Why Provent-a-Mite???

[Texas Dan]

PAM is awesome. I used it onces for my mite problem, and man.. haven't seen one since. And it was a big problem.

[JLC]

I changed the original thread title to avoid the chance of a beginner snake-keeper just skimming the first post or two and believing that cooking spray was an affective mite treatment.

To answer the original question OF the thread title...

P-A-M works because it kills mites in ALL stages of life, including eggs. Most pet-store remedies will kill the ones you can see on the snake, but won't touch the eggs that have been laid and are too teeeeny to even know they're there. A few days or weeks after treatment, you have a whole new crop of mites to deal with again. P-A-M frequently only requires a single treatment (except in extreme cases) so long as it is used correctly.

[Texas Dan]

Anyone know what causs them to get mites in the 1st place?

I'm almost 100% sure, the mites Vincent had where from the pet store. The vet said it takes mites a few weeks to hatch, so they were probably just eggs when I bought him. My next snake I got from a breeder and never had a problem.

I just wish I could stop quaranteening them. But their health is more important than my joy.

To the post above mine (JLC): I thought PAM just stuck around long enough so when the eggs hatched the mites would die as soon as they were born. Maybe this isn't true, but it's still AWESOME.

[cassandra]

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure how PAM works either (live animals vs. eggs), but I can tell you that during the QT period when we got our boa, we found she had mites.

Followed the directions on the can and it got'em all.

I know that many people here will even preventively use PAM on new snakes to their collection, PAMing the paper substrate that goes into the tub kind of thing.

It's expensive, the can does not have pretty graphics, but the stuff just works. =)

[catawhat75]

Not too expensive considering how little you need and how much is in the can. More than worth it imo.

[Repti-Rob]

The stuff at the stores is usually Reptile relief or Zoo-Med's Mite off. Both of which will kill mites on the snake and do work in the cage ....for about a week! Then you will have them worse than before
Do yourself a favor and go ahead and order the provent-a-mite, Two years after I started using it and haven't had a problem since I have two cans on hand for any new arrivals in the Quarantine room

[ZIGZAGsKEEPER]

THANX ALL!

i will see whats up with this "provent-a-mite"

and i hope for the best

thanx

[Cop]

The pet store I go to has cans for $14.95. I haven't needed to use it yet, but glad to know I can get it locally.

[sg1trogdor]

The pet store I go to has cans for $14.95. I haven't needed to use it yet, but glad to know I can get it locally.

I would buy a can of that just in case. Always a good thing to have.