Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a month ago I made a post about my kingsnake having a lot of mites. Well everyone told me to get Provent-a-Mite, but i didn't really feel like waiting for it to arrive if I ordered it, so I bought Mite Off (Zoo med Product) at my local petstore for about $5. Used it the first time, really saw no prgoress. I sprayed it directly on the mites and nothing muched happened, they still moved around. Well I cleaned the cage with bleach and sprayed the cage every three days for about two weeks. Even thought the product is so "safe" you can spray it directly on the snake, I only did this once because when I did do it, my kingsnake started acting crazy, thrashing around the cage and her body looked like it was swelling all over and she looked like she was dying. But anyway, the point is, for about 2 weeks now she has been mite free, and so has her enclosure. I do not see them anymore, and I am back to using Aspen Bedding. She does not thrash around the cage anymore, and does not try to flee from my hand when I hold her thinking that I am the one causing her pain.

It seems like a stupid choice.

You can spray it on the snake? And it didn't kill the mites right away?

You should've just went with Provent A Mite.

It doesn't take that long to arrive.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 6/1

That's what it says, it is safe enough to spray on the snake and eyes. After I did it once she went crazy and her body swelled. Then I sprayed the cage again about twice and didn't let it air out good enough so she went into her "convulsions" for a little while. She is in perfect health now, and it may seem like a stupid choice as u say, but it worked 4 me.

Whatever I guess if you're happy with the results.

But the fact your snake went into convulsions after you sprayed what may be a harmful product onto it, not good.

But hey.

It's your snake.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 6/1

Keep your eyes peeled, just in case any mite eggs have hatched recently. If you don't see mites for another 1-2 weeks you are likely good to go.

I have heard Mite Off is a fairly good product, but Provent-a-Mite, when used exactly as instructed on the can, is nothing short of amazing. If you had lots of snakes in the room, Provent-a-Mite is your weapon of choice.
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Mark

IMO Mite-Off sucks. I also think it's potentially dangerous.

I tried some on a couple of wild caught snakes, one of which was a Black rat which absolutely had mites, and the snake freaked out like it was on fire. And now that I know what the active ingrediant is, it probably did feel that way.

If you have a bottle, look at the active ingrediant. It's Sodium Laurel Sulfate (1%). Do a Google search. It's not insecticidal at all. It's a foaming agent intended to DEGREASE. And it's a skin irritant and is used in such things as soap, shampoo and garage floor cleaner - because it's cheap. How this stuff is suppoed to kill mites is beyond me.

Use Provent-a-Mite.

Another viable alternative is Sevin Dust that you can buy in a garden store. It's a whitish pounder and is very mild. You can use it on pets such as dogs and cats (I have, and this is even a "use' listed on its label) and it will kill mites, ticks and fleas. I've even used it on myself after having been in the woods and weeds for the day. It's very effective.

If you want something to put on a reptile - Reptile Relief is good.

Spray it on a paper towel and wipe down the reptile with the paper towel avoiding the eyes. Also don't do it during blue.

I had a MBK that arrived with mites. Provent-a-Mite sprayed on its bedding and allowed to air for 10 minutes. Snake wiped with paper towel that was dampened with Reptile Relief. No more mites.

Found a wild alligator lizard with both mites and ticks. Wiped it down with Reptile Relief - the mites (more visible than on an MBK) died before my eyes. The ticks I had manually removed (tweezers counter clockwise) before applying the stuff. I also used Prevent-A-Mite on his bedding.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 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 - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Hey. My name is Diego and I have a question about Reptile Relief. Is it really effective even though you can't treat the mouth/eye area? Isn't that a major concentration point for mites?

I have been taking a lot of rescues in lately, and apparently my quarantine practices were not as good as they should have been. I now have a mite infestation in my collection. : (

Thanks,
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Diego

Diego & Tiffany's Zoo:
SNAKES
1.2.0 Corn Snakes (Different morphs)
1.1.0 Hypo Everglades Rat Snakes
1.1.0 Trans-Pecos Rat Snakes
1.1.0 Salt and Pepper Bull Snakes
0.1.0 Amel Pacific Gopher Snake
3.1.0 Sonoran Gopher Snakes
0.1.0 Amel Sonoran Gopher Snake
1.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnakes
1.0.0 Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.1.1 California Kingsnake
1.1.0 Thayeri Kingsnake
3.2.0 Rosy Boas (Mexican, Temecula, & Mid Baja)
1.1.0 Kenyan Sand Boas
0.1.0 Indonesian Dwarf Pacific Boa
1.1.0 Cape York Spotted Pythons
1.0.0 Ball Python
1.1.0 Western Hognoses
0.0.1 Lyre Snake
0.0.1 Glossy Snake

LIZARDS
2.0.0 Bearded Dragons
0.1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
1.0.0 African Fat-Tail Gecko
0.1.0 Merauke Blue Tongue Skink
1.4.0 Leopard Geckos
1.0.1 Yellow Niger Uromastyx
1.1.0 Chuckwalla
1.4.0 Banded Gecko
0.0.1 Gold Dust Day Gecko
0.0.5 Sandfish

AMPHIBIANS
1.0.1 Green Tree Frogs
1.0.0 Bubbling Kassina
0.0.1 White's Tree Frog
0.0.2 Gold Frogs
1.0.0 Fire Salamander

Diego, go with Pam, it works and is safe, no freaking out !
Todd Hughes

Thanks Todd. What a frigging nightmare this is.
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Diego

Diego & Tiffany's Zoo:
SNAKES
1.2.0 Corn Snakes (Different morphs)
1.1.0 Hypo Everglades Rat Snakes
1.1.0 Trans-Pecos Rat Snakes
1.1.0 Salt and Pepper Bull Snakes
0.1.0 Amel Pacific Gopher Snake
3.1.0 Sonoran Gopher Snakes
0.1.0 Amel Sonoran Gopher Snake
1.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnakes
1.0.0 Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.1.1 California Kingsnake
1.1.0 Thayeri Kingsnake
3.2.0 Rosy Boas (Mexican, Temecula, & Mid Baja)
1.1.0 Kenyan Sand Boas
0.1.0 Indonesian Dwarf Pacific Boa
1.1.0 Cape York Spotted Pythons
1.0.0 Ball Python
1.1.0 Western Hognoses
0.0.1 Lyre Snake
0.0.1 Glossy Snake

LIZARDS
2.0.0 Bearded Dragons
0.1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
1.0.0 African Fat-Tail Gecko
0.1.0 Merauke Blue Tongue Skink
1.4.0 Leopard Geckos
1.0.1 Yellow Niger Uromastyx
1.1.0 Chuckwalla
1.4.0 Banded Gecko
0.0.1 Gold Dust Day Gecko
0.0.5 Sandfish

AMPHIBIANS
1.0.1 Green Tree Frogs
1.0.0 Bubbling Kassina
0.0.1 White's Tree Frog
0.0.2 Gold Frogs
1.0.0 Fire Salamander

I think that maybe you cal king mayy have been thrashing around from the mites on his head and especially around the eyes. years ago i witnessed a baby cal king thrash vilently, twitch roll over becasue it was suffering from a mite infestation. After using the sprays and the mites were killed he was back to normal. I think the mites get irritated from the spray and may have started moving around the ye which may have made the snake thrash around. I have used the reptile releife which as worked well for me. I used to use pest trip with close observation, however I kind have moved away from the pest strip. Dave

oops !!

So basically you are advocating a medication that makes your snake swell up, convuls, and nearly die??!! Sounds awesome to me. I only wish that those were some of the side effects of my own medications.

All you have done is kill the adult mites, I would be amazed if you don't have more within a month. please, do post another update.