Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just found these little black walking dots on my BP. She has been acting strange and none of my balls are showing any interest in eating. Can mites have this effect on the snakes. I just bought reptile relief mite killer. I will be using this and baking my mulch after I clean each tub. Please help, Thanks

Do yourself a favor and throw the Reptile Relief in the trash can. Dont even waste your time with it.

Get a can of Proven-a-Mite, BK II, or I hear alot of people use NIX lice killer from WalMart with great success.

Remove the snake from enclosure and lightly spray snake (I know this is safe w/P.A.M. check with the other two brands)or lightly spray a cotton cloth down then wipe snake from below head to the tail making sure it doesnt get it in his mouth. Spray down enclosure and I cover and leave it for a half hour. Make sure water bowls are first removed and throughly cleaned w/bleach and water. Make sure you THOUGHLY vent the enclosure very, very well before reintroducing the snake. You want to repeat this procedure 10-14 days later to cach any mites that hatch (I do not think all mite eggs are killed this way). Also, I know PAM is good as a preventative. You can lightly spray down the edges of you enclosures and the bedding with PAM as a maintance use. If you use newspaper, spray it down and close it in ZipLock baggies until required. It will hold this way for at least a month or two.

Check out this article on VPI's web-site about mites. It is the best...

Good Luck!
Link

You should not spray P.A.M on your snake. I quote from the directions on the can. Remove reptile and water from enclosure, then spray 1 second per square ft. It also says not to let the reptile breathe the vapors so if it is sprayed directly on the snake it might have an ill effect on the animal. I have heard that it can cause neurological problems.

Use the reptile relief as directed and do not get on the eyes or heat pits. I also use ZooMed MiteOff because it can be sprayed directly on the entire animal and a couple of sprays in the water dish so that if the snake soaks it will get some benefit from it.

Remember, do not get reptile relief or PAM in the water, because the warning labels say it can be toxic to the snake if ingested.

Also, in regards to the bedding. I would throw out the mulch and use newspaper until the mites are gotten rid of. It prevents them from laying eggs in the substrate. Clean your cage with a highly diluted bleach solution of Nolvasan. I would buy new cypress as it isn't that expensive and I don't know about exposing wood to the degree of heat needed to kill the mites. It takes about 250 degrees at 20 minutes to kill the mites and I would think the would might reach it's combustable state and could cause a fire. Plus, cypress isn't so expensive that you can't replace it.

If you have any questions, email me and I will give you my number so you can call and I can tell you what has worked for me.

I recently treated a mite problem successfully and I have threads on here about it if you want to search and get more information.
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Happy Herping,
Jody Barnes
Royal Kreationz

My snakes aren't fat, they're big boned.

I said you can spray it on a cloth then wipe the animal down if you cannot aim? Retile Relief is crap...plain and simple.

Also, I spoke with Bob Pound who makes PAM, and while this was several years ago and I do not want to put words in his mouth, I believe the way PAM is formulated it is safe to use on the snake as long as its not ingested. Also, make sure to ventilate before you reintroduce the snake.

But hey, you seem to know a lot??

You do what works for you and that isn't my business. But I don't know if telling someone to use a potentially dangerous product exactly the opposite as the instructions say is a good thing. Maybe I am wrong.
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Happy Herping,
Jody Barnes
Royal Kreationz

My snakes aren't fat, they're big boned.

I told him what the guy who makes the stuff told me...

Whatever, use the Reptile Relief, what do I care..I guess I am Krazy??? Duhh??

Manny, do yourself a favor if you want to kill these mites ASAP. Throw the Retile Relief in the trash and get some PAM.

PAM is safe to use on the OUTSIDE of your snake... do not do it if you are uncomfortable though.

Like I said, do what you do and that's your business. I said it didn't sound right and quoted the directions directly from the can. I went and got it out of my snake room and was reading as I was typing. I didn't say you were going to kill snakes or anything, I just said I heard it can cause neurological problems and I would only give advice on how to use a product based on its instructions. Maybe it doesn't, and I stated Maybe I am wrong.

I recently used Reptile Relief with success in conjunction with PAM in the cage. So I believe it works to some extent.

Why would the maker of a product tell you to use it different than instructed? I wonder if they are putting new instructions on cans or what research they have done and made available to the public in regards to using the product other than instructed.
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Happy Herping,
Jody Barnes
Royal Kreationz

My snakes aren't fat, they're big boned.

Thanks for the info dude. I bought the reptile relief and it says that it is also safe to use on the outside of the snake. I will buy the stuff you are talking about, but since I already opened this stuff and there is no way I can get the PAM tonight. Is it cool to use it tonight and then purchase the PAM for a secondary spray?

I wouldnt even waste my time w/Reptile relief. The stuff is total junk, I used it for a week or two and the mites seemed to actually be increasing in numbers? This is why I throughly checked into these little buggers. I eventually ended up calling Provent-A-mite and I spoke with Bob Pound for quit awhile about mites. He gave me the instructions I am giving you. I guess I could have misunderstood him and I am telling you incorrect information, but I do not believe so. Also, it got rid of my mites like n o one elses business. Bob Pound was really a great guy and was really courteous, extremely well informed about mites and mite prevention, and generous with his time. That is why I really was torn a lttle when I heard about what happened between him and Pro-Exotics and the whole BK thing? I guess he was protecting his business in the end...the thing that puts bread on his table. You might as well wait till tomorrow at this point, or go down to Wally World and get the NIX. I have heard really good things about NIX and it is way cheaper too. I am just partial to PAM cause I have seen it in action and it is a mite TERMINATOR...Baby!!

I forgot who it is on here (EmberBall maybe?), he uses a olive oil remedy to get the mites off the snake and treat them. I have never used this method, but I thought it sounded very interesting?

Best of luck Manny. Feel free to ask alot of questions and listen to everybody and then make a decision which is good for you and your situation - right?

One more day w/the mites isnt gonna make that big a difference at this point anyhow.

~Alan

the bk2 stuff from pro exotics. Also how do the mites affect the snakes? Their behavior, feeding, and so on? This might explain why they are not interested in eating and they are real sluggish?

I know the snake will start to soak sll the time to get rid of the mites (it knows instinctivelythat this will drown them..cool stuff that they know this on their own).

I believe if they have mites for an extended period of time the can become anemic, but I am not sure? You would think it would take a while for the mites to suck up this much blood for the snake to become anemic??

I know people or animals become lethargic and lose energy if they do not have enough red blood cells.... I guess it is possible right? You might be able to look inside the snakes mouth and see if the veins are dark red? Compare this to a non-infected snake and see if there is a difference...

I believe in people, a person who is anemic, you can pull down their eye lid and the red blood cells in a normal person will look very red. With an anemic person it is pinkish?? Let me know if you do this, I am curious now!!

would there be a loss of appetite?

Hes probably irritated with bugs all over him and doesnt want to eat? I am not a vet and I only have had a mite problem the one time (thank the Lord)...so I do not know?

I would concentrate on banging these little bugger mites into the dead zone and then follow up with the snakes appetite. I have hear that BK is graet stuff, but it might take you a day or three to get it delivered, unless you pay for overnight delivery, or unless you are near Pro-Exotics in Colorado I believe? Also, you may then run up against Thanksgiving and delivery problems with the holiday so near...

I would go get PAM or NIX at the store if I were you tomrrow and get these things gone. You can buy all the BK II you want after that, but I wouldnt wait in this case. KILL THE MITES>>>KILL THE MITES>>> NOW MANNY!!!!

Dude your cool, bro. I think the same way. My thought process is, "TERMINATE THE BASTARDS." Yeah I will order a case or twenty tomorrow. Ever since I got cypress mulch I have seen a difference in my balls. I used to use cellsorb and everything seemed to be fine. I think I am going to go back to using cellsorb after this problem is taken care of. Did you wipe down your whole rack or just the tubs?

I wiped the whole rack down at first and the tubs. Afetr that I treated the rims of the tubs only. The mites crawl around and will crawl from tub to tub... When they go through the (insert good brand here - NOT REPTILE RELIEF)they will die.

I have to be careful with the stuff I use and with the mite killer and residule spary cause my kids touch the tubs and stuff??

Also Manny, I have used Cypress for several years and I have not had a problem. Unless it is from the place or the original supplier, I do not think it is the cypress that is causing your trouble.

When I had mites, it was on Diamiond x Jungle Carpets I had bought. Thanksfully, they were not near my Ball Pythons and it was contained.

I tell you though, looking at the little black dots crawling on my snakes and thinking about them sucking their blood. Then thinking they might be attracted to the carbon dioxide from my, or my kids breath, or the heat from our bodies and they were going to attack us in our sleep.......it made me want to TERMINATE>>>DESTROY>>>>KILL>>>KILL>>>KILL them. I know how you feel..

Bob Pound informed me that most..I said most not all, mites that infect snakes are not attracted to people. I believe he said that this may not be 100% of all the species of mites though? I have to reread the VPI mite article, I forget if they mention this in this article or not?

Good luck brother!!

I have noticed that animals I have had that got mites lost appitite. As soon as I fixed the problem started feeding again.
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Joshua A. Mills
2.1 Pastels
1.0 Yellow Belly
0.7 Normals not including the babies
MySpace.com/JAMillsreptiles
www.JAMillsReptiles.com

I am a big fan of Provent-A-Mite, it is awsome for mite problems. I have tried basically every mite product you can find on the pet store shelves and though some do seem to supress the mite problem none of them really fixed the problem until I tried PAM. DON'T USE on your babies but any snake that is well established SHOULD be fine.

For and existing mite problem Remove your snake from its encloser
and put it in a container to soak with a lid ( Don't make the water deeper than the body of the snake, you don't want to drown them not probable but I guess possible)

While it soaks take all your bedding out of the encloser and get rid of it ( Get it out of your House )

Clean the encloser with a diluted bleach mix ( Cap full of bleach to gallon of Hot water )

Do same with any Cage Furniture
unless it is Oven safe (no plastic) then you could Bake it on high heat for several minutes and kill everything hiding in it.

Let Dry

Spray down inside and out side of encloser with PAM let dry 30 min.

Put Fresh Bedding in it and spray very lightly with PAM and let dry

Dry Off your snake ( This removes any drown mites still stuck to it)

Replace in cage.

Make sure to Clean the Water Bowl That is where I found alot of mites hiding Underneath and under the rim ( I run mine through the Dish washer on High heat)

Don't put the bowl back in the enclosure until the PAM has dried then give your snake some fresh water.

This Is what I Have done and have not had any Issues now in almost 2 years. I do use PAM as preventative. I spray down my racks and even the Door seal and window seals to my snake room that way they don't find there way in on there own ( I don't know if that really helps but it doesn't hurt...LOL )

GOOD LUCK... It happens to us all at one time or another.
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Joshua A. Mills
2.1 Pastels
1.0 Yellow Belly
0.7 Normals not including the babies
MySpace.com/JAMillsreptiles
www.JAMillsReptiles.com

I appreciate the info. It is pretty frustrating to see your snakes not feeling too well. I can tell something was wrong and then I noticed a little bastard crawling on my hand when I picked a snake up. I freaked. Thanks again

i am going through the same thing as you, but my problem doesnt sound like it was as bad as yours. i know its not what some people have said but this is what i am doing and it is working. i took snake out, wiped down with reptile relief, this is supposed to cause mites to shrivel up and die, but it will dry out your snake too so make sure they drink water to rehydrate. then i trashed the aspen bedding and got it out of the house right away. put hides and water bowl in 5 gal bucket filled with water bleach mixture. make sure totally submerged because this will drown all mites on them. then while those are soaking i cleaned out the tank with water bleach solution, cleaning every little spot on the tank. then i let tank dry. after dry i sprayed it down with proventamite and put down paper towels, took hides and water bowl out of bucket and rinsed them off good to get all the bleach off of them and put them back in the cage. fill up the water bowl and put the snake back in.
this is what i am doing and it looks like its working because i dont see any mites now and its like day 4 of treatment. used reptile relief again yesterday just to make sure anything that is on them is dead. i am researching a new product that is made to hang up in your house called pest strip. you open it up and cut a small peice and put it on the wire cage top and it will kill baby mites that hatch. there are breeders out here that are doing it and i want to look into it a little further before i do it.
my snake didnt eat when he was supposed to, thats what made me look for mites......unfortunately i was right and i found them, treated them and now he ate again so i think im on the right track. hope it helps....... its working for me.
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0-0-1 green iguana
0-0-1 normal ball python
0-0-3 fish
and we had a pet mouse......untill stripes was hungry

I have had good results with reptile relief with PAM.
I would not use reptile relief alone. If you take a white paper towel and drench it with reptile relief and let the animal slither through your hand with the paper towel, you will see mites coming off on the towel. Im a true believer in PAM but I would not spray it on the animal.The reptile relief gives the animal a break from the stress until the PAM kicks in. I also retreat with PAM every 10 days for a total of 3 treatments. If you have a rack you will need to treat all tubs !!
Good Luck KILL KILL KILL KILL !!!!!!!!!!!!

I like the reptile relief and PAM combination. I also included the ZooMed MiteOff because it can be spryed directly on the snake once every three days. But remember Reptile Relief doesn't work?
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Happy Herping,
Jody Barnes
Royal Kreationz

My snakes aren't fat, they're big boned.