I have mites on my snakes HELP!!

[bcr229]

QT = quarantine. I treat all snakes in QT as if they have mites until proven otherwise.

Also I wrote this up after my last battle with the little so-and-so's since there are a lot of tools in the "make all of the mites die" toolbox.

Mite Eradication 101:

*** Permethrin ***
Permethrin comes in many forms - Provent-A-Mite (PAM), NIX/RID head lice treatment, Permethrin-10 from a livestock supply store, etc. Once mixed with water its half life is 30 days if kept out of direct sunlight.

PAM has several advantages. It has been tested for use with reptiles, and it comes ready to use. The disadvantages are that it's expensive and most reptile stores don't have it in stock, so you have to wait for it to be shipped to you if you don't have any on hand. Meanwhile the mites are busy feeding and breeding.

NIX/RID is cheaper than PAM and is readily available at WalMart, CVS, and other drug stores. It is also easy to dilute: mix one two ounce (59 ml) bottle of the cream rinse with one gallon of water.

At a dollar per ounce Permethrin-10 is the cheapest of the three options; one eight ounce bottle will make 240 gallons of solution, as only 6 milliliters of it are needed per gallon of water to make an effective mite spray. The upside is that if you have a lot of snakes to treat this will do it very economically. The downside is that it's all too easy to make too strong of a permethrin solution which can seriously injure or kill your snakes.

No matter which product you use, it must be used correctly. I've never applied any permethrin product directly onto my snakes as it's not needed for mite treatment, and permethrin poisoning in a snake can cause irreversible neurological damage or death.

Permethrin use: spray the enclosure, paper substrate, and hides with the diluted solution or PAM. DO NOT SPRAY THE WATER BOWL. Allow everything to dry completely before returning your snake to its home. Also keep a supply of treated and dried newspaper or paper towels and treated hides available so that when a snake makes a mess, you replace the soiled paper and hides with treated ones. Treat the enclosure every two to three weeks.

*** Reptile Spray ***

Reptile Spray kills mites on contact while wet, once it dries it loses its effectiveness pretty quickly. Reptile Spray is a solution of salts rather than an insecticide; it kills mites by dehydrating them. I don't spray the snakes as more ends up on the floor than on the snake. Instead, I spray a white paper towel with it and wipe it on the snake. That way you get even coverage on the snake, you can work it into the area under their chin really well as that's a favorite hiding place for mites, you don't stress out your snake, and you can look for mites on the paper towel to see how quickly they're being eradicated. Apply twice a week. Note - this stuff hurts like the blazes in an open wound.

*** Hot Shot No-Pest Strips ***

Some people take a Hot Shot No-Pest strip, cut it into pieces, put each piece into a small sealed container, poke some holes in the container, and put each container into the snake's enclosure. I've used the No-Pest strip but I just hang it in the snake room and close the door. Either way is effective, especially if you have a major outbreak.

If you do use it, remove the water bowls as the insecticide is strongly attracted to water and you don't want the snake drinking it. After 24 hours remove the strip (or pieces), put them into an airtight container for future use, air out the room, and put the water bowls back. Repeat treatment weekly.

Important! If you also keep tarantulas, feeder roaches/dubias, crickets, etc. do not use the No-Pest Strip as it can kill them too!!!!

*** Mild Dish Soap ***

One or two drops of mild dish detergent in your snake's bath water will break the surface tension and prevent mites from floating in the water so they drown. No more than that is needed, your snake should not look like it is taking a bubble bath.

*** Heat ***

Don't laugh, but a temperature of 135*F for five seconds will kill mites and the eggs. I purchased a heat gun used for stripping paint that can be set to blow hot air from 180*F through 1200*F. Using the heat gun and a temperature gun I heated the surfaces and crevices of my racks and enclosures to kill off any mite eggs that may have been laid outside the tubs. Don't get your enclosure surfaces and joined/glued areas too hot or you can damage them.

Mite treatment should continue for 30 days after you stop finding mites on your snake, as an egg can take that long to hatch.

*** FINAL NOTE ***

Effective quarantine means that you treat every new arrival as if it has mites, and new snakes are kept as far away from your established collection as possible for at least 90 days. I treat the quarantine enclosure, hides, and paper with permethrin a day or so before the new snake arrives, and I wipe it with a paper towel soaked in Reptile Spray as part of my inspection process when it comes out of the shipping box. If it has mites I will know it within a day or two at most. This also goes for snakes from "trusted" sources, my first mite outbreak ever came from someone I trusted.

[For Goodness Snakes]

QT = quarantine. I treat all snakes in QT as if they have mites until proven otherwise.

Also I wrote this up after my last battle with the little so-and-so's since there are a lot of tools in the "make all of the mites die" toolbox.

Mite Eradication 101:

*** Permethrin ***
Permethrin comes in many forms - Provent-A-Mite (PAM), NIX/RID head lice treatment, Permethrin-10 from a livestock supply store, etc. Once mixed with water its half life is 30 days if kept out of direct sunlight.

PAM has several advantages. It has been tested for use with reptiles, and it comes ready to use. The disadvantages are that it's expensive and most reptile stores don't have it in stock, so you have to wait for it to be shipped to you if you don't have any on hand. Meanwhile the mites are busy feeding and breeding.

NIX/RID is cheaper than PAM and is readily available at WalMart, CVS, and other drug stores. It is also easy to dilute: mix one two ounce (59 ml) bottle of the cream rinse with one gallon of water.

At a dollar per ounce Permethrin-10 is the cheapest of the three options; one eight ounce bottle will make 240 gallons of solution, as only 6 milliliters of it are needed per gallon of water to make an effective mite spray. The upside is that if you have a lot of snakes to treat this will do it very economically. The downside is that it's all too easy to make too strong of a permethrin solution which can seriously injure or kill your snakes.

No matter which product you use, it must be used correctly. I've never applied any permethrin product directly onto my snakes as it's not needed for mite treatment, and permethrin poisoning in a snake can cause irreversible neurological damage or death.

Permethrin use: spray the enclosure, paper substrate, and hides with the diluted solution or PAM. DO NOT SPRAY THE WATER BOWL. Allow everything to dry completely before returning your snake to its home. Also keep a supply of treated and dried newspaper or paper towels and treated hides available so that when a snake makes a mess, you replace the soiled paper and hides with treated ones. Treat the enclosure every two to three weeks.

*** Reptile Spray ***

Reptile Spray kills mites on contact while wet, once it dries it loses its effectiveness pretty quickly. Reptile Spray is a solution of salts rather than an insecticide; it kills mites by dehydrating them. I don't spray the snakes as more ends up on the floor than on the snake. Instead, I spray a white paper towel with it and wipe it on the snake. That way you get even coverage on the snake, you can work it into the area under their chin really well as that's a favorite hiding place for mites, you don't stress out your snake, and you can look for mites on the paper towel to see how quickly they're being eradicated. Apply twice a week. Note - this stuff hurts like the blazes in an open wound.

*** Hot Shot No-Pest Strips ***

Some people take a Hot Shot No-Pest strip, cut it into pieces, put each piece into a small sealed container, poke some holes in the container, and put each container into the snake's enclosure. I've used the No-Pest strip but I just hang it in the snake room and close the door. Either way is effective, especially if you have a major outbreak.

If you do use it, remove the water bowls as the insecticide is strongly attracted to water and you don't want the snake drinking it. After 24 hours remove the strip (or pieces), put them into an airtight container for future use, air out the room, and put the water bowls back. Repeat treatment weekly.

Important! If you also keep tarantulas, feeder roaches/dubias, crickets, etc. do not use the No-Pest Strip as it can kill them too!!!!

*** Mild Dish Soap ***

One or two drops of mild dish detergent in your snake's bath water will break the surface tension and prevent mites from floating in the water so they drown. No more than that is needed, your snake should not look like it is taking a bubble bath.

*** Heat ***

Don't laugh, but a temperature of 135*F for five seconds will kill mites and the eggs. I purchased a heat gun used for stripping paint that can be set to blow hot air from 180*F through 1200*F. Using the heat gun and a temperature gun I heated the surfaces and crevices of my racks and enclosures to kill off any mite eggs that may have been laid outside the tubs. Don't get your enclosure surfaces and joined/glued areas too hot or you can damage them.

Mite treatment should continue for 30 days after you stop finding mites on your snake, as an egg can take that long to hatch.

*** FINAL NOTE ***

Effective quarantine means that you treat every new arrival as if it has mites, and new snakes are kept as far away from your established collection as possible for at least 90 days. I treat the quarantine enclosure, hides, and paper with permethrin a day or so before the new snake arrives, and I wipe it with a paper towel soaked in Reptile Spray as part of my inspection process when it comes out of the shipping box. If it has mites I will know it within a day or two at most. This also goes for snakes from "trusted" sources, my first mite outbreak ever came from someone I trusted.

WOW! Great information, thanks for sharing it with us.

Brian Gundy

[PitOnTheProwl]

I'm sorry, I don't know what QT racks are.

Not trying to bash on you but there is no way in hell I would risk my animals by introducing others without being quarantined, especially wild caught!!
The Barkers...... I do know them they are about a 45 minute drive from me.

I have had mites in my collection once after visiting an expo. Sadly I didn't even purchase any animals but I did handle several.
It took a while to get rid of them but Natures Chemistry did the trick and I have never had or seen them again in my snake room and have never had to re-treat either.
I do treat every animal I purchase that goes into a quarantine rack that is a different room of the house. I have also helped people with RI and mite cases here locally.

To each their own I guess but they are not that hard to avoid with proper protocol.

[For Goodness Snakes]

Not trying to bash on you but there is no way in hell I would risk my animals by introducing others without being quarantined, especially wild caught!!
The Barkers...... I do know them they are about a 45 minute drive from me.

I have had mites in my collection once after visiting an expo. Sadly I didn't even purchase any animals but I did handle several.
It took a while to get rid of them but Natures Chemistry did the trick and I have never had or seen them again in my snake room and have never had to re-treat either.
I do treat every animal I purchase that goes into a quarantine rack that is a different room of the house. I have also helped people with RI and mite cases here locally.

To each their own I guess but they are not that hard to avoid with proper protocol.

I think you are taking things out of context. I never said that I don't quarantine, and I never said that I introduce wild snakes into my collection. I've been working with exotics for over 45 years and more specifically snakes for over 55 years. As a certified California State Animal Health Technician for 9 years I worked at the largest # 1 rated exotic animal hospital in California where I eventually was promoted to Director of that hospital. I have over 500 videos, just under 10,000 subscribers and just under 2 million hits on YouTube, many of my videos are focused on educating those in the herp community that are searching for help. I have dedicated my life to helping those with less experience in the herp community. I've produced and sold over 5,000 snakes with out a single complaint. Not only is this my passion, but this is what I do for a living. I don't mean to bash you, but what do you do for a living?



Brian Gundy / For Goodness Snakes

[PitOnTheProwl]

I think you are taking things out of context. I never said that I don't quarantine, and I never said that I introduce wild snakes into my collection. I've been working with exotics for over 45 years and more specifically snakes for over 55 years. As a certified California State Animal Health Technician for 9 years I worked at the largest # 1 rated exotic animal hospital in California where I eventually was promoted to Director of that hospital. I have over 500 videos, just under 10,000 subscribers and just under 2 million hits on YouTube, many of my videos are focused on educating those in the herp community that are searching for help. I have dedicated my life to helping those with less experience in the herp community. I've produced and sold over 5,000 snakes with out a single complaint. Not only is this my passion, but this is what I do for a living. I don't mean to bash you, but what do you do for a living?

I only took what you typed into context. You said you treat for mites monthly and I don't understand why unless the collection is compromised.
Your resume is yours and I am glad you are happy and proud of yourself. You don't need to try ad convince me of that. LMIAO

What do I currently do? I build trophies in a company that ships all over the world. We build most of every trophy you see on every sports show you see on tv.
Why? To lower my stress level from dealing with stupid people.
What is my original background? Auto mechanic or anything that runs on petrol. The only thing I wont do is rebuild transmissions because they don't interest me.
What are my other two personal businesses? Firearms, CCW holsters and breeding Ball Pythons.
I also have way too many hobbies to list on this dating episode but I am good with my hands.

[cchardwick]

Well I have to admit that this is my first year with a snake collection, I watched hundreds if not thousands of YouTube videos, went out and bought an ARS snake rack and loaded up with 17 snakes so far. I didn't quarantine and didn't know about mites or anything else, didn't even really have an established collection to protect, until now... Just jumped in the deep end and I'm learning as I go!

[PitOnTheProwl]

Just jumped in the deep end and I'm learning as I go!

We are here to help.
Be glad its just mites.

[AbsoluteApril]

Provent-a-mite works wonders and is the only product I will use. I know other methods can and do work but that is what works for me and is the least amount of hassle (imo). A side note, sometimes in the summer, it's good to use around doorways and windows, it keeps other nasties out as well (spiders!).

Not trying to bash on you but there is no way in hell I would risk my animals by introducing others without being quarantined, especially wild caught!!

Pretty sure Brian just didn't know what you meant when you said QT (that it meant quarantine)? at least that's what it appeared from my perspective.

[cchardwick]

What else can snakes get that can go through a rack system?

[bcr229]

What else can snakes get that can go through a rack system?

Bacterial respiratory infections, viral infections, and cryptosporidia, especially if you don't wash your hands well between handling each critter.