Mites smh

daboyz23 · 06-03-14, 08:42 AM

Hopefully someone nods their head in response to my, do you know how to get rid of mites question. Hello all btw! I own a coral albino red tail boa, an irian jaya carpet python, an amazon tree boa, 2 ball pythons, and I have a neonate chondro en route.. Kinda crazy but I love the heck out of each one, and meticulously clean my 3 tanks. In fact, I probably change the bedding I use too frequently. So why is, most notably, my red tail getting what I'm assuming is mites?

I've done the bleach thing. I'm going to do it again but it took all day with all the décor in my terrariums. I've bathed her then sprayed her with an 11 dollar mite spray. I've misted her a little more frequently thinkin maybe it was too dry. Its not a mite infestation unless any present mites are considered that. Its more like 5 or 6 down the entire length of her 2 year old almost 5 foot body. I house my carpet python in the same tank and she has zilch on her. Tho she spends more time up high and in water. Its just annoying knowing you do so much for your babies, only for stupid little jerks to crawl on them anyway. Any help would be appreciated!

Batessi · 06-05-14, 09:30 PM

Wait, you have a BCI and a carpet housed together? For mites I use Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray, use it on your animals, in the cage, on your husbandry items, etc... . PAM also works, I have stopped using it though after hearing some recent information, I also do not recommend the use of dog/human products like Nixx. It sounds like you caught it early and one good spray around the snake room may be all you need.

SSSSnakes · 06-05-14, 10:49 PM

PAM it and forget it.

guyabano · 06-06-14, 01:48 AM

I've mucked around with several methods of mite control over the years and PAM still has to be the best and most efficient solution out there.

daboyz23 · 06-10-14, 12:20 AM

yea lol I house the boa and the carpet in a 100 gallon tank. They were both less than 5 months old when I first introduced them. I've read everywhere that you should never house different species in the same enclosure, but I haven't had any problems. PAM, like the cooking grease spray? Thanks a lot for the help!

Dan84 · 06-10-14, 12:36 AM

Provent-a-mite, not the cooking spray. Also, I would advise against housing different species together in such a small area. It is not like they live in the wild where they can escape each other. The will most likely be stressed, snakes are not social animals (with a few exceptions). Why ask for trouble when for relatively little money you can get a second enclosure better suited for that species(humidity, temperature, ground vs. arboreal..etc.).

daboyz23 · 06-10-14, 08:21 PM

Thanks, ill have to get another enclosure. Its plenty big for right now but you make a good point about stressing your snakes out over time.

Zelg · 06-12-14, 03:18 PM

Had my BP for less than a year and struggled initially with mites. Didnt even know they were there at first since they're so small. Having tried soaking and cleaning and banging my head against the wall, PAM was suggested to me and its been absolutely amazing. I also have a spray that is meant for contact with the reptile. Cant recall the name as its in the other room and I'm too lazy to get up at the moment, but I bought it was Petco.

So when I see mites, I take my BP out, spray his enclosure, leave the top open and let it sit for like 20 minutes until I cant smell anything out (I remove his water as well). While I'm letting that sit I spray the contact-safe spray on some paper towels and then kind of hold it like a taco and let my snake slither through my hand as I wrap the towel around him, essentially wiping the spray on him. That usually takes care of any mites I see on him that like to hide under the scales, particularly under his chin.

I check a couple days later and they're gone.

I seem to get them fairly regularly so I think they come in either via food or with the cypress mulch I use for substrate. Not sure but at this point its not a big hassle anymore so I just try to stay on top of it and check regularly.

SSSSnakes · 06-12-14, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zelg

Had my BP for less than a year and struggled initially with mites. Didnt even know they were there at first since they're so small. Having tried soaking and cleaning and banging my head against the wall, PAM was suggested to me and its been absolutely amazing. I also have a spray that is meant for contact with the reptile. Cant recall the name as its in the other room and I'm too lazy to get up at the moment, but I bought it was Petco.

So when I see mites, I take my BP out, spray his enclosure, leave the top open and let it sit for like 20 minutes until I cant smell anything out (I remove his water as well). While I'm letting that sit I spray the contact-safe spray on some paper towels and then kind of hold it like a taco and let my snake slither through my hand as I wrap the towel around him, essentially wiping the spray on him. That usually takes care of any mites I see on him that like to hide under the scales, particularly under his chin.

I check a couple days later and they're gone.

I seem to get them fairly regularly so I think they come in either via food or with the cypress mulch I use for substrate. Not sure but at this point its not a big hassle anymore so I just try to stay on top of it and check regularly.

Snake mites do not come in from food or substrates, they only come in from other snakes. The mites breed in the enclosure and not on the snake. if you keep getting mites, it is apparent that you are not killing the eggs in the enclosure and keep getting re infested after they hatch. PAM does not kill the eggs, but if used correctly last long enough to kill the babies when they are born. You probably are removing the substrate to often and not retreating it to prevent this from happening. When using PAM if you remove the substate before 30 days, you have to retreat it to kill the babies.

**Aaron_S** · 06-12-14, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zelg

Had my BP for less than a year and struggled initially with mites. Didnt even know they were there at first since they're so small. Having tried soaking and cleaning and banging my head against the wall, PAM was suggested to me and its been absolutely amazing. I also have a spray that is meant for contact with the reptile. Cant recall the name as its in the other room and I'm too lazy to get up at the moment, but I bought it was Petco.

So when I see mites, I take my BP out, spray his enclosure, leave the top open and let it sit for like 20 minutes until I cant smell anything out (I remove his water as well). While I'm letting that sit I spray the contact-safe spray on some paper towels and then kind of hold it like a taco and let my snake slither through my hand as I wrap the towel around him, essentially wiping the spray on him. That usually takes care of any mites I see on him that like to hide under the scales, particularly under his chin.

I check a couple days later and they're gone.

I seem to get them fairly regularly so I think they come in either via food or with the cypress mulch I use for substrate. Not sure but at this point its not a big hassle anymore so I just try to stay on top of it and check regularly.

You most likely have wood mites and not snake mites.

If they are snake mites and you continually get them then you haven't solved the real problem as it's unlikely snake mites live in a sealed bag of substrate or on feeders for any length of time.

It is possible it could have happened once but not so regularly.

JakesGotSnakes · 06-12-14, 05:45 PM

Buy a small bottle of Nix shampoo 2oz bottle its really small
mix with one gallon of water
take out all decor
fill a bucket/pan with solution to disinfect
put all decor in the bucket/pan let soak for at least 24hrs
spray and wipe down the entire enclosure EVERY DAY (put white paper towel down for substrate)
rinse the snakes that have the mites EVERY DAY under warm water
Depending how bad they are depends on the time for them to go away

**Aaron_S** · 06-12-14, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JakesGotSnakes

Buy a small bottle of Nix shampoo 2oz bottle its really small
mix with one gallon of water
take out all decor
fill a bucket/pan with solution to disinfect
put all decor in the bucket/pan let soak for at least 24hrs
spray and wipe down the entire enclosure EVERY DAY (put white paper towel down for substrate)
rinse the snakes that have the mites EVERY DAY under warm water
Depending how bad they are depends on the time for them to go away

You had a good start but let me change things up a bit.

Your Nix solution is fine and using it works.

Simply remove the water dish and you can toss out loose substrate and use paper towel in the mean time. Spray the entire enclosure/tub down including the snake.

Let sit for the night then replace the water dish. (You don't want the snake to soak right after and then drink and ingest the nix)

Repeat in 2 weeks.