Reptile & Amphibian Forums

fake or real? ha ha but seriously, how do you deal with disease or mites etc with a rack? i know you quarenteen the sick one, but how do you make sure it doesn't get in all the cages?
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-Jasmine

1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
(Mercutio and Kajika)

I don't know about the diseases to much but Dave and Jeff will chime in on this one. However for quarantine purposes, the rack should either house quarantine animals OR permanent animals and they should not even be in the same room. Mites will move around and infect the whole room. Example: if your dog has fleas and you give him a flea bath that kills all the fleas on your dog but this does no good if you don't treat his bed, the house, the yard as it is a temporary relief. So they shouldn't house new acquisitions but spraying provent-a-mite (I heard of Pam too) by the openings of tubs or cages every month and having a pest strip in the snake room not cages is what I do personally but Dave will shine the light so to speak but he has found those little bastard three times I believe and he takes his quarantine process very serious and he does not want to treat 100 snakes with mites and ugly snakes at that
Bob

1) Individual racks will either be in a general population area OR in a quarantine area that is FAR AWAY from the general population. So there will never be a case where unquarantined animals are housed in the same rack as quarantined ones.

2) Yes, any outbreak of any kind in any tub or cage in the quarantine area puts ALL animals in the quarantine area into a 'contaminated or infected status" and resets the quarantine timer back to zero. I was almost ready to move some into the general population when mites. Also, with a mite outbreak, if one animal has a communicable disease it may spread.

Provent-a-mite will treat the rack and tubs themselves and can be used as a barrier to keep mites in or out, they cannot cross a sprayed item/area and live.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

i was wondering how do you get mites? are some of yuor snakes wild caught. maybe pet store bought which leads to wild caught animals? thanks

All three times they came in on new acquisitions. Twice from a dealer that in addition to breeding also imports and/or deals with imports. Both of those were caught on arrival and were easier to deal with. This last time I didn't find any mites upon initial examinations. I also got new snakes from several breeders and one pet store. I believe the contamination vectors point towards the pet store animal being ground zero. Even though that animal had only come from the breeders shortly before I bought him. I think it may have had small unfeeding mites that fed and hid and I didn't see them while they laid eggs and made more mites.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Dave has one wild caught snake which is of course is Eve (mother of the "Colling line" of Hypos) and I only know a few ways that mites come into play
1-new acquisition (that's how I believe Dave had them)
2-rodents carrying mites
3-people coming over with their snakes and giving you mites

and I'm sure there are other ways but that's all I can think of
Bob

Yeah, Eve's my only WC snake and she didn't have mites although a couple were found on one of her "CB" offspring. (outbreak #2)

I've also heard of them coming in bags of bedding, Probably bedding that was stored near a mite infested snake. Mites like wood for laying eggs.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

....when a snake is taken outside and put on the ground or up in a tree or bush? Just to take a picture of it? Can't the snake get mites from there? Is it likely to happen?
Rob

>>I've also heard of them coming in bags of bedding, Probably bedding that was stored near a mite infested snake. Mites like wood for laying eggs.
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>>Thanks,
>>
>>
>>Dave Colling
>>
>>www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com
>>
>>
>>
>>0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
>>0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)
>>
>>LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
>>24.36 BRB
>>19.19 BCI
>>And those are only the breeders
>>
>>lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own" Adam Savage
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa-Ziggy
1.0 Creamscicle motley corn--Cozmo
0.1 Creamscicle corn--Wanda
0.0.1 Normal corn
0.1 Black Pine - Spazz
1.0 Eastern King-Ozy
1.0 Bearded Dragon - Gomer

Technically it could happen, probably never would. There would have to be a mite infested snake somewhere near. A more likely scenario would be bringing one home on your clothes from a reptile show or pet store.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

my boyfriend has two stupid cats (i don't like mammals) and they go outside a lot. we just bought a house so soon the snakes and the cats will be living in the same building. i heard reptile mites are different, but i bet they are taking the whole freaking ecosystem in when they come in, how do i protect my snakes? won't any prevent-a-mite or pam sprayed around the perimeter of the rack hurt the snakes? i had to deal with mites a little while ago (kajika got out and must have met a few friends on her journey) and my vet told me to take the snake outside until a VERY diluted solution of prevent a mite had completely aired out. Do i need to be this careful? will it still be as effective if i am this careful? i hear horror-stories about pest-strips(they probably just used too many, but still), which are the best to use?
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-Jasmine

1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
(Mercutio and Kajika)

Provent-a-mite sprayed around perimeters and/or openings will provide a barrier the mites can't cross. I and others are spraying (sparingly) in our rooms without removing animals, just not exposing them directly. When possible, I do the spraying outside the room but spraying carpets and racks is not feasible to do outside the room.

I've heard multiple times one no pest strip hung in the room away from the cages will be enough to control them as well. Thinking of puttoing one in the main snake room as a preventative measure. After all, there are/were mites in the house.

Another question for others who might know, I thought the whole snake mite thing is not indigenous to the USA and was brought in on imports? If so, are the wild populations of domestic snakes becoming infected?
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Dave,
...I am not sure about where snake mites came from originally. We used to find two different kinds of mites on snakes we caught in Florida and Georgia. One was bright red and the other was black. The mites that are currently a problem in the hobby are between these two in color. The snake mites we see on snakes today are actually translucent white before they have their first blood meal. I believe that most of the importer/dealers and busier reptile shops have problems at least some of the time with mites. Many of them also deal in invertebrates and so cannot use Provent-a-mite or other poisons. I only very rarely see a mite here since I quit getting many animals from other people. I do occasionally get a mite in on the small live mice I get for the baby snakes.
Jeff

>>Provent-a-mite sprayed around perimeters and/or openings will provide a barrier the mites can't cross. I and others are spraying (sparingly) in our rooms without removing animals, just not exposing them directly. When possible, I do the spraying outside the room but spraying carpets and racks is not feasible to do outside the room.
>>
>>I've heard multiple times one no pest strip hung in the room away from the cages will be enough to control them as well. Thinking of puttoing one in the main snake room as a preventative measure. After all, there are/were mites in the house.
>>
>>Another question for others who might know, I thought the whole snake mite thing is not indigenous to the USA and was brought in on imports? If so, are the wild populations of domestic snakes becoming infected?
>>-----
>>Thanks,
>>
>>
>>Dave Colling
>>
>>www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com
>>
>>
>>
>>0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
>>0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)
>>
>>LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
>>24.36 BRB
>>19.19 BCI
>>And those are only the breeders
>>
>>lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

i just got that joke ahahaha!!!

Real.. but fake will certainly do in a pinch..

as for disease, there is really no way to keep it from spreading in a rack setup.. mites are a pain no matter what type of caging you use.

If you have questions of disease, the animal should be in the "q" room.. if you have a mite issue, treat every cage in your home.. and carpet..

>>fake or real? ha ha but seriously, how do you deal with disease or mites etc with a rack? i know you quarenteen the sick one, but how do you make sure it doesn't get in all the cages?
>>-----
>>-Jasmine
>>
>>1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
>>(Mercutio and Kajika)
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Real, only real, fake is for fools!!!

The downside of racks is also the beauty of them, they allow high density housing. With that comes the risk of proximity contamination. That is a great reason for strict quarantine procedures for new animals.

My quarantine practices....

Downstairs bedroom is the main snake room.

Upstairs bedroom is the quarantine room

I have added a secondary quarantine rack in the living room downstairs for the 3.7 from Will Bird and also for the 1.1 coming from Brian Sharp. This is a temporory setup agreed to by my wife, don't want to put the new "not known to be contaminated or infected" animals in either the main room or in the known to be infected with mites quarantine room.

For any and all daily practices, cleaning, feeding, water bowl cleaning etc. I start in the main room. I do not move onto any other area until I am completely done in there and ready to close the door for the night and not go back in. After the main room, I move onto my secondary q-rack. Once completely done there and lastly, I care for the main Q-room.

Q-room specific practices with a known mite infestation:

All cages are sprayed with provent-a-mite (follow bottle directions). I've also heard about Pam and other substitutes, for me with the value of the collection and even just the value of the animals in the q-room, Why? The few dollars saved is simply not worth it to me. I also just got in a bottle of reptile relief for treating the animals themselves.

For the tubs, I have a couple of spare tubs with papertowels already sprayed with provent-a-mite for changout.

When changing out tubs, the soiled paper towel goes directly to the outside garbage.

I have a seperate container for feeders. There is a strict "one way direction for feeders" rule, they only go into the q-room, never come back out. As with my main collection I always feed smallest to largest, leaving at least one known hungry one for last to either get their own feeder or to scarf down the leftovers from others.

BTW, looks like the latest mite outbreak is under control, not found any blood engorged ones in several days (maybe almost a week?) And the super tiny (not fed) ones are also becoming few and far between.

An older pic from I believe outbreak (from new acquisition) number one for those that have never seen a mite.

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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Fake or real? I imagine I have been fooled more than once. And if I can be fooled I can certainly be happy.
Jeff

>>fake or real? ha ha but seriously, how do you deal with disease or mites etc with a rack? i know you quarenteen the sick one, but how do you make sure it doesn't get in all the cages?
>>-----
>>-Jasmine
>>
>>1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
>>(Mercutio and Kajika)