>>lol. I guess compared to your collection, it is small. I have about 70 snakes. I have been lucky enough to keep the mites out of my hatchling racks and my yearling racks.
70 isn't small by any means. I was just pointing out it CAN be done. I'm not nearly that large anymore. That size was back when I used snakes to help pay my way through college as an undergrad. Now it's a hobby, and I think I'm staying under 175 at the time being.
>>I was told to remove the snakes from the aspen!! thats why I have them on newspaper.
If you aren't using prevent-a-mite, I would agree. BUT, that is the "old school" way of getting rid of them. That's why it USED to be so hard to get rid of mites. You CAN'T clean enough to get rid of all the eggs. Spraying the litter with the prevent-a-mite makes the litter the agent to help kill the mites. It's good to have when trated properly. If you aren't using prevent-a-mite, get rid of the shavings. That's good advice.
>>I know the proventamite says it works for a month, but I'd use it in a cage, then spray the snake with the de flea reptile relief (proventamite is not supposed to be used directly on the snake from what I hear).
Not to belabor a point, but you don't need to put ANYTHING directly on the snake if you use the prevent-a-mite properly. I've received snakes loaded in mites (in the past). One treatment of the litter, and the mitres were GONE each time. THAT is what convinced me.
> But then I'd find a mite on the snake a few days later and have to clean the cage all over again. I have gone through two cans in about a month or so.
That's where yo messed up. The mites don't die all at once. If you treat the cage with prevent-a-mite properly, don't worry about the mite you see. It's dead and don't know it. Don't get rid of the substrate. That was probably one at a stage prevent-a-mite isn't designed to kill.....or it just hadn't come into contact with the litter yet because it was under the edge of a scale or something. Seriously, I can't stress this enough. If you still see mites after the second treatment (31 days later with new substrate in a cleaned cage), you either didn't treat it right OR you have an outside source of infection. PLUS, in addition to the litter, spray the racks, carpet, whatever with the stuff. Make sure to reduce the chance of secondary re-infection like no other method can.
>>Someone mentioned that RID is the same. I checked the labels and the active ingredients are the same, but neither list the non-active ingredients. Anyone have bad reactions to RID?
The active ingredient is ALMOST the same. RID and prevent-a-mite, if I remember correctly, are cis and trans versions of the same molecules. I don't remember which is which, but the prevent-a-mite (trans, I think, but I don't remember for sure) is the version that is MUCH safer for your snake. So, it is NOT the same molecule, but is made up of the same atoms put together in the same order, except as the MIRROR image of the RID molecule.
Don't ask me why that makes one safer for your snakes, but their testing to allow them to list the insecticide as safe for reptiles shows that it is safer. I've lost snakes to most of the OTHER methods, but NEVER to prevent-a-mite. I've used it more than all the other methods combined, too, since I treat all new snakes JUST in case....lol.
KJ
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KJUN Snakehaven
