NIX solution? Not sure if it works when dry like that

[JLC]

What if I spray the NIX solution in a small holding tank and let that air-dry. Then I will keep the mice in there for a day or two before feeding - that way if any mites are on them, they should hopefully get killed by the NIX solution? Not sure if it works when dry like that

I don't know if Nix works like that, but PAM does. Please check out that link. You'll never have to worry about mites again.

I still wouldn't treat the rodent enclosure with it, though. I wouldn't want the residue of it getting on their feet and bellies and then being ingested by the snake. Not to mention what the mice will ingest when they groom themselves. Maybe just a tiny amount per feeding...but they might add up over time. Maybe I'm paranoid, but it's just not worth the risk of poisoning either the rodents or the snake.

[kitedemon]

I am curious, having no experience, but snake mites on rodents? It doesn't sound like an insect adapted to feed on snakes would carry on a rodent. Could there be another source that you picked them up from like a cardboard or substrate stored near infested snakes? Just tossing ideas out there. I have never had them.

[vintod]

Okay thanks. I didn't get PAM for the mites because I needed a quick fix before heading out of town for the weekend. NIX was right in my drug store, and PAM is not available here in NY in stores apparently. Thankfully there are no more bugs in the tank.

i'll check out how the mice look in the pet store when i go this week - i may just be worrying too much.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Snake mites will NOT be found on rodents. Mites that infest rodents will be a completely different species from those that infest reptiles, and they will not transfer between them.

If there are snake mites in the pet store, you are more likely to bring them home on dry goods, where they may wander into your cages. (I wound up with a minor, mysterious mite outbreak last year, and have to assume that's how it happened--I breed my own rodents). I keep a can of PAM on hand for such potentials.

So, do not treat, spray, or worry about the feeder rodents bringing in mites to your snakes. They won't. A snake mite that wandered onto a rodent would wander right back off of it again, at the same pace.

[Vypyrz]

I just treat my enclosures once a month as a preventative measure, so if I happen to bring home any mites or bugs, they are killed regardless...