• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Best mite treatment?

Greeling

Greeling

New member
I was cleaning cages today and noticed my BP has mites. Form what I understand they are pretty much like fleas for dogs and cats and can crop up for no reason.

Whats the best way to deal with this, I'd hate to start something that looks like it's going to work only to have them come back later.

In nearly a decade of snake keeping I've yet to encounter this issue =(

plGEL.jpg
 
This is what I did when Serj came invested with mites:

I use mite off on all new tanks.

I gave him a bath first to drown as many mites as I could. Then I put about 1/4 inch of veggie oil in a tub and put him inside with the lid on. While he was soaking, I cleaned out his tank, dried it, sprayed with mite off, put paper towels down also sprayed down with mite off. Then I put a thin layer of vaseline on the top of the tank all the way around (I read somewhere that the mites can't cross through it to escape the tank).

I then took him out of the tub, toweled off the excess oil and sprayed my hands down with mite off and rubbed him down. Put him back in his tank. I repeated everything every 3 days. Changed the paper towels too. You might have to do it for a few weeks to make sure you kill their eggs that are in the tank.

I also sprayed lice treatment you use for bedding around the viv on the floor. I haven't had any since.
 
Yes, if there's one thing this snake does it's eat. I might have to do the zombie mouse dance, but he always eats.

And thanks for the tips BeautifullyWild, is the mite stuff cat safe? I'd have to avoid using it outside the tanks if it's not.
 
Provent a mite...hands' down. It's safe for reptiles because it's designed for them. one treatment and they are gone. I've never had to treat more than once as long as you thoroughly clean the cage before treating. Make sure you quarantine the animal away from other reptiles or you'll be treating all cages. PAM can be used around the cage doorways on all cages every 30 days to prevent mites from crossing into them.
 
I had planned to treat everyone anyway, just because they are kept so close together. I'd rather be safe then worry about having to start all over because I missed one cage.

Does the snakes size matter? I have some younger snakes and don't want them having issues.
 
As far as mites go, I used baby oil to get them off my petco kid.. but she's a snow so I killed them one by one over a few days.

I have to agree with David though, he looks pretty skinny/dehydrated :/
 
I'm not sure why he looks so bad, he's got water at all times, I mist his cage and he doesn't miss meals.
He's always been kinda skinny, but he is growing, and has gained a few inches since I got him.
I just took these pics (no really, check the time stamp file lol), and he looks a lot better.

xsARH.jpg

MBUKe.jpg
 
Weird, I guess it was just the way he's sitting in the first one o.o Looks fine in those!
Good luck in getting rid of those mites. I'd put him on paper towels for now, the mites will use the bedding for egg laying, it's easier to use paper towels and change them daily.
 
I was recently in to my vet and one of mine had mites, she advised to use a frontline spray. Along with that I use provent a mite
 
Make sure you remove all the bedding and all cage furniture. Sterilize any that you can and throw out what you can't. Soak the snake in some tepid water with a drop of soap in it to break the water tension. Dry him off. Clean the entire cage with chlorhexidine or a dilute bleach (if you use bleach, make sure you rinse thoroughly and dry). Spray the cage with Provent a mite. Let dry. Place paper towel in there and his water bowl and cleaned hides. After 30 days you can go back to regular bedding provided you don't find any mites. I've never had to treat more than once with it and it's very safe.
 
NEVER use insecticides meant for large mammals on snakes.
Just drop by Youtube and you’ll see tons of snakes suffering from poisoning even from mite-treatment products that are meant for snakes.

The only active substance safe for snakes is Permathrine, and only at a dose of 0.5%(the same dose can be found in provent a mite)- other substances can induce anything from poisoning to fertility issues. It takes quite an impact to cause an immediate and visible damage in snakes- the fact that the snake seems fine isn’t enough of an assurance.


Personally, I use Dectomax- it’s a vet prescribed medicine against internal parasites(Used for Park worms). When diluted with water (2 CC for 1 gallon of water), it can be sprayed on the snake and in the vivarium with absolutely no ill effect to the snake- afterall, it is synthesized to be safe enough for ingestion, and at larger volumes.
It may take 2-3 sprays, but it gets the job done and it’s very safe- no risks of poisoning.

If you have just one snake and no access to Dectomax, I’d:
• Remove all items from the viv and clean them- dish washing(not wood)/put in boiled water .
• Clean the vivarium with bleach and let it dry
• Put the snake in a shoebox with water(not too deep) with a bit of iodine. Another option is olive oil- the point is to suffocate the mites.
• Place the snake in a different viv, with paper towels and a water dish for the next week and see if you find any more mites.
• Rinse & repeat if necessary.


In small collections, I think the hassle is worth the risk reduction.
In large collections… Dectomax is the best way to go… some people report it doesn’t work… I think that’s because they do not take note that it is light sensitive and the bottle needs to be stored in a dark place… it’s exposed to too much light and becomes ineffective over time…

For me, it does wonders.
 
Well this stuff is for reptiles, and I just cant get a hold of anything else right now, every snake I have has the mites except for my green rat snake, so I needed to act quickly, especially with how they were covering my bp, the rest are much better off, I had to do some real searching to find any mites on them, but I wasn't going to leave it for a week.

I had to do three wipe downs on my bp before the mites stopped coming off, and I found them all over his tank. I needed to act now. I dont know how their population exploded so quickly, but I am treating everyone. This stuff seems to be working well.
 
Finished with everyone a little while ago, everything in their cages was tossed, a shame since my bp loved his climbing branch so much =(

I'll just have to replace everything in a few weeks I guess.
 
You can soak the branch and bake it or microwave it if you want to keep it. Smaller branches that will fit I put in the microwave while they are wet. The heat from cooking will kill anything including eggs.
 
Unfortunately this branch fit perfectly in the 30, so it won't really fit in the oven, and definitely not the microwave lol

I'll just have to find another.
 
Thought I might update everyone.

The mites are almost eradicated, only Monty still has them, but they are few and far between, I really had search for them, but I gave him and his cage another treatment tonight, everyone else is doing great, and has been mite free for quite some time now =3
 
Good news! Mites are a real problem and it's best to make sure that you treat the cage doors at least once a month to avoid crossover in the future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top