Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok here is the just of it, i have had one round of mites with my Columbian red tail, who was quarinteen for three months, now i have a baby ball who was just starting to tame down that has gotten a case of the, i know how to treat them, so my question is how do i prevent them from coming back?

Go to your pet store and get a bird protector , they are for keeping mites off birds and you can put one on or in or beside you cage depending on what kind you have .I have a 80 snake rack and I only have 4 out on the selves and move them around from time to time , I have been using them for over 30 years with out a single mite. And if I get a new reptile in that has mites or other external parasites I rub them down limberly with Olive oil and after 45 min. wipe off the exec with a clean dry cloth or paper towel and do not wash them until after there next shed , this will get rid of them, I learned that working at the Houston Zoo as a teen . David of DS Reptile Rescue , Removal & Rehabilitation

Use Prevent a mite, it works for 30 days per treatment and is for reptile use.
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J&J REPTILES
www.jnjreptiles.com
sales@jnjreptiles.com
(207)479-6658

Once you kill the mites they are gone unless you buy a new snake that has them. I would use prevent-o-mite once now and once again in 2 weeks in every one of your snakes cages and they should be gone for good. Just make sure you quarantine every new snake. I usually treat all new snakes with prevent-o-mite whether I see mites on them or not just to be safe.
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John Vandegrift

you can get mites from the substate you get from the pet store and if you use bark thay can hide in that sh-- stuff for a long time . and I know what I use is not sold as a reptile mite provenchen but if it was going to harm them I think it would have done it by now and I don't think the Zoos would use it. but I thout I would let the info out and let each person decide for them self .David of DS Reptile Rescue

thank u all for the help i will try these ideas and let u know how it comes out

Generally mites only hang out on your snake to feed (and they are nocturnal) - when they are done feeding they drop off and go for a little walk - looking for nice places to lay eggs. They can also travel pretty far so you need to remember that not only do you have to treat your snake and it's cage - but also your racks and/or surrounding area. They lay eggs in your carpet, corners of your walls, furniture everywhere and the eggs can stay dormant for several months. If you've had the snake out or handled it a lot - you could have been tracking the mites all over your house.

After you have cleaned and/or treated everything - its a pretty good idea to keep treating at least the snakes general area for several months - every time you clean a cage treat it with Provent A Mite (PAM) treat the racks as well and keep a mite trap or two near your snake cage. If you were lucky enough to see the mites and cleaned and treated the snake before it entered your home - simply keeping it in a PAM treated cage with a mite trap near by should be enough to insure that anything that escaped the initial treatment gets killed before being able to reproduce.

Good luck!!
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Tosha
JET Pythons

mite trap around, what do you mean?

Thanks
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Alice Cobb

Hot Shot no pest strips work great. There are also a variety of mite traps in the bird aisle of your local petco/petsmart that will also work - these are a little less toxic as they are designed to be placed in the cage with the bird - but I would emphasize that you should not place any trap in a cage with a snake - in the room relatively close to the cage is fine. Mites tend to like to crawl up so if you can hang them up on a wall near the cage that would work best. I know some people stick them right on top of the cage or rack - but that is a little too close for my comfort.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

bird aisle for mite traps. Off I go to Petco . . . .
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Alice Cobb

Careful Tasha someone might tell you those are not for Reptiles !! LOL David of DS Reptile Rescue