I hope everyone reads this and remembers it and learns from it.
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Call it my STUPIDITY or A LACK of knowledge * I call it BOTH.
A few months (mid summer) ago if you all remember I took in a group of collareds needing much care, they were emachiated, had deep wounds and just were a mess, some died and some did great and some are still acclimating.
Well this is where the nightmare started and I was not yet aware.
Each had to be soaked each day and treated with povidine iodine solution and were given alot of care. Soon a couple really were doing well. One did so well a female C. bicinctores, Meekah, that soon after, I adopted her out to one of our buddies (quanumhigh) Aaron for his male Darwin. All has been fine since.
I just received a few collareds this week and was told by buddy/seller that he cleaned them but to watch for mites as he had found one on a different lizard of his earlier that week. I was "abit worried" and kept them in another room when they arrived and did what he said and sprayed and soaked them ever since with NO problems, they are gorgeous. Funny, It was NOT them that turned out to be a problem.
The nightmare and insane part begins here, I had emailed Aaron and asked how the female and his male where doing. He emailed me back and said they were doing really good. Except for a week and half or two he found a mite on his males ear and the female.
Hearing that sent up my FREAK OUT antenea, and I thought she came and was with all the collareds in need. I better get one of the males I have left and check him. SURE enough I got a magnifying glass and saw CREEPY CRAWLERS. I checked the rest and YEP, not many but I saw one or two. I then checked a tank full near them and there was none. I checked one who free roams and found one. I always hold these lizards, and never had anything on my hands that I could see. So I never suspected.
IN SHEAR PANIC and a sence of complete OVERWHELMING HOPELESSNESS thinking of ALL the lizards I have, and the free roamers, and the room, and all the tanks AND>>>>>>>>>> well I told our friend John Castellanos ( I called him to vent) If they were not my beloved pets I would pack them all in a bag and ahip them off. LOL (KIDDING)
POINT IS I washed and sprayed those collareds that arrived a while back, but saw nothing and assumed they were fine. NOT knowing that snake mites have cycles and even if you killed some that you can't see they have eggs and it just is a NASTY mess. I was panicing over the new ones that I was supposed to watch and here it was MINE who have them, geesh... OMGosh I was and am a wreck., but doing what I need to do.
Needless to say, through the embarresment feeling like a jacka%% and sorrow I feel to those I have sent babys to, I did email each and told them to check the kids. So far all have been okay thank God.
Next after alerting people, was the BIG UNBELIVABLE CLEAN UP, TREATMENT of the lizards breaking down every tank,(Countless) striping the room and fumagating, I'm not taking any chances.
Meantime I started last night, hubby and I bought over a hundred dollars of rubbermaids put holes in the tops, I have sprayed and rinsed over half my lizards (just sat down for a min,) and need to do the rest. Then as they are cleaned dryed, I'm putting them in the containers and just storing the containers in a unused room in our lower level of our house (no lights) for awhile while I'm reapeating the cleanings each day on each lizard, for atleast a week, and have to treat all the tanks , throwing away all slate, getting new stuff, soaking in bleach all caves, water bowls, rocks.
AND scrubing down the room with a beach solution and then we are using a commercial insect spray to fumagate.
I hope this works, so far NOT all lizards are showing signs but ALL will be treated as such.
I'm tierd, bummed and feeling STUPI,D and have now (a bit late) learned all I can about snake mites)
Moral of this CREEPY CRAWLING NIGHTMARE, whenever you get any lizards coming in captive bred or wc from ANYONE , treat them as if they have parasites from the minute they arrive and spray them down, a few times in a week or so, rinse them and use paper towels in a tank so you can see if there is anything. And always have your quarenteen period as required BUT...
ALSO KEEP THEM IN A SEPERATE ROOM/PLACE FOR AWHILE too and avoid this terrible ordeal for your lizards as well as yourself/others.
** Never say Never, be watchful... I have never in 10 years had any snake mites, don't own snakes,, always felt I did a good job cleaning so forth when they arrived, kept them seperate, but never took the damn time to learn about how snake mites attack and how they lay the eggs and can appear later.
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*** Okay enough I'm back to work. One more thing, due to this ordeal and the fact I'm BUGGED, I am removing the page on my site (Rehabilatation and Intensive Care) and will not accept anymore critical case collareds/ lizards. I feel bad for them, but have to put my own pets/animals and our home FIRST.
Thanks for listening I hope maybe this will help someone one day!
PS. Valerie, all kids are FINE :0)
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PHEve / Eve
