Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i noticed some of the little bugs crawling on 2 of my ball pythons this morning so when i got off work i ordered some bk-II and i was curious about treatments. should i just treat him once or more then once and how long should i wait to do a second one if needed. oh yea will the snake mites affect humans because we have something biting us here at the house and my family is accusing my snakes mites of it.

Follow the directions on the BK-II canister PERFECTLY. That stuff can be dangerous if you use it wrong, but it is extremely effective.
Take all the porous materials out of your snake cage - use only papertowel and plastic/ceramic/whatever in the cage until the mites are totally gone. Soak the snakes while you are treating the cage; mites can't swim. If you can, get reptile relief as well and treat the snakes themselves with that (again, following directions on the bottle).
I would use the BK-II once a week until you are absolutely certain all mites are gone.

Snake mites are specialized mites that only affect snakes (hence the name 'snake mites'). They won't go after people - you might find them crawling on your skin after handling the snakes, but they're not going to bite you. Whatever is biting your family is not coming from the reptiles!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

i personnally have never had mites but am leary of the strong chemicals. it has been recommended of strict cleaning regimen and soaking daily with drop of dish soap. also a 10% ivermectin/water solution can be effective to spray snake and enlosure down with and imo much safer--gotta think if narrow safety margin why chance poisioning your snakes. give the soaking atry first--may take little longer but could be safer in long run
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GOOSEBALLS

lamina1982@hotmail.com

i just got the BK-II Mite Spray Attack paper updated and posted on our site, linked here, but also easily found in the caresheet section of our site.

i completely disagree about BK-II being dangerous, it is super effective, easy to use, and we have used it on thousands of animals with no worries.
BK-II Mite Spray Attack and Prevention Strategy

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

hey robyn. i ordered 2 cans of the bk-II and the first time it failed and the second time i did it right. but it charged me for both of them. so am i gonna get some sort of refund or am i gonna get four cans instead of the two i ordered

send me an email or contact me by phone on Monday, i can square it up : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

you may have another bug around the house that is biting folks, but reptile mites feed specifically on reptiles, and only scaled reptiles at that : )

the VPI ball book has an excellent in depth chapter on mites, covering all kinds of details, well worth checking out.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

thanks ill look into that

Got mites twice...once from a reptile show and once from a pet store. Here is a 100% way to get rid of them. Spray snake with Reptile Relief, place him in a container for 20 minutes, while he is in the container throw away all substrate. Clean enclosure very good with 10% bleach/water mix. Put enclosure back together except water. Spray the enclosure with Prevent-A-Mite, follow instructions on can. After snake has sat for 20 minutes rinse him off. Allow him to soak in fresh water for the time it allows the enclosure to dry. This will rehydrate the snake, RR kills mite through dehydration and may affect the snake a little. When enclosure dries replace snake and water. The RR kills the live mites and the PAM will ensure killing any new eggs that may hatch. For one month respray the enclosure after cleaning. When treating mites this way I would clean the enclosure every 2 weeks.
Link

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are millipede mites and snake mites the same?

nope.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

so having a millipede that has mites around snakes wont get them infested with mites