Snake mites and Ivermectin?

So I got 2 snakes from a reptile show on 11/7/10 and looked them over for mites and didn't see any. I did put them both in a seperate room from my other snake and they have been there since.

I have handled them several times taking care to look them over closely. Also looking in each of their water bowls for signs of mites. Well mid week I found a bug on the milksnake, right under the fold of the chin and was able to picl it off and kill it. But haven't found anything on the cornsnake. Their viv's are right next to eachother. I'm not sure what it was but it did look like a mite.

My question is... is it possible to only have 1 mite? I'm really confused as to how there is only one mite and it's been almost 6 weeks since I got them? I don't see any other signs of mites and they are both young snakes.

I work at a vet hospital that does deal with reptiles but not often with snake mites due to there being so may home remedies out there. My vets want to inject my snakes with ivermectin and then dilute it into a spray so I can treat the viv's. I am concerned about the injections...not the spray. I have read that mostly young snakes have suffered organ damage or even death with ivermectin injections.

Does anyone have experience with one mite seen and none seen after that?

Does anyone have experience with treating young snakes with Ivermectin injections?

Any other support would be appreciated. I also already printed out the Nix treatment protocol off of here that was posted 3 years ago but am on the fence about whether I should do this or Ivermectin. Thanks in advance.

First, I have to say, for the record, that I know nothing about snake health issues other than what I've learned on this site.
With that said, I wouldn't treat a young snake with anything unless I was sure there was a problem. I'm pretty sure that mites would be obvious long before they were a big problem, so I would continue to do what you're doing and see if anymore show up. It's possible that a flea or some other bug got in there and there are no mites. I sure wouldn't want to give an injection unless I was sure.
But then again, I don't believe in flu shots either.

Is it at all possible the milk was wild caught? If so it may have been a tick. Just a thought.

rexracer said:

First, I have to say, for the record, that I know nothing about snake health issues other than what I've learned on this site.
With that said, I wouldn't treat a young snake with anything unless I was sure there was a problem. I'm pretty sure that mites would be obvious long before they were a big problem, so I would continue to do what you're doing and see if anymore show up. It's possible that a flea or some other bug got in there and there are no mites. I sure wouldn't want to give an injection unless I was sure.
But then again, I don't believe in flu shots either.

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Yea, I have decided not to give injections. The young cornsnake is in blue right now so I'm going to wait until it sheds and go from there. I really want to wait and see if i see anything else before I go crazy treating for something I don't know for sure is there.

carnivorouszoo said:

Is it at all possible the milk was wild caught? If so it may have been a tick. Just a thought.

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I guess it is possible? I don't know? The people I bought them from are from california and it is an albino nelsons milk snake so I am not sure if they occur in the wild? Anything is possible though, this thing is CRAZY!

carnivorouszoo said:

Is it at all possible the milk was wild caught? If so it may have been a tick. Just a thought.

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I was wondering that, too.

It seemed much too small to be a tick though. I've seen ticks on dogs and the ticks I've seen pictures of online don't look like this one did. I have been going crazy trying to find another one so I can put it on a piece of tape and look at it under the microscope at work but for the life of me I cannot find another one!!! It has been since monday 11/13 that I found that one and have checked both snakes and water bowls and viv's daily and cannot find another one. I feel as if I my go crazy over this. lol

Was it too small to be the nymph phase of a tick?

A tick is noticeable larger, you can easily see all of the legs even on the Larva



Mites on the other hand are tiny, here is a picture of one on a snake



and another mite with a finger next to it



There is a big difference between ticks and mites, as for treating... I'm not the man for the job

I know my ticks, when i go out hunting and come back for the day, i have found as many as 23 ticks on me from one day, sometimes you don't find them for a couple days too, that's the part i don't like lol... Oh well, something you have to get use to in northern MN lol

Yea, way too small to be a tick. Those are the pictures I have seen too, thanks for posting them Eric! It did look like the one with the snake. But it is making me crazy why I cannot find another!!! This hasn't happened to anyone? Only finding 1 possible mite, not treating, and never finding another one? I still am planning to treat with ivermectin spray but I am waiting for the cornsnake to shed. Like I said earlier too, I really don't want to treat for something that is unnecessary.

Ivermectin will kill any mites on the snake. This will not solve your problem though - mites lay eggs in the snake's cage. These will hatch and go onto the snake. I don't like the idea of injecting a baby snake with poison and it's bound to be costly if a vet does it.

If you are sure you have mites, you need to treat the caging with something like "Provent A Mite." You also need to treat the snake. This can be done by buying Nix lice treatment at a drug store, putting some on a damp paper towel, and then coating the snake with it. After a minute of so, the Nix needs to be completely rinsed off the snake.

One mite does not seem likely. There are many types of small insects that may end up on a snake or drowned in its water dish. I wouldn't do anything until you see evidence of more mites.

tspuckler said:

Ivermectin will kill any mites on the snake. This will not solve your problem though - mites lay eggs in the snake's cage. These will hatch and go onto the snake. I don't like the idea of injecting a baby snake with poison and it's bound to be costly if a vet does it.

If you are sure you have mites, you need to treat the caging with something like "Provent A Mite." You also need to treat the snake. This can be done by buying Nix lice treatment at a drug store, putting some on a damp paper towel, and then coating the snake with it. After a minute of so, the Nix needs to be completely rinsed off the snake.

One mite does not seem likely. There are many types of small insects that may end up on a snake or drowned in its water dish. I wouldn't do anything until you see evidence of more mites.

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Yea, I didn't like the idea of injecting a young snake either. So decided against that.

I do have ivermectin to dilute into a spray that I was going to use instead of something like "Provent a Mite". I also can use this in it's diluted form to treat the snake as well.

The fact I only saw one really got me too and I thank you for giving me some really great info. I have been doing some research and found lots of different bugs that it could have been also. I'm still watching the viv's, water bowls, and snakes very closely for evidence of mites and haven't seen anything yet.

Thanks again!

Well, I found 2 more bugs yesterday that I was sure are snake mites. So I started to treat and found 2 more. So that puts my total count up to 5 mites seen on the milk snake.

I washed everything (vivs and the decorations that could be washed) in hot soapy water and "cooked" all of the branches in the microwave until they were smoking. LOL It smelled like we had the fireplace going lol. Next I mixed up 0.5cc of Ivermectin in 1 quart of distilled water and sprayed everything and let it dry.

Next I soaked the snakes in warm water with a drop of dishsoap. Then I soaked paper towels in the Ivermectin spray and put the snakes in a container with air holes and let them sit.

I put paper towels down instead of substrate and replaced everything. I just wanted to write this down just in case it worked (which I hope it did cuz it took me 6 hours). So if someone else wanted to use it later on they would know if it did or didn't work. I will keep this updated.

I'm sorry, i didn't realize that i had posted one of the pictures twice, it was suppose to me another mite one but i think you understood. Sorry again, i need to pay more attention lol

Tinkerbeller87 said:

Well, I found 2 more bugs yesterday that I was sure are snake mites. So I started to treat and found 2 more. So that puts my total count up to 5 mites seen on the milk snake.

I washed everything (vivs and the decorations that could be washed) in hot soapy water and "cooked" all of the branches in the microwave until they were smoking. LOL It smelled like we had the fireplace going lol. Next I mixed up 0.5cc of Ivermectin in 1 quart of distilled water and sprayed everything and let it dry.

Next I soaked the snakes in warm water with a drop of dishsoap. Then I soaked paper towels in the Ivermectin spray and put the snakes in a container with air holes and let them sit.

I put paper towels down instead of substrate and replaced everything. I just wanted to write this down just in case it worked (which I hope it did cuz it took me 6 hours). So if someone else wanted to use it later on they would know if it did or didn't work. I will keep this updated.

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Injecting your young snakes isn't necessary and could be dangerous. I wouldn't use Ivermectin either, because I already know what works. Have you seen the protocol for using PAM (Provent A Mite)? It might cost you $20 for a can, but it's so easy to use, saving you tons of time, it works, and it's safe if you use it correctly.

I use it as a preventative. I get the tank ready with 1/4 to 1/2 inch of shredded apen bedding, and do a quick spray. I leave the tank to dry for at least a few hours, usually don't use it until the next day. I put in the water jugs, hides, etc, and the new snake. Put the tank in quarantine while waiting. The PAM kills any arthropods or arachnids. If you suspect mites later on when or if eggs hatch, repeat the process and you'll be done with the mites. It's an easy proven method.

Good luck....Terry :dancer:

ratsnakehaven said:

Injecting your young snakes isn't necessary and could be dangerous. I wouldn't use Ivermectin either, because I already know what works. Have you seen the protocol for using PAM (Provent A Mite)? It might cost you $20 for a can, but it's so easy to use, saving you tons of time, it works, and it's safe if you use it correctly.

I use it as a preventative. I get the tank ready with 1/4 to 1/2 inch of shredded apen bedding, and do a quick spray. I leave the tank to dry for at least a few hours, usually don't use it until the next day. I put in the water jugs, hides, etc, and the new snake. Put the tank in quarantine while waiting. The PAM kills any arthropods or arachnids. If you suspect mites later on when or if eggs hatch, repeat the process and you'll be done with the mites. It's an easy proven method.

Good luck....Terry :dancer:

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Yea, I read up on the ivermectin injections and I decided not to do it. PAM is not available in my area and I felt the need to do something before the mites became a really huge problem, I didn't want to have to wait for it to be shipped.

I have also decided that the next treatment will be with the Nix that I have done some reading up on. I can get that at any drug store so I will try that even though I haven't seen anymore mites since the ivermectin treatment. Thanks for the advise!

Tinkerbeller87 said:

Yea, I read up on the ivermectin injections and I decided not to do it. PAM is not available in my area and I felt the need to do something before the mites became a really huge problem, I didn't want to have to wait for it to be shipped.

I have also decided that the next treatment will be with the Nix that I have done some reading up on. I can get that at any drug store so I will try that even though I haven't seen anymore mites since the ivermectin treatment. Thanks for the advise!

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Ok, but remember, those are powerful chemicals. Take care your babies don't contact them directly. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Terry