Very good answer Tosha!!!

"At the temperatures of most snake collections, the complete life cycle of the snake mite can be completed in 13 to 19 days. At cooler temperatures, some individuals may live up to 40 days."

"There is a common belief among keepers that mite eggs in some conditions may remain viable for extended periods. While this has been documented for some species of ticks, Camin's research on mites found no evidence to support this belief."

VPI

Average egg hatches in 1-4 days so if you keep you you cage temps up you would probably have them goon in a month but more then likely if someone used this as a way to get ride of mites they could just though it cage is storage for 2 months and should be mite free. Mites will not live their full life cycle with out a blood host as well, making it much harder to last 40 days.

For anyone who finds this interesting and would like to know more about those little parasites we all hate you can find a great artical on VPI's website (vpi.com) called the history of snake mites.

That is where I got my info.
Matt

[ Hide Replies ]

• Mites - exoticball, Sun Oct 5 19:07:13 2008
• RE: Mites - toshamc, Sun Oct 5 19:16:18 2008
• RE: Mites - exoticball, Mon Oct 6 11:29:49 2008
• research my friend - mikeduran, Mon Oct 6 06:50:34 2008
• RE: research my friend - exoticball, Mon Oct 6 12:50:11 2008
• the Barker-VPI Ball book - robyn@ProExotics, Mon Oct 6 20:45:20 2008