Mites?

Most times I take my snake out, I notice it has one or two little grey bugs on it, that I always kill. Are these mites? How do I get rid of them? I keep him on newspaper, and have no other pets, nor are there any others in my building. I have no idea how he got them. What can I do to get rid of them?

Cass

I just found mites on my new redtail boa earlier this week and that was a first for me too. You said the bugs are greyish...are they closer to white or black? Small white bugs called springtails aren't harmful to snakes (or any other animals for that matter), but if they're dark (almost black) then they might be mites. I'd be surprised if they were springtails since you said you kept the snake on newspaper.

If they are mites, there are a bunch of ways you can get rid of them. Just do a search on here and you'll find dozens of "this worked for me" remedies. Here's mine:

**** BUT I wouldn't use this on your corn if I were you unless somebody else who is more experienced can back me up. I never read anything about it on this forum before, but a lot of boa people suggested I use it for my boa and it worked great. I don't know if it would affect a corn differently though. ****

Wal*Mart sells Repel 0.5% permethrin spray in the camping section. Take the snake and the water dish out of the viv, fog the viv down real well with everything else in it (decorations, hides, etc). Leave it all sit with no ventilation for an hour or so, then let it air out for 1.5-3 hours (a fan will help speed this step along). With the same substrate still in the viv, put the snake and water dish in. All of the eggs will die, and any mites that are on the snake will eventually come off, come in contact with the stuff that was sprayed, and will die. If you want to take it a step further, soak your snake to get the mites off (that's what they'll do on their own a lot of times if they have mites anyway).

Like I said, I did this with my boa, and by the next morning I couldn't find a live mite anywhere on the snake or in the viv. Just be careful not to treat the snake or the water.

Has anybody else used this method with corns???

Repel permanone for CLOTHING AND GEAR.
0.05% permethrin

A synthetic pyrethroid insecticide that also repels.
Excitatory Neurotoxin that kills by causing (overload) shut down of the central nervous system.
EPA Class II/III toxin

Can be very irritating to skin and especially eyes.
You must not apply it directly to the animal or allow it to contact your skin or eyes.
Water containers MUST be removed. Substrate and furnishings can be sprayed.
The label says to apply in WELL VENTILATED area; and specifies doing it outside.

Supposed to be one of the less toxic pesticide options depending on what reference you read. It is used extensively in agriculture especially on grain.
This is also a common product in many livestock/horse fly repellent wipes and pour ons.

Has a soil half life of 20 to 30 days.

I found this product recommended for mites on another site. So, I did some research. The person who has used this said he had used it, as needed, for 4 years or more and considered it safe and effective. Mites are difficult to get rid of and "non-toxic" methods can be disappointing.

It is generally considered to remain as an effective residue on the surfaces for about two weeks. It is not washed off or out by detergent and water.

I found it at Wal Mart for about $5 a can.
There are other REPEL products. These contain DEET and other insecticides.
If you choose to try this stuff READ THE LABEL AND GET THE CORRECT FORMULA.

FYI Reptile Relief can be applied directly on the animal and even sprayed on the eyes, where mites often hide.
Its active ingredients are Ducosate sodium (Colace), a common surfactant stool softener and Undecylenic acid, a common antifungal for athlete's foot.

This is your brief chemistry lesson for the day.

Last note. Mites are not just on the snake, they are in the environment too. The females drop off to lay their eggs in the environment. They prefer moist, dark cracks and crevices. Only two of the developmental forms will feed on the snake. Mature mites, especially females, will be very dark, blackish. Intermediate forms that feed are smaller and lighter in color being even reddish. Grey and white matter is shed exoskeletons, non-feeding forms and mite waste. Female mites will travel looking for new hosts. They can go 15 feet per day. So, if there is more than one cage in a room, the females can find them readily. It doesn't take them long to get into other rooms either. The fastest way for mites to travel is to hitchhike on your hands, clothing, hair, and communal objects. Nasty little vermin that they are.

Use Provent-A-Mite on the enclosure. Use Reptile Relief on the animal. If the Reptile Relief misses one, the Provent-A-Mite will kill it soon.

I used this double-safeguard system on a mite outbreak once. All mites were gone within 48 hours. Never to return.

Chris

I had no success with Mite Off or Reptile Relief.

However, I did test out and have great success with a product called De Flea by Natural Chemistry. I used it on both the snakes and the enclosures. It can be found in the dog/cat aisle of any pet store.

What I would suggest first before useing any spray treatments is to soak the snake in a tupperware container for 2-4 hours. Tear apart the cage and any decorations and clean with a 15% bleach solution. Be sure to rinse well. Then spray your mite killer of choice through out the cage. Once your finished soaking the infested snake, lightly spray him down from nose to tip of tail. You may have to repeat this process every 3 days until the mites are completely gone.