Mites!!!! OMG we have mites!!! - Page 3

GyGbeetle · 03-01-17, 06:45 PM

Very frustrated, because we STILL have mites! We finished our fifth Nix treatment of ALL of our tanks this past Sunday, and today, we found a SINGLE mature mite in the same tank we discovered mites in over a month ago. Just one. That's all we're finding, is a single mature mite every 2-3 weeks, in the same tank. All the tanks are being treated, none of the other tanks have had any mites, so where the heck is this single mite coming from?

We've soaked the snakes, nothing comes off ANY of them. We are now treating the tank we found the single mite in as I type this, but I'm getting frustrated. Shouldn't they be completely gone by now? I think maybe I should start the PAM tank method back up, with Nix treatment on the snakes, for another month. But that's soooooo much work, and I want to buy a new snake. Even in quarantine, I don't want to bring in another animal into this.

What gives? I'd understand it more if we found mites on one of the snakes, or found a bunch of mites. But it's literally a SINGLE mite, every 2-3 weeks. This is the third spotting in the last 5 weeks.

Please, someone help explain this to me, or what we're doing wrong.

Scubadiver59 · 03-01-17, 06:52 PM

Think "Apocolypse Now"...Napalm works wonders!

**Andy_G** · 03-01-17, 06:54 PM

I'll reiterate how fast they can travel...a mite can travel the length of your house in a matter of hours...30 feet per hour, faster at warmer than average room temp or if not engorged. That's why I mentioned in the other thread you started about it notbeing the best idea to take in any more rescues in until the matter has been completely resolved. Once they little buggers have finished feeding, they go into hiding and there simply has to be somewhere you're missing as far as treatment goes. You're probably seeing mature females that have already laid eggs if it's only a single mite here and there. Saying all of that...you've only been treating for 2 full months, and 3 months is often a good idea when it comes to treatment so you're really not there yet. Keep at it, and try to identify what you're missing, it's impossible for us to figure that out since we aren't the ones doing the treatments.

Kathryntheclean · 03-01-17, 07:30 PM

You want I should come over and help? I'm getting good at this- me and my tiny bottle of Ivermectin! You're getting the carpet everywhere you keep your snakeys, right?

GyGbeetle · 03-01-17, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_G

I'll reiterate how fast they can travel...a mite can travel the length of your house in a matter of hours...30 feet per hour, faster at warmer than average room temp or if not engorged. That's why I mentioned in the other thread you started about it notbeing the best idea to take in any more rescues in until the matter has been completely resolved. Once they little buggers have finished feeding, they go into hiding and there simply has to be somewhere you're missing as far as treatment goes. You're probably seeing mature females that have already laid eggs if it's only a single mite here and there. Saying all of that...you've only been treating for 2 full months, and 3 months is often a good idea when it comes to treatment so you're really not there yet. Keep at it, and try to identify what you're missing, it's impossible for us to figure that out since we aren't the ones doing the treatments.

That's what's so confusing. It's staying in just this one tank. We have a room of tanks. I would think the other snakes would have mites, but it's staying just in this one tank.

Even the original tank we found mites in hasn't shown any since our first treatment back in January. So we're not killing the eggs. Where are they hiding? What the (so many bad words I want to say right now).

Neither of the 2 rescues have any mites either.

Gggggrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

We're going to purchase PAM this weekend and continue with the Nix on everyone else. I'm so over this crud

Kathryntheclean · 03-01-17, 07:42 PM

I don't know...my vet said (and I understand this is just one guy, but) the nix is a different kind of medication for mite removal and is not as strong as the ivermectin. However, that ivermectin is deadly if not used correctly on your snake. If all else fails, you might try some.

GyGbeetle · 03-01-17, 07:50 PM

For the first tank where we have babies, we soaked them daily and then treated them with JurassiMite the first 2 weeks we discovered the mites. We treated everyone's tank with PAM, and 2 weeks later treated only this tank with JurassiMite, even after finding mites in the tank that's infected now. About 4 weeks later (egg hatching cycle) is when we found that single mite in the second tank, but the first has remained mite free.

So we are going to soak the boa in the currently affected tank daily and treat with JurassiMite, while treating that tank with PAM, and continue treating all other tanks and snakes with Nix for another month. PAM we only use every 2 weeks, but it's potent, and kills the eggs, so 3 PAM treatments spaced out every 2 weeks I PRAY will kill these dirty bastards. And continue weekly Nix for another 5 treatments on everyone else.

I don't know what we are missing. I've been spraying everything. Even the darned cats. We soaked the boa tonight while I sprayed the tank with Nix, and 1 more mite jumped off. But when the baby boas were infected, we found maybe 10 mites during our first soak, and a little less with each subsequent soak, until they were gone.

So frustrating. And so weird. I really hate these things. HATE THEM!

GyGbeetle · 03-01-17, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathryntheclean

I don't know...my vet said (and I understand this is just one guy, but) the nix is a different kind of medication for mite removal and is not as strong as the ivermectin. However, that ivermectin is deadly if not used correctly on your snake. If all else fails, you might try some.

You're right. It is a more potent pesticide, and snake mites are rather resilient. I'm going to retry PAM for another month and see if it makes a difference. If in 2 weeks we aren't making progress, I'll call the vet and let them know what we've done. I hate to do that because the vet is over an hour away, but what else can ya do?

Kathryntheclean · 03-01-17, 08:15 PM

Yeah, I have really fallen for this baby corn snake. He's nicer than my cats, he doesn't ruin the couch like my dogs, and he should live longer than my poor wonderful lizard who got big, beautiful, and then died quite unexpectdly after 3 years with her. I just never knew how awesome he'd be or I'd have had snakes years ago! You gotta do what you gotta do for them. And the ivermectin is good, dear! Those mites are laying in a layer of death at the bottom of his cage after a treatment. I just clean them up, let the snake rest, and spray again the next day. Pretty soon, no blood suckers will be on him! I was so glad for that vet visit!

**EL Ziggy** · 03-02-17, 12:17 AM

@ Beetle- Did one of your snakes came with mites or did you pick them up at an expo?
@ Kathryn- I'm sorry your intro to snakes started with the dreaded mites. Did your snake arrive with them and if so have you contacted the breeder? It wouldn't be cool if (s)he sold you a snake and had any idea that it might have mites.
Mites are my worst nightmare as a snake keeper. I really hope you all totally eradicate those pests ASAP so you can get back to enjoying your snakes.

GyGbeetle · 03-02-17, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL Ziggy

@ Beetle- Did one of your snakes came with mites or did you pick them up at an expo?
@ Kathryn- I'm sorry your intro to snakes started with the dreaded mites. Did your snake arrive with them and if so have you contacted the breeder? It wouldn't be cool if (s)he sold you a snake and had any idea that it might have mites.
Mites are my worst nightmare as a snake keeper. I really hope you all totally eradicate those pests ASAP so you can get back to enjoying your snakes.

I don't know

. We check all of the snakes for mites on intake, and our last snake was November before the mite incident. Mites were found January (New Years present). But they were found in a tank of snakes we've had since June. The last show we went to, one of the vendors brought mites. I like touching the snakes at these shows, and had one climbing in my hair (probably a bad idea). That was in early December. So timewise, it seems more logical that we brought them home in December. And so far it only impacted 2 of our 10 tanks in the same room. And now only 1 tank has them. We treat all the tanks and animals, but only 1 tank has them. I don't get it. But we're going to treat everyone for another month and keep our fingers crossed.

There's a big show coming up. I want to go to it. But I'm worried we might bring home more hitchhikers

akane · 03-02-17, 03:01 AM

I'm not sure the exact risk level of ivermectin in reptiles. I only took vet classes on mammals and treated my own where ivermectin for the most part is quite safe. With a few breed exceptions and the odd thing like cats that are sensitive to it. My bull snake was kept an extra month and treated with ivermectin because the person missed some mites on new snakes despite quarantine and they were in the same room. I could have saved $40 on shipping otherwise but oh well my snake physiology and health knowledge was even lower then so $40 to have an experienced person do it. It's less than the vet. They treated every snake with ivermectin just in case. Ivermectin still doesn't kill eggs though so you still have to repeat treatments on intervals with eggs hatching until you get them all. I would imagine after getting mites once you might be more willing to go for the big guns and risk it than treat for so long only to question if they are even gone yet.

Parasites do often persist on one animal or group of animals over others due to various factors making them more susceptible. The variables are so numerous though you often never find out why. Without fail though they usually spread again if you don't keep at it.

Kathryntheclean · 03-02-17, 06:57 AM

We are a rescue family, El Ziggy, so every single pet we own has been from a shelter or a person selling them because they could not take proper care of them. Such is the case of our little corn baby, Alex. We bought him and his habitat and a months worth of food from a girl who kept him in very poor conditions. I thought with him being so young, he was going to be pretty well. But, when we first saw his cage, my daughter and I could see it was not taken care of. He was living in very dirty conditions! So, it's not really surprising that something was wrong with him. I just wish the young lady had said, "He might have mites". But, she didn't seem too knowledgeable on him. And he was very listless coming home. I'm glad we got him, because I don't think he'd have lived long in his other owners hands.

GyGbeetle · 03-02-17, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akane

I'm not sure the exact risk level of ivermectin in reptiles. I only took vet classes on mammals and treated my own where ivermectin for the most part is quite safe. With a few breed exceptions and the odd thing like cats that are sensitive to it. My bull snake was kept an extra month and treated with ivermectin because the person missed some mites on new snakes despite quarantine and they were in the same room. I could have saved $40 on shipping otherwise but oh well my snake physiology and health knowledge was even lower then so $40 to have an experienced person do it. It's less than the vet. They treated every snake with ivermectin just in case. Ivermectin still doesn't kill eggs though so you still have to repeat treatments on intervals with eggs hatching until you get them all. I would imagine after getting mites once you might be more willing to go for the big guns and risk it than treat for so long only to question if they are even gone yet.

Parasites do often persist on one animal or group of animals over others due to various factors making them more susceptible. The variables are so numerous though you often never find out why. Without fail though they usually spread again if you don't keep at it.

So how much longer should I treat? How do I get rid of the eggs? I know the snakes aren't suffering because we're not letting the mites get out of control, so they aren't getting dehydrated or any of the other bad stuff mites can do, but I want them gone. What can I do???? Nix them indefinitely? Burn down all their tanks and buy new ones?

After talking with my husband last night, I think that they are hiding up underneath this girl's scales, laying their eggs, and then disappearing. I don't know how to kill those eggs, because that's what's happening. We are finding a mite when you would expect the eggs to have hatched and the mites to have matured. And we're not finding a lot of mites coming off of her when we soak her, so they must be doing something to survive.

SOOOOOO FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!! MAKE THEM GO AWAY!!!!!!