Lanalizard,
I agree with Zoe, Nix is the safest method and it is every bit as effective as the commercial mite treatments. It has the highest margin of safety (hey it's for humans! all the commercial mite treatments need to be used in well-ventilated areas and avoid contact with skin, etc... kinda scary eh?).
killaclown,
Mites are not always indicative of poor conditions, etc. All you need is a mite to hop on to you at a pet store, or in a bag of substrate and travel home to your reptiles. Mites are especially an issue at reptile expos since there are all sorts of breeders and dealers crammed into one room... although you can control who touches your animals, you don't have control who is at the table next to you or across, and mites can travel over 12 feet in one day
In response to all posts pertaining to Vapona, here's one of my favourite posts on the topic...
Quote:
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...ichlorvos.html
http://www.prop65news.com/pubs/p65ne...07/920714.html
http://infoventures.com/e-hlth/pestcide/dichlorv.html
Thanks for listening.
Dom, sorry to butcher your thread, but at least there's learning going on right (inside joke), ha ha!
Happy Holidays.
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