Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, at least now I know why the little guy wasn't eating, and why he's spending so much time soaking. How do I get rid of them though? What's a good way to kill off the mites?

Also, what might have caused it? I just noticed one on his back and one on his eye. He is on aspen bedding. Could this have something to do with it?

Thanks in advance.

Hey I have the same problem time to time when I pick up a rescue or get sold a snake which I find out later was wc...... The thing with mites is no matter how hard you try you will most likely not be able to get rid of them on the first try (it is possible though). You basically have to clean the entire enclosure and the snake it self...the best/most effective method is up for argument...some say ivory dish soap with bleach alternative....personally I use a package lllreptile offers ...it's actually two separate products but how you go about it depends on your preference. First off I live in Wisconsin so in the winters its hard for me to go outside and effectively use "Proventamite" it's been recommend to me time after time but I don't have any place in my home to spray it where there will be no animal contact ..and its cold/wet/crappy outside so it would be a pain to let it dry outside...so my alternative was "reptile relief" its a fairly easy to use product and kills mites on contact...however you will most likely use it several times to come...its a little weak but it keeps the mites in check for the time being. If you live in a climate which you can use proventamite that's your best bet....if your in a snowy place like me use the package...reptile relieve to slow them down till you can use the good stuff then when it warms up use reptile relief....some also have had luck with tetras rid mite (i think that's what its called) you dilute it in water and spray/soak your snake... there's a number of products you can use but these are the ones I know of...my aunt uses lime juice....it seems to work but I rather stick to what I have lol
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we're here because a hobby became an obsession... if only every one had this much fun

some days your the dog, some days your the hydrant...don't know who started this saying but it's the truth

i have heard that aspen sometimes does have mites in it. you can put the aspen in a frezer for awhile and it will kill the mites if there are any in it. i would inspect your aspen bedding that has not been used yet, if you still have it, and see if you can find any. if you do i would just throw it out and go get another bag. i use aspen for my ferrets and rats and it seemd to be a big problem for ferret and rat owners. although i have never had any problems with it myself.
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brandy

NIX, NIX, and NIX. A little goes a long way !!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

Prevent a Mite works really well. I suggest soaking the cage completely in hot soapy water (mild dishsoap works for this stage) for about 20 minutes, wash the cage, especially in the cracks and joints. Rinse well. Throw away any substrate and cage furnature that is made out of wood, or bake at 200-300F in the oven for an hour or so to kill eggs. Bleach the cage and non porous cage accessores with a 10:1 ratio (water to bleach) This is pretty strong, so having a window open in the bathroom or whereever you decide to do the cleaning. Rinse everything very well several times with clean cold water. Let air dry.

The snake, soak in luke warm water (about 75F or a bit cooler, depending on the type of snake, but for ball pythons, that is good). Give the snake time to swim around and drink. Once he isn't drinking anymore, add some betadine to the water till it looks like weak tea. Soak for about 10 minutes. What this does, is disinfects any mite bites on your snake and drowns what mites are on the snake. Once done, take snake out and put him back in his cage or a holding container (make sure it isn't one he was in before, as mites could be in it and he will get reinfected right away)

Once the cage is dry and no longer has any bleach smell, set it up simply, papertowel or newsprint for substrate and a couple hides. Spray with Prevent a Mite, following directions on the can. Once this is dry place the snake and water dish into the cage with water. Repeat in about 2-4 weeks once or twice more, to ensure mites are all gone.

Do the same routine for all snakes in the same building at least once. Though mites tend to be species specific I have had mites move onto three species of snakes, ball pythons, rainbow boa and corn snakes,though the rainbow boa was the most infested. It could just be mites looking for the rainbow specifically and sampled other snakes along the way but why risk it? Better to do a big job once or twice than doing a whole lot of little jobs for a very long time LOL.

The above routine worked great for me, much better than doing the washing and disinfecting part once or twice a week. As mites only spend about one or two stages of their lifecycle on the snake feeding,it is hard to kill them all at once. Eggs and some other stages are very resistance to cold though most are not so resitant to high levels of heat..levels that would kill your snake. I am not sure freezing wood shavings will have much if any effect on any mites that may be hiding in it. The only way mites can get into aspen or other forms of snake bedding, would be from the petstore/reptile show they were bought in. As mites do migrate, they may use such beddings to lay eggs or hide, while waiting for their next stage of life or a host to come near. Best thing to do is buy bedding/substrates where snakes and other reptiles are not also sold. Walmart often carries cypress mulch, aspen shavings etc that can be used with snakes.

There is a very interesting article about the life cycle of reptile mites at the following link. Also is the method of cleaning and disinfecting reptiles and their cages. Prevent a mite does work. It is also a very good ideal to spray cages of any new snakes coming into the home/collection, as a precaution. This will kill all the adults or biting stages of the mites on the snake and prevent reinfestation.

www.anapsid.org/mites.html
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PHLdyPayne

If you've got a full infestation going and can see lots of adult mites - there is a very good chance that they are outside of the snakes immediate environment. Especially if you handle your snakes often or have had the snakes out of their cages it's very likely you have been inadvertantly been spreading them throughout the house.

You should also PAM the rack, surrounding walls and carpet or flooring and anywhere you have had the snakes or else you run the risk of repeated infestations.

To be on the safest side I recommend bug bombing your house, throwing out your current vaccuum bag and put a couple of mothballs in a new one to use (in case you pick up some strays in the vaccum the mothballs will kill them), keep your substrate PAMed for several months as a preventative measure.

Be vigilant next time you are somewhere that has reptiles or oder from a reptile supplier - be it the pet shop or a show or even around your friends reptiles, make sure when you get home you don't handle your snakes until you've washed up properly. Quarantine your animals for three months on PAMed substrate.

And hopefully you won't have to go through it again!
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

I've treated Steve (BP) the best I could with what I could find locally. I let him soak for a while in luke warm water, and I saw a few mites at the bottom of the container. I also saw quite a few in the bottom of his water dish. While he was soaking, I cleaned his tank. I filled it to the brim with hot water, some mild dish soap, and a tiny bit of bleach. After draining that, I refilled it with regular water about 6 times to rinse out any residue. Then I dried it part way, sprayed the inside with some 'Reptile Relief' (the only good mite spray I could find here), and wiped it dry. I let it set for a little while. I moved the snake into a dry rubbermaid container (that he has never been in before), let him dry, and then sprayed him with the 'reptile relief' (which really made him mad).

I put paper towels in the bottom of his tank, used cardboard as hidespots, and cleaned his water dish like I would any other dish (as it is a regular ceramic dish). his hidespots (saucers from clay pots, much like Pro Exotics uses) have soaked in a water/bleach mixture (which was somewhere between 10:1 and 20:1).

After making it clear that he doesn't want me to mess with him like this again (though I might), the little hissing demon went back into his sterile, dry, hopefully mite-free cage.

I'm going to order prevent-a-mite, and I think I should get that beta...dine? Can't remember right now what exactly it is, so I'll have to check the post again. Where can I find it?

So now I'm going to let him settle in and see if I can see any signs that there are still mites. If not, then I will try feeding him on sunday or monday, and go from there. I have the rest of the (unused) aspen bedding in my freezer, but I can understand how that probably wouldn't do much good, so I will probably have to look into finding a different source.

As for how he got mites, I don't see any way other than eggs in the bedding. I have had him almost a month and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until just this week, and I noticed the first little bug on him the other day (followed by lots of soaks in the water dish). I don't handle him yet, and I have handled any other snakes in the meantime. He is the only snake in my household and there hasn't been any other snakes living there for 7 years. I do keep lizards and a tortoise, but I have never seen any mites on them/in their enclosures. Are they susceptible to mites too? I have a leo, a beardie, a uro, and a russian tort.

Thanks for all of the info!