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Mites Update

P

project1

New member
Hey guys, I see noboy answered my post... but then I saw a post right below mine about mites so that helped out a lot :) I did everything that is said to do with cleaning the tank, and then usin Extra virgin olive oil and let the snake run through it. I took my new guy to the vet because I see some black marks beside his eye and under his neck. I'm not sure if they are mites or not, but anyway, I got some mite medication that's made for cats and dogs. Would it be safe on my snake, the reptile vet said it should be... it's called Revolution by Pfizer(?) and it says it's a selamectin topical solution.
 
Also.. this is only the 1st real day he has been hear, but I have been having to handle the poor little guy quite a lot since I need to treat his mite problem... should I have let the problem get a little bit worse and let him settle in? or should I have done exactly what I am doing and treating the problem right away? Because I think the mites would stress him out more than the "treatment" handling...
 
What kind of vet did you take your snake to? I personally would honestly be afraid of using Revolution on my snake. It is not approved for reptiles and it could kill the snake. Most reptile vets would have used Ivermectin to treat mites. In my opinion, you should find a different vet...one who knows for certain what works and what doesn't!
 
hmm, he said that it wouldn't hurt the snake.. I haven't used it yet, I want to do a little more research and find out if it really is safe.. but do you think dealing with the mite situation too early (since he's so young and it's a new home) would threatin him more than the mites?
 
You said the reptile vet said it should be safe...that's not the same as it being safe! I think the easiest and safest way to get rid of the mites is to prepare a lukewarm soak for the snake, put in a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid, and place the snake in there for a little while. The dishwashing liquid causes the mites to drown because they can't break through it to get to air. Next, coat the snake with olive oil again. Don't just let the snake run through it...completely coat him with it. The only thing you really have to be kind of careful with is the snake's nostrils. Try to not get the oil in the nostrils.

While your snake is soaking, clean the tank again. Line it with paper towels so that you can monitor whether the mites are gone or not. You should also clean the surrounding area because mites can spread quite quickly. Finally, place a thin line of vaseline around the top of the tank (inside and outside). This creates a barrier to trap and kill mites that try to come in or go out of the tank. If you are using a rubbermaid, then the vaseline needs to go just below the ventilation holes.
 
It can cause some respiratory type symptoms, and can cause difficulty breathing. Just use a q-tip or something around the nostrils so as little as possible gets into them.
 
he dunked his head under the olive oil... but I monitered him most of the night and he doesn't seem to be having any problems.... he eaven ate a pinkie!
 
There is a mite treatment made specifically for reptiles. I've seen it at my local pet store. You might look into that as well.
 
Definately treat the mites, the more that come, the more damage they will do to your snake and can even kill it. To echo my herp vet, "There's rules, and then there's rules." It won't feel very comfortable with them, so you might as well get them out of the way. You won't have to handle the snake more than you normally would in order to clean it's tank, for mite treatment.

Do a search on google (or this forum) for Nix treatment and Black Knight Roach Killer for treating snake mites. There are very informative sites for both. They are safe when used according to directions (although you wouldn't want the snake INGESTING the chemicals) and extremely effective. I would personally not use Revolution if you're not sure about the safety (I haven't heard it used for snakes) as there are already very effective - and a lot cheaper - alternatives :) Olive oil will only kill the mites on the animal at the time of treatment (I've heard of it hurting snakes as well) it does nothing for the eggs waiting to hatch or the mites that are in and around the enclosure. Scrubbing and bleaching the tank accessories is fine, but also will not stop the mite cycle. You must treat aggressively as it only takes on left over female mite to start trouble all over again.
 
Black Knight can be hard to find. You can try home building supply stores, garden centres, etc. Nix, in contrast, should be very available... it is used to treat head lice on humans, so you can find it at drug stores, ask for it at the pharmacy. One bottle is more than you'll ever need. The Nix copycats apparently are the same thing, if they don't carry nix brand specifically.
 
I personally would not use NIX. There was a post recently about someone's snake dying because it drank some of the NIX water that it was soaking in.
 
There is a new mite treatment called mega-mites. It actually uses mite eating mites to get rid of the "bad" mites. Here is the webpage: http://www.mega-mites.com/

Please be wary of treatments that are "home remedies." They can harm your snake. Why don't you want to give the "natural" treatments a chance to help? It can take repeating the treatment, but it is safe at least. I actually only had to treat my snake once with this method. By the way...did you soak your snake in the oil? How was he able to dunk his head under the oil? You should simply rub a small amount of the oil on him.

Heather...how did the olive oil hurt the snake that you referred to???
 
I'll try and link the URL for Nix treatment and see if it goes through.. it will tell you everything you need to know

http://www.kingsnake.com/TARAS/contents/nix.doc

If that doesn't work, like I said, just do a search on google, it will come up then.

I've heard of coating a snake in oil to be harmful from more than one source, anapsid.org being one of them (can't remember the other). It doesn't mention what happened. However the snake's skin needs to breathe, the snake needs to breathe through it's nose (the mites will travel to the head to avoid drowning). Killing the mites on the snake still will not accomplish much, seeing as the nits and other mites will still be lurking elsewhere, ready to re-infest. Snakes soak in their water dish and drown the mites off of part of their bodies themselves, the olive oil only accomplishes the same thing. Mites need to be treated more aggressively to beat them. One of the reasons the Nix and Black Knight Roach Killer is so effective, is that it has a safe (to snakes) residual effect which kill the mites all around and prevents them from coming back. Much like the better flea treatments for dogs (same thing.. they are everywhere waiting to reinfest, so the new flea treatments - which are also safe for the host animal - have the same residual effect that kills them coming back)

As far as dying from Nix, soaking the snake in a chemical solution water is not only unnecessary during the treatment (all you need to do is spray in and around the tank and accessories, spraying the snake's body is also safe), but an animal ingesting a chemical, especially a small one, would of course be better avoided. The same would go for safe usage of most mite treatments.
 
where can I buy black night roach killer? I can't find it on google.

My local pet store would like to buy some (and also maybe stock it).. and they are also taking steps to make sure they don't have any mite infestations. They couldn't find any mites on the snakes that where in the same enclosure as mine, so I think that the mites came from the repti-bark..
 
It's possible that they came from the repti-bark and that's how they got to your snake. The same thing can happen with purchasing feeders. However if it was from that same store, it's highly unlikely the snake mites would stay in the bark and not attack the snakes (and probably would be on the snakes first and bark later).

I'm very impressed that the store wants to take care of this themselves. The spray also works to prevent mites coming in with new shipments.

The only place online that I've found so far to purchase it is at http://www.proexotics.com/specials.html

There is also a great page there on using Black Knight from the FAQ section, however I can't seem to access it right now so I'll give you an alternative URL:

http://www.awesomereptiles.com/nomites.html
 
project1 said:
where can I buy black night roach killer? I can't find it on google.

My local pet store would like to buy some (and also maybe stock it).. and they are also taking steps to make sure they don't have any mite infestations. They couldn't find any mites on the snakes that where in the same enclosure as mine, so I think that the mites came from the repti-bark..
Click to expand...

For the time being, it appears Black Knight has been pulled off the market due to a recent legal decision against the manufacturer.
 
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