Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After someone on here told me they thought my BTS was acting wierd because of mites. So I did what I was told, I gave it a warm bath for 20 minutes. Cleaned all the things it its cage. Threw out all old substrate then vaccumed and rinsed the tank before adding new substrate. Everything seemed alright for about a week and now my skink is acting weird again. I've spotted 2 mites, one on the skink and one in the tank. How should I go about this? There could have been mites hiding under scales on its head that werent to effected by the bath? PetsMart sells mite treatment. Should I try it? I remembered hearing that stuff isnt always safe to use..
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

Be specific about the product you intend to use and we may be able to offer opinions. I've heard good things about prevent a mite. You are correct in that you won't eliminate the mties 100% without some sort of control agent.

Ian

They have one called De-Flea. "Kills and prevents mites on reptiles"
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

Grunngg,

If it is De Flea - Reptile Relief, made by Natural Chemistry - get it. That is what we used on a snake rescue. Works great!!

Follow the label instructions... easy!

Morgana

I use reptile Reliefe on my snakes and lizards and Provent A Mite on the enclosure and furnishings and I stand by and swear by both products
My Research and Collection

Well I cleaned the enclosure and bathed the Skink in warm water a week and a half ago when I first thought mites were a problem. Then I thought the mites might have come back. I wasnt sure so I didnt get the DeFlea stuff right away. Well, about 20 minutes ago now I went to go see my skink and I saw tons of mites on her and in the elclosure. Immediately I bathed my skink in the warm water. That flushed a lot off of him. I'll be treating her with DeFlea in about 15 minutes.
What should I do about the cage? I'll clean it out, of course. I don't have the Prevent A Mite stuff yet, so i'll have to run out and get that. Is there a different kind of substrate I could use temporarily until I know everythings taken care of? Could I make due with just paper towels for a couple days?

Where do the mites come from? I try to keep it pretty clean in the tank. If food is spilled I clean it right away. If the skink poops I take care of that right away.. My guess is, the mites came with it from PetsMart and when I cleaned the tank last I missed some of the eggs or something..
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

Technically the reptile relief should be use every three days. Read the instructions on the bottle. You can even wipe it on a reptile with a rag sprayed with the stuff. As far as killing the ones in the enclosure you need to spray the whole thing with it. Up and down each corner , in the corners and along the top and bottom inside edges. I let it set for 5 or 10 minutes then wipe the whole thing clean with bleach water, then a dry rag. If you miss ONE mite there is the chance of another outbreak. That's why the "every thre day" treatment is very important. Seems they lay eggs this often. I know it's a hassle, but in the long run it's worth it. JMHO.

Quig

The tank is cleaned. Sprayed it down with the formula and then washed it really good with scalding hot water (not really a fan of bleach). My skink, that poor thing is a trooper. It was bathed alot then I dried her and used the formula. BlueTongueSkinks.net said to use an Exacto Blade to scrape any dead mites from under the scales. Well, my skink is pretty new still, so its not overly calm when I hold it so I refuse to use an exacto blade, thats just asking for trouble. It also said I can use a toothpick but i feared wood shavings coming off under the scales, so I ended up using a screw. I worked for an hour, VERY gently working the mites out. I know I didnt get them all yet, will they eventually fall out? Or come off with the next shed? The part that really sucks is, I've found a live mite still on the skink. i'm hoping it was the last. I had trouble around the head with the formula. I ued a QTip to rub some on.

Let me know if you guys have any more tips. Or if i'm doing something wrong. Thanks a lot.

PS- Is it really necessary to repeat every 3 days? I do plan on repeating once or twice, but it really is a lot on my skink. I want to tame it, not stress it.
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com