Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...and nothing works. NuThInG wUrX $#!% I don't understand! What do the vets know, and why can't I know it? I just want my little albino girl Belladonna not to have mites n e more. She's had them since I got her. I've had her two years plus now. I've tried Jurassimite, Snake Oil (Benson & Sons), Mite Off (Zoo Med), Betadine (Hospital Grade, and Wal*Mart Grade), I've tried Equate Bedding Spray, Reptile Relief (Natures Chemistry or sumthin lyk th@), vinegar, No bedding, newspaper bedding, coconut shell bed-a-beast bedding (found out some mites can come from that stuff), now I'm currently using aspen bedding cuz some know-it-all reptile doctor guy said mites can't survive in aspen even with water. Sure, whatever. Please, do forgive my bitterness, but I just want my snake healthy so I don't have to subject her to these horrible failing experiments anymore, and the time I can have with her can be mite-free and happy-go-lucky, like the relationship I have with Caber, my 9 foot male (5 years old). He is mite-free, and I bought him from a grungy pet shop that didn't keep their animals very sanitarily (is that a word?). I feed her locally purchased rats, I know, I know, bad idea, and I agree, but until now, RodentPro just cost too much, and it seemed pointless for me to buy anything less than a year supply of food for two different sized snakes. Great deals on sterile lab-type mite-free food for $20.00 more a year than I can get them for locally, but the sterility of the whole procedure will be worth it, not to mention a stable, regimented feeding cycle. Forgive my lengthy rants, it's why I don't write often! Anyhow, please, any serious takers, inform me and my ignorant ways! Cycling them chemicals worked the best so far, but they adapted. I used to just pick them off and burn them, but she's 5 feet now, that's a lot-o-surface area. They are in her eye sockets, for the love of *GOD*, I would lose my tiny shred of sanity if I had mites in my freakin eye sockets, and didn't have the appendages to get them out. Please help me help her, and the future snakes I hope to own from this horrific fate! I've already lost a bolivian silverback boa to mites, because they eventually broke her down with anemia. when I lose a pet, I hurt, a lot. More than i ever thought I could over a snake or animal, but they are my totem, my dream animal, my goal in life. They are spirit guides and are intelligent on other levels of intelligence, and should be respected for that alone. They know more than we think they do. They are crafty, plotting, and educated animals, and I just want to serve them. I wish to eradicate these bugs! And all bugs who come in my way! I'm an herbalist without a garden, so I have no neem or nicotiana or pyrethrum geranium, but I could go buy a tupperware of ladybugs and have those little critters walkin all over the place, munching all that is mite in their paths. GGRRRRR. This is a war. And I refuse to lose it. Please, you hidden readers, the ones who dont post, but know, if you wish to not reply to this post, at least reply to me, privately, via email ( dark_eyece@yahoo.com ) please! I want them gone, and I want them forgotten. I keep my snakes in glass aquaria. She's 5 foot (4 foot 9 to five foot), in a 5 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot tank. when I clean her cage I take all the bedding out. Then I vacuum up the little pieces. Then I spray the whole tank down inside out with windex. Then I wipe it down. Then I apply the more organic (animal friendly) mite sprays to the entire surface are of her tank. I let that dry. I then add a cat litter box (that has never seen cat litter, I bought it for the hidey hole purpose, it has a hole cut out of one side ofr access and tiny drill hole on the opposite side for ventilation, but some thermal retention), I then add another tupperware with a shallow layer of water in it because all animals should have access to water at all times (I'm a piscean and refuse to budge on that, count on it). I then bathe my snake, rub her down with snake oil, pad her eyes lightly with a qtip dabbed in that herbal snake oil, and let the oil sit for a few minutes in an empty bath tub. A few minutes later I rub her down with a paper towel and toss it, and put her gently back in her home, which has aired out cuz I keep fans in the snake room, and it was "airing" during her bath. I do this every 4-6 days, depending. Way more work than any snake I have ever had before, and I have had several, so spare the sarcasm. I'm not saying i'm a pro, I'm just saying im No PhOoL. I have most of the books that discuss pythons in more depth than "this is a burmese python. it gets this big. Here is a picture of it eating a deer." yay. I have almost all of Bob Clark's entry level stuff ya know what he publishes in Reptiles, rant rant bloody rant angry. Thank you for reading this essay on 3Y3ECE's hatred for these arachnidish fiends of doom.

There is one thing I use. Ben Seigal told me to use this back in the day when I had some w.c. retics come in. The outbreak I had was so bad I woke up with mites crawling on ME! I also live in a pretty big room so it was really bad!

Go to Walmart and get NIX, it's for human head lice. Mix the tiny bottle with 1 gallon of water. Soak the snake for a minute or 2 so it drinks or what not. Leave the snake in the cage. Take the water bowl out. Spray EVERYTHING, the animal, the cage, everything. The 1 gallon mixture should last all week or so depending on how much you use. I only needed to spray this stuff everyday for 1 week and never had another problem. Good luck!

I have heard black knight works - speak to Pro Exotics about that stuff.

John

frontline....

again-- NOBODY JUMP ME.

I don't use it often- but D@MN! the stuff works!

I use the spray bottle kind.... not the oil drops kind that you put on the dogs neck or whatever-- the actual spray bottle kind... run you almost 40 bucks for a bottle-- but if you've already spent as much as it takes on all that other stuff- then 40$ more is nothing...

NOBODY JUMP ME.

Again- i dont use it often- and only in similar situations as mentioned above (the never ending mites).

Also- vacuume your carpet and spray the carpet and surrounding furniture as well- and any logs/etc... in the cage...

good luck-- i hate the little devils!

(take the water dish out when you do this)-- once the frontline has dried it is not water soluable.

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

I have also heard that Nix works.

But, I would go with Prevent-o-mite. Remove the water bowls and substrate. Nail the bottom with the aerosol, then line it with newspaper. Put the snake in and allow it to site for 24 hours. Then, scrub and wash the tank and set it up as you like. I have never known this product not to work.

The only catch is that it will also kill any arachnids or crickets. So, if you have tarantulas or scorpions, put them in another room. And move your insectivorous lizards for a day or so.

All the best,

Orinoco

Hi!
Sorry to hear you're having such a tough time with mites. Personally, if I were you, I'd order Provent-A-Mite (sp?) and follow the instructions on the can. I've seen reputable keepers report good success with it, with ease.

For the time being I'd remove all substrate and clean the cage, bowls, decorations, etc, with a 5% bleach & 95% water solution. Taking great care to try to wipe up all mites & their eggs from the bottom and all corners. Be sure to rinse the cage afterwards and make sure there isn't any lingering bleach odors before putting only the snake, water bowl (large enough & deep enough for them to completely submerge in) and newspaper for bedding.

Toss out the removed substrate, thoroughly vacuum floor of the entire room and toss the vacuum cleaner bag.

I would do this for each and every reptile cage you have, not leaving any stone unturned, so to speak. Whether you've noticed mites in them or not. I would also treat every cage with Provent-A-Mite.

I've never used Provent-A-Mite before. Fortunately I've only had mites a few times in all of my years of keeping, but under certain situations, like those of rescue, mites are inevitable. I've always been able to get rid of mites using a bleach/water solution to clean cages every 7 - 10 days, 3 - 4 times. It can be a lot of work but it keeps chemicals off of, away from, my snakes. You have to be very meticulous in cleaning the cages this way to ensure you wipe up all unseen eggs.

Go for the Provent-A-Mite.

Best wishes!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

I agree, PAM is the way to go on this one. If you call the owner of Pro Products, he is a wealth of information. When I adopted my Burm, he had mites, but not a severe infestation. He had them in the scales around his nose and eyes, mouth, and in between his body scales.

This is what I ended up doing:

First I soaked the snake. I used a big Rubbermaid and filled it up with water and added a few drops of liquid dishwashing soap. This breaks the surface tension of the water, allowing the mites to drown. I left the snake in this for about 30 minutes. I wouldn't do it too often because the soap is drying to a snake's skin. I tried Reptile Relief, but it didn't do much for the mites under the scales and I couldn't get it around his face.

While the snake was soaking, I cleaned the cage thoroughly with a disinfectant spray and a dry cloth. I sprayed the cage with mite spray according to directions and let it dry. I also used newspaper as a substrate and sprayed the individual sheets of newspaper and let them dry. Every time I changed the paper I sprayed it. I sprayed the cage stand, every nook and cranny around the trim on the cage, and 2ft of carpet around the cage stand. To prevent infestations on my other snakes, I sprayed a cloth and wiped a barrier around the top outside rim of the other cages. I have a bagless vacuum, so I even sprayed the vac filter when I dumped the canister.

Using these steps, I was able to get rid of the mites very quickly. Once in a while I would see one still down in the crack on his nose, but it would come off in his next shed. It's been 6 months and I haven't seen mites anywhere (knock on wood).

I'm pretty cautious about using chemicals around my animals, but the PAM and Equate bedding sprays and pretty safe if you follow the directions. You don't need to let it puddle, and you have to let it dry before you put the snake back in. Just a side note, these products ARE toxic to hognose snakes and their relatives, if you have any.

I'm glad you mentioned Equate bedding spray for lice, Laura. I forgot about "artinscales" post on it about two months ago. I respect Randy & Michelle's POV (point of view), input. Michelle is in the medical field and is health conscious. Here's the link to the post she made awhile back that I think is worth reading. forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1447914,1448666

I've never heard that about the "toxic to hognose & family" stuff. I'm not saying I don't believe it, I'm just saying I've never heard it before. Because of their immunity to toads compared to other snakes I find it very intriguing and seemingly possible. I don't participate in a Hognose forum or own any at the moment but they are one of my childhood favorites. Ha! I can remember family & friends being amazed at their spreading of their hoods & playing dead.

Thanks for the flashback! Gee, I'm getting old. Watch it! So are you. Hahahaha!!!

Take care!
Mike
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Yep, those hognoses are a little different and unfortunately, a few have died as a result of using mite sprays. I'm not sure if it's PAM or just Equate. I have a cute little Eastern Hognose...she hisses and displays, but doesn't play dead any longer.

I found a video a year or so ago of an Eastern Hognose going thru it's motions, playing dead. It's in Windows Media Video (.wmv) format and I was able to save it to show others. I thought maybe you might could do the same if you haven't already.

Here's the link: www.fws.gov/cookeville/docs/hognose_snake.htm

Catch ya later!
Mike
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Mike, that was a great clip. I love them little guys .

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

Ha! Wasn't that a hoot?

And a good size Hognose, at that.

3y3c3, I'm sorry for leading your thread astray. I think you've received good advice, all of the leading options have been discussed. I believe that the main thing, regardless of method used, is being thorough, meticulous. Please let us know how it goes and/or if there's anything else we can try to help you with.

Have a great day!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Here's something I've used in the past and have never had trouble with it. In the case of mites, I take my snakes to a local vet and give them an injection of ivomec. Works like a charm. Thankfully, I've never had a bad mite problem, especially now since I don't buy, sell and trade many snakes. My collection is pretty small and isolated. However, I have had mites in the past. It usually only took one ivomec injection per the vet's instructions. Within days the mites were gone.

Anybody else ever tried this?

RP

Never tried it, but I heard it works very well with stubborn cases.

Works like a charm. I live in a rural area and know my vet very well. He does a lot of work with livestock so he always has ivomec in stock. A friend of mine has a 3 foot boa that ended up with a bad mite infestation. One shot of ivomec took care of the problem in no time.