Reptile & Amphibian Forums

which is better? for a very small possible promblem? im not sure if i have mites or not? thanks all!!

Never used either. We use frontline. Expensive, but work really well. A small mite problem can very quickly become a big one, though...

for ball pythons?

Yup. Treat the cage, and the snake with a paper towel. Wear gloves. Then withhold the water bowl for 24 hours. Another breeder showed us this, and we haven't had mites in house since. If they appear, they appear on a newly accquired animal, so we usually just treat the animal when it arrives to be proactive.

Hey - I've heard alot of people using this now and was hoping to get specifics from.

Can Frontline be used directly on the snakes?
Is there a specific type to use - dog/cat powder/spray?
What is the treatment method? Snake cage rinse and repeat?
How effective? Do you have to keep treating or does it kill eggs to?

Thanks!
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Tosha

We use the spray. We treat the cage with papertowel, the snake with papertowel, other surfaces around the cage as well. Then we withhold the waterbowl for about 24 hours. We usually monitor the animals and reapply once more if necessary. Mites don't reappear. IF we have an outbreak, it always seems to come from a new animal.

You can usually find the stuff online, by our local vet will sell it for use on reptiles as well. It may be expensive, but it works really well.

Reptile Relief does not work very well and plainly it just sucks

Frontline works i use the spray on my boas and it takes a while but it works but it does cost more money

Provent a mite is my suggestion.. spray the cage and the bedding and within 2 or 3 days all the mites are gone. it kills the eggs also....

John
Zinger

i was looking on the frontline website and they talk about the spray you were refering to and do not reccomend it for any pets other than cats or dogs?

Out vet says it is fine and sells it to us readily.

We have been using frontline for nealry a year now. We have literally treated over 1,000 reptiles with it. We put on rubber gloves, spray it onto our palm and massage it onto the animal.

When we bought our second store (hundreds of animals and hundreds of thousands of mites) we treated them all. No mites since.

The spray on product is iso-propyl alcohol based. Keep it out of the mouth cloaca and eyes (if a lizard). Eyes are not a prob for snakes.

It takes about five days for all mites, nymphs, eggs to feed on the snake and die.

One treatment and DONE!
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

NAMED BEST REPTILE STORE IN LOS ANGELES

Same as Provent a mite only cheaper. They sell it at WalMart. It is normally for head lice.

I usually use reptile relief on the animal and prevent a mite in the tubs. Keep on paper towels and remove water.

>>I usually use reptile relief

Reptile Relief is a soap based product. No chemical poisons. However, it only kills on contact. That means once it is dry it is NOTHING. Further, if the eggs hatch after the RR is dry they will have no barrier to feeding on your snake.

FRONTLINE!
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

NAMED BEST REPTILE STORE IN LOS ANGELES

Please don't waste time with other products; PAM is the be-all-and-end-all of mite killers. I had a problem w/ mites in my collection; tried RR and it relieved them for about a few weeks.. so now I treat any new snakes' cages with PAM.. they are gone! You may have to reapply as noted on the can in a month or so.
I wouldn't use anything not specifically made for reptiles.
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1.3 normal BPs
1.0 Pastel BP (Graziani, from the Sutherlands)
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog
1.1 breeding Clawed frogs
1.0 black cat
0.2 paint mares, 1.1 paint foals
Also have fancy goldfish, african cichlids, and rats.

WOW . why spend all the money!!! if you like spending money let me know. i use and been useing DE FLEA REPTILE RELIEF snake safe
all over the snake just spry,not eye if you can but i have and i never have had a problem,it kills the suckers on contact,clean and spray the whole place down,easy safe and fast also use nik for head lice, works great same thing get the cream rinse and 32oz bottle warm water shake it up and your off spray the snake down it works great,have fun killing the little suckers (not)

I guess I forgot to reply to the original message ...

This is what I have used and the combination works great.

Treat the animal with the Reptile Relief spray him down with the RR (really soak him good with it) - use a q-tip with some RR to do the head. Let him sit for a few minutes in the RR - rinse him off then let him soak for about 20 more minutes in a warm bath. While he is soaking...

Clean and disinfect the cage, water dish and any furniture you are using. When dry - lay down either paper towel substrate or newspaper and spray cage and any furniture you have with PAM.

Also treat your surrounding areas if you have carpeting treat the carpeting either with the PAM or with a carpet flea treatment then vacuum it up and change your vacuum bag. If you can get away with flea bombing the whole house it'd be your best bet at killing everything (remove all animals).

When the PAM is dry in the cage you can put the snake back in.

Repeat all steps above in a couple of weeks and you should be fine.
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Tosha

i changed out all bedding and before i did im really not sure that i ever had mites? all i know is that i seen a small black bug on my snake and a few of these in her tub. i now cleaned out the tubs and i havent seen anything but i will check it often to see. im thinking maybe they came from the aspen bedding? looking at my snakes which one is an albino and havent noticed anything? also if this helps any when i took out the tub and was cleaning out im pretty sure a bug flew out of it which i killed. do mites eventually fly? thnaks again.