how is this for getting rid of mites?

[jseber1982]

Ok my baby has mites.

I researched on tons of webpages and kinda put it all together on what to do.

I removed everything from the tank.
Threw away all substrate.
Baked the hides and water dish to 250* in the oven for 20 minutes.
I filled the tank up with a water and diluted bleach... Let it set for 1 hour. drained it, scrubbed it down with antibacterial spray.

I stored my snake in a rubbermaid with enough water that her entire body was covered and she had to lift her head out. I put a small mixture of iodine in the water to get it a faint color of tea.. let her sit for an hour. i rubber her scales down and checked her bottom scales.

I removed her, put her in water to rinse it off. I tried her and then rubbed her down with a mineral oil based shed EZ stuff.


Woke up this morning and found 3 mites on her crawling around.


Does the first time usually not fix the problem? or does it usually take a few times.. And am i doing the right stuff?

[Bojangles37]

Definitely takes more than once except for Provent-a-mite. I used pet shop mite killer that doesn't kill the eggs and scrubbed the enclosure each time I treated the snake (which was recommended every 3 days). It took 3 or 4 times but they're long gone now.

[jseber1982]

great i am glad to know i am on the right track.. if it were hot outside. I would seal the tank and bake it in the sun.

Ok tomorrow i will repeat the process..... i just wish i knew where i went wrong and how they returned

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The problem with "drowning" is that it is only effective with adult mites and not the eggs, which mean RE-INFESTATION in no time.

I would also recommend you not to use oil on your snake.

There is only one product that will completely eradicate mites, treating all stages of developments and it is PAM (Provent A Mite)

It can be bought here http://www.entirelypets.com/proventamite.html

[dalvers63]

Used exactly as directed, PAM is a sure cure for mites. Whenever I have had to treat a snake, I always pre-treat a plastic tub with PAM and let it dry. Then, when I take the snake out of the tank/tub to treat it, I put the snake in the already treated tub. This way they get the benefit of PAM while I wait for their tank to dry and no mites escape.

I do this with all new snakes as a precaution. Since doing this, I have not had a mite problem at all.

[cardell75]

Used exactly as directed, PAM is a sure cure for mites. Whenever I have had to treat a snake, I always pre-treat a plastic tub with PAM and let it dry. Then, when I take the snake out of the tank/tub to treat it, I put the snake in the already treated tub. This way they get the benefit of PAM while I wait for their tank to dry and no mites escape.

I do this with all new snakes as a precaution. Since doing this, I have not had a mite problem at all.

I've gotta agree 100% here there is no better product on the market than Prevent-A-Mite for the extermination of mites.

Best of luck to you

[cody2004]

It took me two weeks, till i was totally sure they were all gone. two weeks of PAM and changing the newspaper and cleaning the hide and waterdish every day. got old, but worth it in the end.