Mites with large collection?

[j94712]

How do you deal with mites if you have a pretty large collection (30+ snakes). I mean ideally you want to treat everyone with reptile spray and provent a mite to kill all of the mites. But with a large collection, it is just not very practical to treat every snake weekly for a month. I don't have a large collection at all, but just wanted to know how you guys deal with this problem. Do you guys just treat the ones that are infested? How do you prevent the spreading of mites? Anything you guys do particularly to prevent mites in the future?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If mites are in a collection then you have to treat the entire collection as required, I would also recommend to spray around the racks.

The real trick is not to have mites to start with and the Key is strict quarantine procedures, I have been doing this since 2006 and not once have I ever have mites.

They don't just appear on their own they are brought in, and if you are pro-active have good quarantine measures it should never even be an issue.

[j94712]

Is there anything you do to prevent any mites? or just make sure quarantine the new snakes well?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Any new snake is quarantined for 60 to 90 days, each quarantine tubs are treated with PAM, I also spray the QT room door threshold (to create a barrier) same thing for the door threshold of the snake room ( I even spray the stairs)

And obviously I always work with my established collection first and QT animals last.

[Rob]

Is there anything you do to prevent any mites? or just make sure quarantine the new snakes well?

PAM aka prevent a mite

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[Ripsaw642]

NIX (head lice treatment) Works wonders too, possibly better than PAM. I Use it on my new snakes.....
http://www.albertareptilesociety.org/caresheet/Onix.pdf

[Rob]

NIX (head lice treatment) Works wonders too, possibly better than PAM. I Use it on my new snakes.....
http://www.albertareptilesociety.org/caresheet/Onix.pdf

IMO nothing is better for the prevention or killing of mites than PAM. It's saved me on a couple of out breaks fast.

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[j94712]

How do you guys use PAM for prevention treatment? Do you do the actual treatment as instructed on the PAM once in a while for the whole collection? or a more abbreviated treatment (spraying a little in between tubs in racks every month)

[Stewart_Reptiles]

How do you guys use PAM for prevention treatment? Do you do the actual treatment as instructed on the PAM once in a while for the whole collection? or a more abbreviated treatment (spraying a little in between tubs in racks every month)

I use as directed the same way then if I had mites and renew 30 days later.

I used to treat my entire collection once or twice a year but I no longer do this (have not done so in two years)


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[sakura_noir]

This is all very helpful information and most timely. I'm relatively new to keeping ball pythons, but have armed myself with knowledge so I can give my babies the best care possible. I'm thanking my lucky stars that I heeded all the advice to quarantine new snakes before introducing into the collection. I am experiencing my first case of mites on my new girl and have decided to use the Nix treatment this evening...ironic that the prior owner made such a big deal about her mite-free status. I should have known something was up. She is currently occupying a room that could not be any further away from the rest of the collection, so it's my intention to nip this in the bud. Everyone else will be treated first just in case someone might haven inadvertently transported the nasties around the house, then Saffron will get her turn.

I'm thankful for the excellent resources furnished by this forum and look forward to an exciting night of cleanup . But hey, as long as the scale-kids are healthy and happy, it's worth the effort.