Mites

klvan · 12-26-02, 10:41 AM

New to the forum. Had a very small problem with a few mites in vivarium of 4 month old corn snake. Seems to be eliminated but want to do a preventative once a week to prevent reoccurance. I am suspicious of sprays recommended because of the fact the snake is still a baby. I have been recommended Provent-A-Mite, Reptile Relief and Black Knight. Does anyone have any opinion about these in the vivarium of a baby snake? Manufacturer of Reptile Relief emailed me that it was fine to use. Do they work?

Lisa · 12-26-02, 02:02 PM

We've used Provent-a-Mite with no problems. I do stress read the directions regardless of what method you go with use caution. With provent-a-mite you are recommended to wait 15 minutes before returning the snake to the cage we usually wait 1/2 an hour just to be safe.

you can see my review for Provent-A-Mite at http://www.ssnakess.com/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=9

tightsqueeze · 12-27-02, 07:20 PM

try NIX you can get it at Shoppers Drug Mart put about 2 inch of water in your tub and 1/2 of the bottle of nix and let your snake swim in it for about 15-20 minutes max (supervised) it is shampoo but it works great ....and you will also have to do your ENTIRE herp collection it won't hurt your snakes at all , you will have to do this every 3 days until you have done it 4 times then your mites should be gone !!!

just my method not telling you to do it that way but it works for me !!

good luck

jay

Linds · 12-27-02, 07:32 PM

I agree with Jay in that Nix is the best way to go. Though I owuld recommend that method. It's possible the snake might take some in while swimming in it, as well as that's jsut a little harsh to put the snake directly in the treatment in the form of a soak. Dilute 1 bottle of Nix shampoo to 1 gallon of water and put in a sprayer bottle. Remove water bowl and spray down snake and enclosure, replace water bowl when everything is dry.

As for reptile relief. We decided to try it instead of PAM as a preventative measure at work, and I can tell you the stuff is awful. I couldn't breathe at all! It was so harsh, it had us gasping and wheezing - and this was following directions closely. I can't imagine how it would be for those little snakies that have to live in there

BoidKeeper · 12-27-02, 07:58 PM

I've had great success with Vapona; it’s a pest strip. I've had to use it with a very young corn once. Hey if its good enough for Jeff Ronne then its good enough for me.
Cheers,
Trevor

V.aw · 12-28-02, 09:56 PM

Vapona works.

Listerine/water mixture work svery well too.
Mix enough listerine in a container of water so the water is a golden brown, Not dark brown. Leave the snake to soak for awhile.

This has worked very well, and fast for me.

tightsqueeze · 12-28-02, 10:46 PM

i am documenting everyones methodes and i will try them on my friends collection. his collection is infested with mites right now, i will let you know what works i will group them out for each methond !

thanks
jay

Grant vg · 12-28-02, 11:05 PM

I agree with linds theres a reason why you dont spray nix while the water bowls in the enclosure. Letting it swim arround in it for 20 minutes is a bad idea.

Jeff_Favelle · 12-29-02, 12:31 AM

NIX is a soap that only works to its full potential when you let it dry on the snake and the substrate. Its useless to let a snake swim in the stuff, diluted or not.

BoidKeeper · 12-29-02, 08:14 AM

The thing about nix and any other soaking method is that it does nothing for the tank where more eggs are waiting to hatch. Vapona treats the cage and the snake at the same time. Just remember to change the water often; I was changing water 3 times a day in some cages. Make sure the vapona is in a container that cannot be opened. The amount of vapona should reflect the size of the animal and cage.
Cheers,
Trevor

Jeff_Favelle · 12-29-02, 12:50 PM

Ok Trev, Vapona will work on the cage as well, provided you keep your snake out of it. But then again, so will gasoline, fire, microwaves, and DDT. But why bother? (Not meant as a flame Trev!! But through all the PM's by now, you know my "humour", ha ha!). DO NOT recommend a product based on the fact that it works as a general agent. That's not a good thing.

If you are serious about getting rid of mites (there will be a sheet by the great Grant VG coming shortly) here's what you do:

1) Take your mite-infested animal away from its cage for starters!! OMG, why people insist on treated their snakes in the same cage is beyond me.

2) Set up your reptile in a new Rubbermaid with newspaper or paper-towel only. No water dish. Spray the reptile with the already aformentioned dilutions of NIX. Let it dry.

3) When its dry, put a water dish back in the Rubbermaid.

4) Nuke the old cage and the old furnishings. I don't care how you do it, just do it. Freeze it, light it on fire, bomb it, who cares. Mites travel 10M per hour so the faster you get rid of the source the better.

5) Day 2, take the water dish out from the new Rubbermaid again and spray the reptile with NIX (aformentioned dilutions). Let it dry.

6) Reptile is ready for permanent cage. This took all of 36 hours and the mite problem is completely gone, no one has cancer, and the reptiles are safe.

Mites suck, but really, they are the easiest thing to get rid of. My concern is not that the reptiles have mites, but why they do? Where's this source? How many WC animals do they have? Are they not quarantining? Do they not respect their customers enough to NOT pass on their husbandry inadequacies? Do they even know what quarantining is?

These are all real concerns and should not be taken lightly. Mites are a cinch to get rid of from one snake (a whole collection, depending on the size, is another thing). But what did these mites pass on before they were eliminated? When I see a snake with mites, I look right past the mites to waaaayyy scarier and more terrible things.

Also, aside from step #4, any new snake coming into my collection goes through the same process. I know enough people that keep too much garbage to know that no snake is concidered clean when coming into my house.

Cheers.

BoidKeeper · 12-29-02, 01:29 PM

Ah but Jeff I'm not recommending it on that basis. I'm simply sharing my experience with it and that of others, Jeff Ronan being one in particular. I do agree with you about moving the snake into a Rubbermaid. Nothing is easier to clean then a Rubbermaid. I've cleaned mine one every two days for a week with a bit of bleach to make sure everything dies. Then the cage can be sealed with vapona in it for about a week to dry out any eggs left inside.
So here is exactly what worked for me.
1. Small deli cup or chip dip container perforated with needle size holes. Holes too small to let a tongue inside.
2. Cut vapona into 1" cubes.
3. Place appropriate amount of cubes in container depending on the size of the cage and snake. Seal it with duct tape
4. Disposable water dishes. Tossed 3 times a day and fresh water added.
5. Leave in cage for two weeks.
This is the way I did it the first time and it worked great. The second time I brought mites home only one snake was infected so I removed it and the cage from the room. I cleaned the cage with bleach and sealed it with vapona inside and left it for a week.
I placed the snake in a Rubbermaid with vapona and everything was cleaned up in a week. I waited three more weeks for any other eggs that I may have missed to surface.
There happy now Jeff>( ha ha,
Trevor

Jeff_Favelle · 12-29-02, 02:14 PM

Heh heh, I thought you were going to to clean rodents Trev??? Ha ha!!

Ok, here we go again....

Vapona kills mites. Yes. I agree. So does gasoline. Shall I pour petrol on your lovely BRB's for you Trev? Heh heh, I didn't think so! Vapona is carcinogenic!! Its bad. I posted all the specifics on a previous thread. The long term effects are not completely known, but why risk it when NIX is so easy and works (with the methods above) so well? I would much rather kill mites by using a soap than by using cancer-causing stomach poison vapours.

But again, that is only my opinion and Vapona has been around in our industry for just about ever. Its probably going to be around for a long time too. And people will use it. Just not me. Not when there are alternatives.

I haven't had a mite since 1991. I even forgot what they look like.

Thanks for the discussion Trev. Excellent reply to boot! Thanks.

Previous thread:

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showt...&threadid=8342

Lisa · 12-29-02, 02:15 PM

I like provent-a-mite because it treats the substrate. This can prevent mites from coming in when you change the substrate. Of course you don't treat the actual animal with it, just the enclosure sans waterbowl.

Dom · 12-29-02, 05:54 PM

Nice conversation everyone! lol

See my problem is i come into contact with way way too many animals each day at my work from drop off to the zoo animals .. and this is the 2nd time in 2 years i have brought something home.. I think mites happens to even the best of us .. I am using nix so far for the first time ever and all I can say - is i am very IMPRESSED! I have not used vapona so i will not vouch an opinion.

All I can say is there a pain in the *** but its easy to over come so take the time and fix ure problem in the safest way u can..

Dom