Nim knocked over his water bowl today. I couldn't fit a heavy enough bowl in the small tub, so I spent the night giving Nim a bath and moving him to the larger bin. Thanks to bcr229 for the Lowe's bin recommendation, it's the one I'm using. I also moved the setup to a room with a hardwood floor because I didn't want mites to have cover in the carpet. Hopefully PAM on the outer edge of the enclosure keeps mites from egging the floor or their offspring from getting back in if they do, but I figure the move can't hurt.
I agree with Malum that the first application of PAM may not have been heavy enough. I followed the 1 second per square foot rule printed on the can, but erred on the light side. This time I used more.
I'm planning to put PVC climbs back into the enclosure. I'll have two sets, and swap them every other day. I will disassemble and soak the set swapped out, so I think the climbing opportunities will improve Nim's experience without compromising the mite extermination. I have also ordered a second pair of hides which I will treat in a similar manner. I'm using notebook paper as clutter, and plan to replace it every other day.
Nim really hated his bath. I got worried he'd hurt himself when he started climbing a thermometer wire, but I was able to take that away. He calmed down when I gave him a glove to hold, but had different parts of his body in and out of the water enough that I'm not convinced many mites were drowned. I took the glove away at the end to see if he'd soak more, but that just prompted him to really freak out and start climbing the walls.
Bath with emotional support glove:
After bath:
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