PAM on wood decor?

[shootingstar]

Sorry if this has been addressed and I missed it. I've had horrible experiences with bird mites on my rodents in the past, so finding snake mites is causing a bit of a freak out. I've got the supplies, and understand the general eradication process. One thing that I couldn't find, though, was whether you could just use the Provent-a-Mite on any wooden decor. Instructions always say to bleach/boil/bake/etc., which makes me think you can't. But if so, why not? It seems like it would be a much easier, more thorough solution.

[bcr229]

Most people elect to either throw away or burn wood decor, as mites lay eggs in the tinies of cracks in the woods and permethrin (the active ingredient in PAM/NIX/RID/etc) will not kill eggs.

Heat kills eggs, you can bake the wood at 175*F for 20 minutes to kill the mite eggs and any neonate mites hiding in the wood. Do not return the wood to the enclosure unless you want it reinfested.

You can treat wood with permethrin but most people don't bother - PAM is expensive and you'd have to soak the wood pretty well - or dunk it in solution - to ensure that no crack was left untreated. If you've got mites your snakes need to be in a minimalistic setup - paper substrate, 2 hides, 1 water bowl - until the infestation is gone.

[Kris Mclaughlin]

Most people elect to either throw away or burn wood decor, as mites lay eggs in the tinies of cracks in the woods and permethrin (the active ingredient in PAM/NIX/RID/etc) will not kill eggs.

Heat kills eggs, you can bake the wood at 175*F for 20 minutes to kill the mite eggs and any neonate mites hiding in the wood. Do not return the wood to the enclosure unless you want it reinfested.

You can treat wood with permethrin but most people don't bother - PAM is expensive and you'd have to soak the wood pretty well - or dunk it in solution - to ensure that no crack was left untreated. If you've got mites your snakes need to be in a minimalistic setup - paper substrate, 2 hides, 1 water bowl - until the infestation is gone.

X2.

Prevent a mite is your friend. Fully submerge wood in 10:1 bleach water a few hours and allow to air dry before baking

[shootingstar]

You can treat wood with permethrin but most people don't bother - PAM is expensive and you'd have to soak the wood pretty well - or dunk it in solution - to ensure that no crack was left untreated.

Ah, that makes sense. I didn't want to have to toss the decor, so soak & bake it is!

[GoingPostal]

I have a lot of pieces too big to bake so I threw all my wood in a bag, sprayed the crap out of it with PAM and tossed it in my freezer for a few months while dealing with mites. Seemed to do the trick.