Mite prevention

[jncoclub]

I’ve never had mite problems, but I want to prepare in the event there is a breakout. When we first got our snakes we were given something that I believe was comparable to Hotshots or Vapona no pest strips. I’m not sure what brand they were, but it was a yellow pretty stiff stick and we cut it up into roughly 1 inch squares. We left one square on top of screen tank lid opposite side of the snake’s water. We were told to keep up with this as a mite prevention. I know that we have to change them every 3-4 months. Well, since my last move I have no idea where the extras went and I want to get more but I’m not sure where or what kind. Can someone shed some light on this for me? Thank you.

[Linds]

You don't need to constantly be treating for mites. Once you are sure they have been irradicated then its all about proper management, no need to keep up the chemicals ;) If you go to a pet store or handle someone elses animals, be sure to shower and change your clothing as soon as you get home. If you bring a new animal home, quarantine it properly and treat it for mites as a precautionary measure.

I would recommend going with an alternative route hwoever, in the future. Vapona is effective, but highly toxic and can easily injure/kill snakes, and is just not an all around healthy route, especially since you will be breathing this yourself as well. Nix is by far the safest method to use, and is every bit as effective as the other treatments. Click <a href="http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17014&highlight=mites">here</a> for an informative post written a little while ago about Nix.

Here's an excellent post about vapona...

Originally posted by Jeff_Favelle
Ok.


Vapona works by vapours (yikes), NIX is basically just a soap that works mechanically and chemically. The answer wasn't arrogant and it wasn't even aimed at you. I was talking to Dom (hence the usage of his name) and he replied quite nicely to me that he wasn't going to use Vapona. I'm sorry if you have stock in the company or something, but I wouldn't advise ANYONE to use it.

The active ingredient (for organic chemists) is 2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate. That's nasty stuff man. Its a freakin' carcinogen!!! Its also a stomach poison, and its only meant for professional use. I have no idea how Vapona gets away with selling the stuff, but I wouldn't be caught dead (pun intended) with the stuff in my house, near me, my animals, or my family. DDVP is NOT something to fool around with. In fact, I'd rather play on a highway than breathe the stuff in. Call that arrogant. I call it smart.

In small amounts, cancer is fine. Does that mean I want little bits of cancer? No. What is a small amount to you or I of Vapona, could be a lethal dosage to a reptile 1/200th of your size. What about long-term affects? What if it affects fecundity? As a breeder, that would definitely suck for me. NIX is approved for use on HUMAN HEADS! Its a soap that smothers the insects while working as a mild chemical agent. Probably not the greatest thing, but far, far safer than DDVP. Plus its local. Anything that is used as a local agent is 10x more effective and safer than a general agent.

Go here for some analysis: Thanks for your time...


http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/insect-mite/ddt-famphur/dichlorvos/insect-prof-dichlorvos.html

http://www.prop65news.com/pubs/p65news/issues/9207/920714.html


http://infoventures.com/e-hlth/pestcide/dichlorv.html

[Big Mike]

As far as I know....that stuff is toxic. That's why you only use a 1" piece. If you don't have mites and you are not bringing in questionable animals...then why expose this to the animals you do have?

I read somewhere that snake mites are not native to North America. They come over with imported animals and/or thrive in places that take in these imported animals. I can't validate that so take that as you will.

I think the best way to control mites is to quarentine any incoming animals to your collection.

[jncoclub]

I was under the impression that mites are things that can be brought in from the outdoors. Hence my concern increased now that it's hot outside and our new home didn't come with airconditioning, so we leave the doors open a lot. Open doors = a lot of bugs wander into our home. I thought mites could just jump right into your home.

If we're not getting any other snakes, we have had all our snakes for over a year, what is the chance of one of them getting mites? I'm thinking it can't be ruled out in it's entirety.

I did buy Hot Shot No- Pest Strip at Home Depot before I read this today. Are these the same potentcy as Vapona?
Hot Shot
Active ingredient:
Dichlorvos 18.6%
Related Compounds 1.4%
Inert ingrediants 80%
total 100%


Thanks for the links by the way- they were very informative.

[Andy_G]

When I had a mite problem with my albino cal king I used Reptile Relief and it produced excellent results because I haven't seen a mite since. It's also safe because you can spray some of this stuff on a paper towel and wipe your snake with it gently to get all the mites off the actual snake itself, which I did and it has caused no problems.

I think it is good to have something on hand for prevention/elimination of mites, but I do not think you need to regularly treat the animals and their cages. When and if your reptiles have nites, you'll know it, and you'll have sonething on hand to treat them.

[Bryce Masuk]

Mites are host specific I can tell you right now if you use aspen shavings you probley have wood mites but they dont bother snakes at all. the same goes with mites mammals get. unless you are in contact with other reptiles with mites and bring them home you wont have a problem

[jncoclub]

We use ecoearth or forestbed as our substrate, no aspen.
Well alright then- no need for mite sticks. Thanks everyone!

[drewlowe]

I have heard that mites can be on live mice and rats. and can be transfered to your reptiles if you feed them live instead of f/t.

[Linds]

drewlowe,
The mites that affect rodents are not transferrable to reptiles. Most parasites, both internal and external are host specific. Some internal parasites will use an intermediate host to infect another species (such as tapeworms using cattle to infect us, or invertabrates to infect reptiles). Ticks are a bit of an exception where external parasites are concerned, they aren't so discriminatory....I should hope that nobody every has ticks on any animals they have! :eek:

[Lisa]

We treat stuff we bring home from the pet store for mites. things such as substrate etc. never know what hitched a ride.

[drewlowe]

Linds in the book i have Called "what wrong with my snake" by Dr. John rossi says that it is possible to transfer mites to reptiles from mice and rats along with other parasites.

I'm not trying to prove you wrong, but there is so much misinformation out there. so i personally try to get every opinion i can then base a judgement on that.

[eyespy]

Originally posted by Linds
drewlowe,
The mites that affect rodents are not transferrable to reptiles. Most parasites, both internal and external are host specific. Some internal parasites will use an intermediate host to infect another species (such as tapeworms using cattle to infect us, or invertabrates to infect reptiles). Ticks are a bit of an exception where external parasites are concerned, they aren't so discriminatory....I should hope that nobody every has ticks on any animals they have! :eek:

While that is true, there have been many documented cases of pet store employees or customers transferring reptile mites (and other parasites) to rodents through not washing their hands between handling different animals. The mites aren't living off the rodents, they've just been transferred there.

Then the customer brings the mites home where they jump to an actual reptile host instead of just clinging to a "ride" as they had been doing.