... remember how small mite eggs are and that once they are laid in bedding or on a dusty shelf they can easily travel by air. So maybe mites can "fly"

These damn things are incredibly scary. Its not so bad when you are uninformed about mites but once you dig into their life cycle they can be SCARY! Anyone ever had a huge wall of racks that had mites and killed them all and months later had mites pop up in the center of the wall of cages? I haven't had this but I know someone who did. So how long can mite eggs REALLY lay dormant?

Since we have a retail store we have always had to be careful with pests like these. Whenever you have people coming into your facility that have been exposed to reptiles elsewhere you run the risk of problems such as these. I always found that mites were at their worst in the fall. Just a personal observation from a retailer. Thankfully we have not had a mite issue in several years. Thank god for good captive bred stock!

We have never had a mite problem in the breeding collection. I could only imagine the stress we would be under if we ever got mites in our baby room or colubrid room. What a nightmare it could be!

I think your "moat" idea would probably work well but it wouldn't hurt to spray down every inch of rack you can to kill those eggs and demonic little hatchling mites!

DIE MITES DIE!!!

Good luck...
-----
Sean Bradley
Owner : EbN
www.ExoticsByNature.com
www.BallPythonMorphs.com
www.CornSnakeMorphs.com

[ Hide Replies ]

• Mites, Alcatraz, and the Dark Ages - CJBianco, Sat Mar 5 10:56:39 2005
• RE: It would probably work BUT... - Exotics by Nature, Sat Mar 5 11:30:27 2005
• RE: It would probably work BUT... - CJBianco, Sat Mar 5 11:42:53 2005
• RE: Mites, Alcatraz, and the Dark Ages - toshamc, Sat Mar 5 11:33:30 2005
• RE: Mites, Alcatraz, and the Dark Ages - CJBianco, Sat Mar 5 11:48:54 2005
• RE: Mites, Alcatraz, and the Dark Ages - Andrew3, Sat Mar 5 12:38:13 2005
• RE: Mites, Alcatraz, and the Dark Ages - CJBianco, Sat Mar 5 12:49:30 2005
• RE: Mites, Alcatraz, and the Dark Ages - ginebig, Sat Mar 5 13:32:06 2005
• Keep it SIMPLE ! - John Q, Sat Mar 5 17:28:04 2005
• RE: Mites, Alcatraz, and the Dark Ages - reiding@nettally, Mon Mar 7 09:06:06 2005
• RE: Mites, Alcatraz, and the Dark Ages - coldthumb, Mon Mar 7 16:05:25 2005