Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last week I noticed my kingsnake had been thrashing around the cage uncontrolleably but I thought maybe her cage was just dirty so I cleaned it. Then this week she started doing it again, in a clean cage, so I suspected something was wrong. I looked on her back and I say tiny little mites crawling along her back. I was a little nervous b/c I never had this problem with my previous snake (garter) so I didn't know what to do. I took her out of her cage, put her in a little plastic box with warm water to soak in, and cleaned her cage and everything in it with bleach and soap. A few hours later I noticed a little mite crawling in her cage so I killed it. Did I do something wrong? How long will it take to fix this problem. She has stopped the thrashing but I'm wondering will they all come back since I did see another mite after the cleanse? How often will I have to repeat this procedure (soak cage with bleach, soak her in water etc.)? I didn't notice the mites when I first got her (March), however since I put Aspen shavings in the cage with her, she has been having this little problem. Could the aspen be the source of mites?

You will not be able to kill the mites by doing what you are doing. Some eggs will always survive. You need to use a mite killer. I would personally recommend provent-a-mite. I have used it in conjunction with a spray called reptile relief with 100% success.

Follow the directions and you will be mite free immediately.

Mites can take a few months to build up to noticeable proportions. I am sure your snake had them and it just took a little while to build up.

Provent a mite to me seems to be the best product on the market, just follow the directions to the T. Take your snake out and soak her in luke warm water(in a container), this will kill most of the mites on her. Clean her cage very well with water and dish soap, I don't like useing bleach, and clean it again, let it soak in water. Dry it, put in new bedding and spray it with provent a mite (follow the directions). Let it dry. Clean her water container (put that in last) and clean her hide box (let it dry too). Also spary areas around the cage. Then put her hide box back in, then your snake and last her water container. This should do the job. Reapply ''if'' they return. If done to the directions, the should be no more.

Agree with the two above posts EXCEPT I never use Proventamite. I have always bought "Bedding Spray" at Wal-Mart which is made to get rid of lice. Look at the ingredients - it is exactly the same stuff in the same proportions and only costs about $4 per can.

Also, in my opinion, you do not need to soak the snake. Just pull the water dish out of the cage, spray the cage down, put the snake back in the cage, and then put the water dish back in the cage in a couple of hours. The mites will be gone and probably will not be back.

You need to spray the whole carpet in that room, spray the stand that the cage is on and you will be good to go.
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Peter Jolles
East Coast Colubrids
www.eastcoastcolubrids.com

good point, i was going to mention lice bed spray , also soaking the infested snake with a cap full of lice shampoo Important soak snake first in clean water because they always drink when soaking, anyone notice that pre shed (blue)snakes are infested more than normal skin,anyhow knock on wood no mites this year !

The only good thing about mites is that they drown very fast and easy, simple water will do the trick, plus (to me) the less chemicals on and around my snake/snakes the better. What mites and their eggs do survive won't last long after being exposed to provent a mite.

I've have friends who have used Reptile Relief to kill mites, never have used it, so can't really say good, bad or? This is a spray that goes right on to the snake/snakes.

I'd go with provent a mite myself!

Well today when I went back and checked, I saw a few more mites that I had to kill with my hands. Then I noticed one on her, crawling over her eyes, so I took her out and soaked her again in some warm water. The only thing is, this isn't very effective because she WON'T put her head under the water. She just keeps flailing her body and trying to escape. I don't know where to get Provent A Mite, the only thing I have access to is Natural Chemistry Reptile Relief. Does anyone know how effective this is?

I have used that produce to treat an MBK that had mites and a WC alligator lizard that had ticks and mites. I removed the ticks before applying it.

In both cases I also sprayed the bedding with Prevent-a-Mite.

Reptile Relief gets rid of the mites on the reptile but it does not break the cycle - as there will be eggs in the bedding etc. which will hatch into new mites. That's where prevent-a-mite comes in. It kills any mites / eggs in the bedding, and probably on the snake as well - but with the reptile relief you are sure to get whatever is on the snake.

$20 for a bottle of Prevent-a-mite may seem expensive, but it lasts a long time.

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/vitamins-medicines-and-cage-cleaners/-/provent-a-mite-and-reptile-relief-8oz-combo/

$23.50 gets you both products - and you will get many applications out of them before they run out.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 18 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

i'm sold.

Preventamite is really great and I've been very happy with it, but I'm giving this stuff a shot next time I have to deal with mites....

Just as a precaution I use mite spray when changing substrate every other time or so..

byron.d

Keep in mind that the active ingredient is a known carcinogen and prolonged exposure to it can be harmful to you and your pets. As simple as it is to use I would recommend just using it when needed and not as a preventative. That said I tried it out on my pants this weekend while herping and at the end of the day i no ticks... maybe one step closer to cancer but no ticks.

Jason

Every single time.

East Bay Vivarium use to recommend Hartz because the ingredients were the same. Then Hartz changed the ingredients and some people ended up with dead reptiles.

If you aren't going to use a product designed for use with reptiles, look at the ingredients every freaking single time - because they do reformulate stuff from time to time.

Personally, I prefer to just buy the stuff intended for reptiles. It isn't that much more. I only use it on new aquisitions which are kept in a separate room.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 18 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

What color are the mites? If they are white, then they are wood mites, from the aspen, and are harmless. If they are black, then they are snake mites and should be treated with any Parmethrin based tick, mite, lice killer, which will also kill the wood mites. You can pay $20 for a bottle of Provent-a-mite through thebeanfarm.com or you can go to Wal-Mart and buy pet spray for $5, or you could waste untold amounts of money on unproven, supposedly pet friendly, products that do not work. The choice is yours. Good luck!
-Phil

Same ingredients and keeps the snakes clean to.
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"Yeah ya told me, and ya wrote it down too. But how the hell am I supposed to remember!"

I have seen this topic on many forums and I just wanted to throw in my .02

The active ingredient in proventamite and many other insecticides is .5% permethrin. This substance is a carcinogen and should not be used willy nilly, its not great for you or your snakes. However periodic small doses to treat infestations are obviously necessary and not overly harmful.

As several posters have noticed, the same active ingredient can be found in MANY other types of spray inceticides. And many of these products work just fine to treat snake mites. HOWEVER the other 95.5% of the ingredients can be anything! Just because it is not the active ingredient doesn't mean it can't harm your snakes.

I have personally killed two baby carpet pythons and a young blood python when I tried a generic spray many years ago. I believe it was called Black Knight but I could be wrong. I have also seen numerous other snakes at the vet from other generic anti mite sprays and poison blocks.

So yes, there are other cheaper options, but what you pay extra for from proventamite is the assurance that it has been tested on reptiles. Personally, I am careful not to bring mites into my collection, and on the rare occasion it is needed, I spring for the proventamite. One can has lasted me probably 8 years and is still not quite empty.

I would strongly recommend that people not go out and use just any spray they can find. If you want cheaper options talk to other herpers who have used them and can vouch for the products safety.

In fact I would love to here from people who use other sprays and can recommend specific brands.

Cheers to lots of eggs and no chiggers. Amen.

the "rid " mattress /furniture spray is OK'd for humans to spend 8 hours with their noses asleep on the mattress ,but i agree use common sense dont overdose ,i use it cause several racks with sliding trays have fixed peg board lids so spray is good when cleaning