mites!

[Allanira]

I have 2 baby ball pythons. They have been very good eater until recently when 1 decided she didnt want to eat. I have the temp set in their tank at 88 degrees. I have a red bulb and a uth. I looked at them yesterday and I saw mites. I imediately started soaking them in a mix of about a dime size of dawn soap, about the same of salt and water. I soaked them for about 30 min. They were NOT happy with me. I also have newspaper in as a substrat, bleached out their enclosure, and all the furnishing. Soaked all the furnishing over night in bleach then rinsed them well. I am going to order some reptile relief? I think its called and some PAM for the enclosure. I think I got the mites from the petstore that I got the baby that doesnt want to eat right now. I have been putting them in a seperate container to feed them. Any and all advise is appreciated TY in advance

[Ch^4]

That's unfortunate to hear. Did you quarantine the new baby before introducing it to the same enclosure as your other BP?

Here is a good thread on mites and getting rid of them. I am fortunate enough to not have had this problem, but the advice is very good and I've been using preventative measures regardless.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-discussion/84650-mites.html


Hope that helps!

[infernalis]

Please don't soak them in that mixture ever again, it's not good for the snakes.

Mites are a problem almost all of us have faced at some point.

Don't ever listen to anybody who tries to tell you that it's your fault, or that it only happens to snakes kept in dirty cages. That would be the same mentality that only poor people ever get lice.

Mites are a parasite, a bug.. They can get onto your snakes in many ways.

However it is most likely that if they are babies, that you probably got your snakes already pre-infested.

Bleach does very little and does not always kill all the eggs. It's a great disinfectant for germs, but not insects.

Lice bedding spray sold at the drug store has done wonders, and it was recently posted that it contains the same exact ingredient as PAM but at a better price.

There will be lots of other posters telling you what works for them, listen close, they have all had snakes for a lot of years..

Enjoy the forums..

[Freebody]

Learn About Head Lice – Find Information to Detect, Eliminate & Prevent Headlice | Nix Lice Treatment (http://www.nixlice.com/about.php) this is what i was told to use and it worked for me, you get it and any pharmany, you mix the bottle into 4 litres ie 1 gallon of water or as directed on your box, spray everything and your snake let it sit for 2-3 days then wash it all off, 1 treatment usually works but you can do 2 to be safe or it you still see live one. you can spray a perimiter around you cages as well.:) good luck, i had them just a few months back and it worked great after 1 treatment. just make sure to take any insect out of the area, like spriders crickets, scorpions....

[Jay]

The nix solution !!! google it it worked great for me !

[Allanira]

I am now just soaking them in water. I think they got them from either the pet shop I got them from or from me messing with other pythons that the first shop. I got them on the same day just from 2 different locations. One was from the Pheonix show and the other was from the Pittsburg show. I will definitely look into the nix solution. Its been suggested a lot. Does the lice bedding spray work well on them? I know its not my fault they got them because I spot clen their enclosure every day that it needs it. I really dont care where I got them the mission Im on is getting RID if them lol. On the lice thing its not just poor people. Growing up I was very prone to them. I had them about 3x a year back when I was a kid lol. Thank goodness that was a while ago and I am no longer prone lol. TY again for the advise.

[Allanira]

Thank goodness for common sense on here. I am on another forum also and they are basicly yelling at me because I have them housed together in the same tank. I have a sheet covering all the sides to cut off my cats viewing of them. They are the same size and everything but Ala is darker than Ajali. These are my first BPs. I have been playing with the idea for years of getting 1 but havent until now. Is it good to have 4 hides in the tank also? I have 2 on the warm side and 2 on the cooler side and water in the middle. I do want to get a wooden show case eventually but not right now. They are just too young and would be lost in it. I would never find them lol. I soaked them again last night in plain water and then took my tweezers to them to get the ones that didnt fall off in the water. Let me tell you they were not happy. But after all this is said and done they will be. TY again guys. I am going to get some nix tooday and start the mixing. They are now making combo packs with the nix and bedding spray in 1 pack that I am going to pick up. The bottle is smaller than the one in the googling I found I think. I just wish that it didnt take me having to do this. I dont like mites. I dont care if its on my snakes, geckos, dogs, cats or husband. They make my skin crawl not to mention are nasty looking. Oh that reminds me. I need to put frontline on the dogs lol. TY again. have a great one. Will keep yall posted on how it goes.

[infernalis]

Is that your thread on Fauna classified you mention??

baby not eating. - FaunaClassifieds (http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1146599)

[Allanira]

yep. I think now the reason shes not eating is because of the mites. Im gonna wait a week after this next treatment and try her again. I also think shes not hungry right now.

[citysnakes]

Thank goodness for common sense on here. I am on another forum also and they are basicly yelling at me because I have them housed together in the same tank.

ok honey, you do need to house ball pythons separately if you want them to thrive in your care. they are not yelling at you to be mean, they are trying to inform you on how to properly care for and house your snakes.

are you sure that the little bugs you are seeing are actually snake mites and are you attributing the reason why one snake is not eating solely to the mite infestation?

while many snakes infested with mites will refuse food, ball pythons suffering from the stress of a cagemate will also commonly refuse food.

also how are you measuring your cage temperatures? are you using a a digital thermometer or an analog dial type and where in the cage are you getting this reading? is your UTH being controlled by a thermostat?

your snakes may not be eating now due to a mite infestation, improper temperatures, lack of a sense of security and stress due to a cagemate (either a more dominant or even just the presence of one).

you need to correct these environmental errors before you can determine the reason or reasons why your ball is not eating.

also balls kept in proper conditions that occasionally refuse food may simply just not be hungry. a healthy happy ball that refuses a meal or few is nothing to worry about. in your case i would correct much of the environment before i would ever consider them healthy or happy.

if you determine that you actually do have mites then buy a can of PAM and follow the directions. as you have already done, strip down your enclosure, or better yet enclosures, to only newspaper substrate, two hides and a water bowel. be careful with any mite treatment that you decide to use as they can be harmful to you animals.

good luck.

[shaunyboy]

the above post covers it all

i use

PROVENT A MITE

its always worked 100% first time every time for me

it remains active for 30 days

cheers shaun

[Allanira]

Oh yeah they were mites. all over under the chin and crawling on me when I picked the babies up. I squiched a couple and it was a bloody smear left behind. I turned on the light in the kitchen and looked they were all over under the scales on both. in the little fold of skin under their chins around their eyes and in the heat pits. It gave me the heepy jeebies lol. My husband was laughing at me cause I was doing the whole skin crawling yuck sound about it. I still have them on paper towels right now. I didnt see any live ones yesterday and havent looked today. They are stayin on paper towels for a while right now. I am going to start ordering the substrat online and spraying everything weekly after moving them out of the room. I dont need this to happen to them. The hubbies already said if they die Im not getting any more. Besides I dont want them to die just cause they are now part of this family and their babies. Should I try to feed them today? I havent messed with them except to see that they dont have any live mites on them. I am letting them relax right now. I am looking at getting another 20 or 29 gallon tank for 1 of them. with all the stuff that they need. I have a rheostat with an analog temp gauge and an analog temp on the cooler side. The cooler side is staying around 80 and the warmer around 88. I would like to get a temp gun but gotta wait a bit before I get it. I also have the same rheostat on my green eyed geckos and the temp stays steady for them too. Their in a 55gal.

[derekcm87]

I have used the equate lice bedding spray from wal mart, same active ingredient as pam and only cost $4.00. Also I have used a diluted nix solution (2oz. of nix shampoo to a gallon of distilled water.) Got rid of the mites in about 2-3 treatments. Yeah mites are not from dirty cages, My cages are kept immaculate I wash them completely about every 2-3 days so they are in no way shape or form ever dirty. I picked up my mites from a local reptile show, probably brought them home on my clothes or something from a vendor. I know what alot of people say about not directly spraying your reptile with solution but with the above diluted solution, the person who I heard it from did and as did I and have had no ill affects whatsoever. The only important thing is you must soak your snake in a tub of warm water (about 88 degrees) for an hour to hydrate them. wash out their enclosure real good, spray it with the nix solution, spray the bedding, put the snake in, spray the snake (the solution will dry on the snake this is why soaking is necessary for hydration) Take out the water bowl for 12 hours. then put it back in and repeat steps above untill no more dead mites are found on the newspaper/papertowels. Also the equate bedding spray can be used by removing the snake from the enclosure, spraying every where (lightly, dont over due it where its running down the sides and creating puddles.) let it dry and put the snake back in and any mites that come in contact will die. Do not spray the snake with the equate bedding spray directly.

[shaunyboy]

imo the great thing about provent a mite is...

you only have to use it once.no need for repeat treatments

its made for reptile use

it stays active for 30 days.so no mites survive

in all the years ive kept snakes its worked first time every time.with no adverse reactions from my snakes

you do not spray the snake with this treatment

only the tank and the contents of the tank with the exception of the water bowl.just wash that with hot soapy water

put snake in a different room for 2 hours then put everything including the snake back into tank.job done...!!

cheers shaun

[derekcm87]

imo the great thing about provent a mite is...

you only have to use it once.no need for repeat treatments

its made for reptile use

it stays active for 30 days.so no mites survive

in all the years ive kept snakes its worked first time every time.with no adverse reactions from my snakes

you do not spray the snake with this treatment

only the tank and the contents of the tank with the exception of the water bowl.just wash that with hot soapy water

cheers shaun

This is true, provent a mite is probably the easiest and like said above, only one treatment is needed and prevents for 30 days, I only learned of this new treatment that I mentioned and know that it worked for me because, Once I realized I had the mites, I freaked and went directly to get the equate bedding spray (once again same as pam) because I did not want to wait for the pam to be shipped and of course wal mart was out of the equate at the time so I went the other route. But If I had the pam Id use that over the diluted nix solution. :) Good luck. Mites Suck plain and simple.

[shaunyboy]

This is true, provent a mite is probably the easiest and like said above, only one treatment is needed and prevents for 30 days, I only learned of this new treatment that I mentioned and know that it worked for me because, Once I realized I had the mites, I freaked and went directly to get the equate bedding spray (once again same as pam) because I did not want to wait for the pam to be shipped and of course wal mart was out of the equate at the time so I went the other route. But If I had the pam Id use that over the diluted nix solution. :) Good luck. Mites Suck plain and simple.


yes mate mites suck

but since discovering provent a mite i find its not that big of a deal

a few hours work taking all the stuff out the viv's

bagging all my snakes into pillow cases then leaving them in another place at room temperature

spray everything except the snakes and water bowls

job done

and all my tanks are nice and clean in the process

i know i probaly sound like a provent a mite salesman but i was mighty impressed by the product:yes:

cheers shaun

[Allanira]

YES! I havent seen any mites today. I also seperated the babies. They will still go into a different container to be fed because I dont want them to try and bite me when I feed them. But I am happy about the no mite thing. I used the pronto bedding spray on the carpet and wall around the area they are still in and moved the babies to a different area completely with a fan shooting the fumes out of the window. It may be too early to celebrate but it was messing with my mind thinking about mites that close to where I sleep. I am also going to order some PAM and new substrat today but not use the substrat for another month. Want to have everything ready for when they can use it again. I have learned my lesson well on this. TY again for the advise. Like I said earlier these are my first ball pythons. They are cute but after I have had them this long they are members of the family. Also Ajali looks like she might be getting ready to shed. Ala takes a little longer than Ajali but should only be about a week behind her.

[Freebody]

where do you get provent a mite from? pet stores around here are banned from selling mite treatments?

[Lankyrob]

I boughtg mine on Ebay

[Allanira]

pro products. com I believe is the site. just google provent a mite and it should be one of the first ones to pop up. They have it for $14.99 I believe. The 1 ebay one I saw was going for over $20.

[Freebody]

ah cool, i was just wondering if it was a pet shop item or if it was in a gracery store like the nix i use was :) thx, i think i mite :P try it the next time i get them and see if i like it better than nix.

[Allanira]

Well guys good news. Ala ate last night. I went and got a couple asf rats and put Ala in her container with one and Ajali in her container with one. They both are just fine. They are now sittin back "chillin" with full bellies. I still dont understand why she didnt eat the other week. Maybe she was still full, maybe she didnt like the mouse hopper or the colors or how hyper it was. But now she has eaten, and I didnt see any mites yesterday as I put her into the container to be fed. I am going to give them a few days to relax and digest before I look at them again. I also have some PAM, new substrat for when I can use it again and a couple bigger hides for them ordered and should be here next week. When I do my usually heavy cleaning I can use the PAM in the "tubs" for them. The hides I ordered are bigger than the coconut shells I have now and it looks like they are going to need them lol. Ala got into hers and she practicly lifted it off the floor. They are a lot more relaxed than they were last week when all this crap happened. I am glad they dont have mites on them anymore. Now just to keep them off for the rest of their lives. TY again everyone. I will give a screech for help again if I see something that freaks me out again.

[shaunyboy]

where do you get provent a mite from? pet stores around here are banned from selling mite treatments?


i get it sent from a shop in england

you get it on line as well

its an american product so your bound to get it on line some where in the states mate

cheers shaun

[viridismannen1]

Hi

I hope it's okay that I post here

I have a questind regarding the use of NIX (for treatin mites)
Im from Norway and its not so easy to get the same stuf that you guys get in the us.
I norway we only have:
Nix shampoo 1% 59ml this contains permethrin 10 mg/ml
Nix cream 5% 30gram this contains permethrin 50 mg/g

I wonder if some of you know how im gonna mix this togeter with steril water ??

I have read the writings by Nathan Curtis an he says 1 part Nix to 68 parts water
But how strong it the nix cream you can by un the us ??
The cream I refer to contains 56g ( the one from us )

I have purchased the nix cream 5% and mixed it with 3,4 Liter steril water, Is this mix to weak? I treat babys chondros and adults

Hope you guys understad my english, its not so good :)

[shaunyboy]

Hi

I hope it's okay that I post here

I have a questind regarding the use of NIX (for treatin mites)
Im from Norway and its not so easy to get the same stuf that you guys get in the us.
I norway we only have:
Nix shampoo 1% 59ml this contains permethrin 10 mg/ml
Nix cream 5% 30gram this contains permethrin 50 mg/g

I wonder if some of you know how im gonna mix this togeter with steril water ??

I have read the writings by Nathan Curtis an he says 1 part Nix to 68 parts water
But how strong it the nix cream you can by un the us ??
The cream I refer to contains 56g ( the one from us )

I have purchased the nix cream 5% and mixed it with 3,4 Liter steril water, Is this mix to weak? I treat babys chondros and adults

Hope you guys understad my english, its not so good :)

the following are the exact writing in the ingrediants listed on my can of provent a mite mate

active ingredient:perethrin*......0.5%
*(3-phenoxpheny)methyl ( theres a little sign that looks like a T with a line under it)cis/trans (2.2-dicloroethenyl)
2.2-dimethlcyclopropanecarboxylate Cis/trans ratio:min 35%
(same sybol like a T with a line under it)cis and max 65%
propreitary inert ingredients......99.50%
total ..................................100%


i hope you can work it out mate as i really cant make head nor tail of it all

ity no where states the amount of permethrin per ml of soulution

its in spray airosol form with prevet a mite

i hope this has been some help to you in working things out

cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

Hi

I hope it's okay that I post here

I have a questind regarding the use of NIX (for treatin mites)
Im from Norway and its not so easy to get the same stuf that you guys get in the us.
I norway we only have:
Nix shampoo 1% 59ml this contains permethrin 10 mg/ml
Nix cream 5% 30gram this contains permethrin 50 mg/g

I wonder if some of you know how im gonna mix this togeter with steril water ??

I have read the writings by Nathan Curtis an he says 1 part Nix to 68 parts water
But how strong it the nix cream you can by un the us ??
The cream I refer to contains 56g ( the one from us )

I have purchased the nix cream 5% and mixed it with 3,4 Liter steril water, Is this mix to weak? I treat babys chondros and adults

Hope you guys understad my english, its not so good :)

the following are the exact writing in the ingrediants listed on my can of provent a mite mate

active ingredient permethrin*......0.5%
*(3-phenoxpheny)methyl ( theres a little sign that looks like a T with a line under it)cis/trans (2.2-dicloroethenyl)
2.2-dimethlcyclopropanecarboxylate Cis/trans ratio:min 35%
(same sybol like a T with a line under it)cis and max 65%
propreitary inert ingredients......99.50%
total ..................................100%


i hope you can work it out mate as i really cant make head nor tail of it all

it no where states the amount of permethrin per ml of soulution

its in spray airosol form with prevet a mite

i hope this has been some help to you in working things out

cheers shaun

[Allanira]

I got the provent a mite. All you do with that is spray 1x a month and you dont have to worry again until either another month or you get a new snake. I sprayed down my babies cage while they were soaking cause they looked a bit dehydrated and we have zero and I mean ZERO percent humidity here right now. Also when I got my new snake I sprayed his enclosure before I went and got him so it was aired out before I brought him home. Always air it out. With the nix treatment you have to do it every week for like 3 weeks. Go ahead and get the provent a mite. In the long run your gonna be happier with it imo. I hope you get rid of them cause they give me the heeby jeebys lol. Good luck

[shaunyboy]

you should only have to use the provent a mite once

that has always been the case with me

then you put it away until you get mites aghain

there is really no need to use it every month

if you want peace of mind then maybe treat a second time 1 month later but as said ive never found the need as its always worked first time evertime for me

with no need of a repeat treatment

re new snakes
l treat the quarintine tank the day before i pick up my new snakes

that pretty much sorts out any mite problems i may have been going to have

cheers shaun

[viridismannen1]

Thanks for the reply. But do someone knows how concentrated the nix cream (56g) is?

Is there any pharmacy online that there is possible to find info on the cream?

[viridismannen1]

Buy Nix Creme Rinse from Canada at Well.ca - Free Shipping (http://well.ca/products/nix-creme-rinse_2290.html)

Is this the cream you guys use ??

This is only 1%. that means that my mixing is more than strong enough

[Tobia]

hi,
new to this site. I have had a BP for 10 yrs now. I have never had a mite problem... knock on wood. I don't think I am doing anything special... just some dumb luck.