MITES!! Freaking out! What do I do??

[MarkS]

Do you spray the PAM on the plastic tub? I've been searching while waiting for responses and I've seen not to do that? To just spray the bedding?

You spray the PAM on the tubs not on the bedding. Allow it to dry thoroughly before putting anything back in the cage. Keep the furniture minimalist for now, Take the furniture that you WERE using and either throw it out or boil it. I'd also suggest using paper for a substrate for the time being.

EDIT - The spray won't get here from Amazon until the 10th of April. That's the fastest shipping I can choose. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime?

April 10th is too long to wait, you'll have a full blown infestation by then.
You might find reptile spray/reptile relief at the pet store, I believe that Natural Chemistry (the company who makes reptile spray) uses the same formula that they use in De Flea which they sell for dogs. I personally use Repel clothing and gear spray instead of PAM, it contains the same chemicals in the same strengths as PAM. You can find it at Walmart in the camping section though they may not stock it at this time of year.

There are other procedures that others may recommend that could help to lessen the mite load such as soaking your snake but they will likely NOT get rid of the infestation unless it's very light. I've even heard of a person solving his mite problem by brushing/plucking them off of his snake and squashing the mites with his thumb. It might be effective in killing individual mites but there is no way I would trust this method to rid me of a mite infestation.

The best and most surefire way of getting rid of a mite infestation is to use poisons. Since they ARE poisons, follow directions exactly and be careful in their usage. Use the minimum amount needed to do an effective job.

For OUR purposes there are three stages of mites, the egg stage, the feeding stage and the breeding stage. Mite eggs are pretty much impervious to anything but high heat. Mite eggs can be killed by boiling water or fire as long as the heat can reach the eggs. Female mites will lay their eggs in tight and tiny cracks as far back into the crack as they can reach.

The eggs hatching time is pretty much temperature dependent, shorter or longer times depending on how warm it is, though I believe 6 weeks is pretty typical. hatchling snake mites are clear white in color and have a very good sense of smell, they can walk long distances to find your snakes, this is their feeding stage. Snake mites don't infest lizards or other reptiles, only snakes. There are other species of mite that can infest your other reptiles. Here is where PAM and other permethrin sprays come in handy. Once sprayed on a surface and allowed to dry, they can be effective in killing bugs for a very long time, even months. They stick to surfaces so well that they can even remain effective after washing the cage. I've personally taken a plastic critter cage to the pet store to buy crickets and found all of the crickets dead by the time I got them home. I then remembered that I had treated that critter cage with PAM nearly a year before, it was still strong enough to kill off all of the crickets on the ride home.

Once a hatchling snake mite finds your snake it'll attach itself and start to suck blood. This is when they turn the reddish brown to black color we typically associate with snake mites. This is where you want to use the reptile spray or Nix solution. PAM is far too toxic to use ON your snake so spraying/wiping down your snake with reptile spray or a weak nix solution will kill the mites that are actively feeding on your animal. The problem with this stuff is that it does not stay effective on your snake for a very long time which is why you need to retreat more often then you do with the permethrin spray.

Once the snake mites have had their fill of snake blood and have grown into their adult stage, they will mate and the females will drop off your snake in search of a nice warm crevice to lay their eggs in, they will often leave the cage completely and travel long distances to find a suitable spot for egg laying, I once read that snake mites can travel over 10 yards in a day.

This is why effective mite treatment is two fold. Short lasting Reptile spray to kill the mites that are ON your snake, and long lasting permethrin sprays that will kill the newly hatched mites as they walk over it in search of your snake or the gravid females that leave your snake in order to find an egg laying site. It's the permethrin sprays that that will prevent you from being re-infested over and over again.

It's possible to get rid of mites using ONLY permethrin sprays, even after dry the permethrin will produce a vapor that kills mites in the environment but is 'typically' not dangerous to your snake. However be very careful with it. I've personally killed a bunch of hatchling day geckos merely by using PAM near them. I've also had hatchling bullsnakes start to exhibit some neurological issues when treating their cages even after they were completely dry. I personally won't use the stuff around hatchling colubrids anymore but I've had no problems using it around hatchling ball pythons.