burm with mites

[MiaDee]

i recently acquired a beautiful 9ft female burm who has mites (rescue who has some horrible history, therefore has a horrible attitude) . the previous owner had wiped her down with provent-a-mite and i have sprayed a couple of times with something my friend let me borrow (i beleive it was called de-flee) i have soaked the snake twice in the last two days and the number of dead bugs in the bottom of her tank have decreased signifigantly (btw she is an 55gal aqaurium, but will be moving into a custom made tank in about a month) anwyay i feel paranoid that the tank is still infested with mites and she might still have some on her (or the eggs are just waiting to hatch)..what do u think, am i doing somethign wrong? i keep readign about black knight roach killer.. any thoughts on this treatment? i have no experience with mites so i have to admit to doing this quite "blindly" any help or success stories would be greatly appreciated.

[HeatherRose]

Try using Nix, its available behind the counter at any drugstore.

Dilute it with water and spray the enclosure. Soak the snake and any cage 'decorations'...

Repeat every week or so for a month.

This method worked in one shot for me, but my snake was much smaller.

[kevyn]

I've found that spraying Nix everyday takes care of things quickly. Just be careful not to have the water dish in the enclosure when your spraying and try to avoid the head as much as possible. Also spray everything around the enclosure; the floor, everything. Spray the enclosure down really well too, and use newpaper or paper towel for substrate, this will allow for few hiding places for mites and more importantly, their eggs. Any infestations I've had have been cleaned up within a few days using this method, but I recommend continuing this for atleast a week, and evaluating your progress from there on.

[Mugwump]

I've heard of Nix being used with some success but it needs to be dluted in exact proportions with water or else it poses a threat to your snake. Another down side to Nix is that it does not effectively eliminate mite eggs. The eggs are quasi-microscopic and extremely resilient--if you don't get rid of them, the mites will continually hatch and reinfest the enclosure.

Another thing: I'd be wary of getting nix anywhere near a nervous system as sensitive as a snake's. Same thing goes for PAM (provent-a-mite). Both of these contain permethrin. While permethrin isn't powerfully toxic, it is nevertheless toxic enough to do damage to your burm no matter its ambient concentration. I don't mean to sound like a sales rep for Black Knight, but in my opinion, that stuff is the safest bet. The active ingredient is phenothrin which is among the least harmful pesticides yet is very effective. Kills eggs too. I recommend "fogging" the enclosure with it (take the snake out first) and spraying a bit over the length of the animal, but preferably not near the head.

As a measure of how safe Black Knight is, phenothrin is commonly circulated through the ventilation systems of airplanes to kill insects hitchhiking on passengers' shoes and so forth. Of course, the NTSB won't readily admit to this...

[gonesnakee]

NIX will kill all mites & their eggs safely. Heres a link to the full treatment described in detail. Mark

replace * with a to work

http://www.kingsn*ke.ca/TARAS/contents/care.htm

[jungle_man86]

when my burn had mites i was told to to let the burm soke in luk warm water and then i put vegtable oil on his body avoding the eyes.

[Shane_V.1]

I have used nix to get rid of mites in my collection and friends. I dilute one bottle of nix to one gallon of water for the spray and i dilute that solution 1:1 with water for the bath. I bath the snakes for an hour or so and spray the tank (sans water dish). Repeat the spray every week for 4 weeks. I have used this on burms, balls, bloods, and small colubreds.

[likeal0stchild]

how big is the bottle and how much is it in american dollars?

My carpet soaks a good bit and some times for 2 days and they say thats wat a mite infested snake will do.
so Id rather be safe than sorry

[Shane_V.1]

I think the nix only come in one size. It is about $10 Canadian where I live.

[LoneStar]

I use cooking oil "exclusively" for (on snake mites) it chokes`em out with out chemicals being applied to the snake as well as prevents the new ones from hitching a ride.
Also werks killer on stuck eye caps FWIW

As for cage treaments I use the Pest Strips,which kill continueously if changed once a week.
I can treat a 75 gal tank for three months on one $4.00 US Pest Strip,anything under 75 extends the usage 1 week per inch of strip used.
Strips are 3"X7"
1"x3" X 2 per 75 gal per 7-10 days
Same applies for 4' cages with 14"-16" tops.
Hard to beat reliable 24/7 protection for the cost and ease of use.