Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what are some of the symptoms of mites? and what do the mites look like?

Large mites are not much bigger than a grain of table salt and are dark in color. If viewed with a magnifying lense you can see 8 legs. They can be quite mobile, look for little black things crawling on your lizard or on your hands after you've handled it.

Mites also like to hide in the ears, corners of the mouth, around the vent, in the arm pits, and under the scales.

A heavily infested lizard may rub against cage furnishings and will often have abraided / roughened scales. In very heavy infestations the lizard may become lethargic due to blood loss. If the infestation is in the early stages the lizard may be asymptomatic.

To determine if your lizard has mites, first watch it while it is in its enclosure. Do you see anything that looks like a dark grain of sand or spec of dirt on your lizard? If you don't see anything after watching for several minutes, pick up your lizard.

You'll need to do a thorough examination. Good lighting is essential. Mites will look like piecies of dirt. A mite will usually move if proded and is easily squished / popped. Check inside the ears, pull back the skin around the ears so you can get a good view (a flashlight may be helpful). Pull back the skin around the corners of the mouth (this may not be neccessary if your lizard already has its mouth open). Check behind each leg, and pull back the skin around the vent. Next look for any scales that appear to be raised especially those on the outside of the neck and on the front legs. If you see a raised scale try to gently scrape out whatever is underneath it.

Next get a damp paper towel and wipe down your lizard. Look for specs on the paper towel. Once you've put your lizard back in its cage, carefully examine your hands for mites.

Check the water dish. Mites are easily drowned and occaisionally fall in. I know that snakes will soak to try to drown their mites, but I have not seen this behavior in any of the southern als I've had.

Mites often go undetected until their numbers get quite high, so if you find them act quickly.

Hope this helps,
Alice

I agree with Alice on the mites message. I had the same unforunate experience a week ago and successfully got all of the mites out of my poor alligator lizard. You definitely need to diagnose it early and prevent the mites from spreading quickly. I used olive oil successfully to get rid of mites effectively.