Reptile & Amphibian Forums

STILL HAVE RED MITE PROBLEM! Last week I soaked my dragons for 45 minutes. Some red mites came off. Cleaned the tank and sprayed the prevent a mite. Today a week later the dragons still seem to have mites. Do not see any crawling like before just logged into the scales. So I did the same process again. This time using a soft toothbrush to try to dislodge the mites. I was able to get a lot more off that way. But still was unable to get them all off. Any one with experience with this. Are the mites I am taking off alive or dead at this point. THANKS

It can take 2 to 3 treatments spaced one month apart to get rid of all of the mites.

Continue soaking your dragon during this period in order to remove any mites off the body. Use the provent-a-mite once monthly as directed.

I'm sure others who have more first hand experience with mites will have more ideas
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

Have you cleaned the room too!

Now I havent used this in alot of years(probably 15 years I would guess, maybe a bit less though), but I remember using a no pest strip. You would cut a little piece of the strip off and put it in a little container with holes in it(so animal cant touch it) and place that in the cage. I would check with someone maybe in the ball python forum, or a forum where dealing with wild caught animals is common and see if this is even safe for beardies. Not that the mite stuff doesnt work, but im not sure really how strong that stuff is. That no pest strip is pretty strong which is why you have to be careful with how much you use and how long its in there for.
chris

I had the same problem a few months ago...from a bad shipment of crickets I think! I ended up having to take one of my dragons to the vet. You really have to stay on top of it and remember that it may take a few treatments to completely kill the entire cycle (mites and all of the eggs). One thing you want to also remember is that mites drown when they encounter water, so my vet had me giving my little one a quick bath daily (about 5 minutes). It was just long enough for the mites to drown, but you have to make sure that you also carefully add water to his/her head because the mites will try to climb up to avoid the water. You want to make sure that while your dragon is out of the room, yougive the cage, all of its furnishings and the entire room a good cleaning. I used water/bleach with a ratio of 10:1. Remember to clean the tops of the cages because mites tend to climb high when they leave their host to lay their eggs and are often at the tops of the cages where you would least expect them. It may take a few cleanings but this will break the mite cycle. When they leave your dragon, they may inject a toxin leaving your dragon lethargic for a while which is very normal. They may also leave lesions on the skin or open sores. If this happens; bath daily allowing to drink water first and then adding betadine to the water. Add enough to the water to give the color of weak tea. After removing your dragon from the bath 10/15 minutes, use witch hazel as an astringent...if the sore is really bad you may want to add some neosporin to help in the healing process. Never pick the skin off - allow it to come off on its own, or you can cause bleeding and additional scabbing. Sorry for so much info...when mites hit my colony I had no idea what hit me until a few of my dragons were covered with scabs and going to the vets. Hope some of this helps!
Good luck! It took me months to get throug it...but with patience and tender loving care so will you!!!

Where did you get those cricket from? Maybe the same place. I spoke to someone with the same problem with a snake. Not sure he knew what he was talking about but he said when you see them under the scales they are already dead. They usually eat to much and die. That is why you can see them. Usually he said the are very small and hard to see. All i know is that i did the process two weeks in a row with prevent a mite because i do not think i sprayed enough the first time. Much more dead mites came off this time and the soft toothbrush really helped. maybe next time i bath them the rest will come off

My local petstore because I ran low...which I never do. But thought it wouldn't hurt just this one time. I still have one poor female that hasn't fully recovered and her entire left leg and left side of her head is covered with scabs. I faithfully give her a betadine bath daily and follow my routine and the process slowly is working. Looking at pictures from a month ago, I can see she is doing better but wow she still looks horrible. To look at her you would think she was in terrible pain, but she is very active and a great eater and has gained back all the weight she lost too. But those scabs take forever to heal if the mites are that far out of control I have been told. Keep on top of it and through time you will break the cycle. My first mite outbreak was almost 4 months ago and I am still cleaning up the aftermath of those little devils. Keep us posted and good luck!!!

Good luck with the mites!

Make sure that, even if it appears that the mites are all gone, you repeat the provent-a-mite treatment at least once more a month from the original treatment. This will properly desroy the mite at all of its lifestages and will prevent a re-infection.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

I have use no pest strips for years without any ill sideeffects. They work wonders. I dont have any problems with mites but I do get in new animals often and if they have mites I always use no pest strips. They generally sell them in different sizes. Depending on the size of the enclosure. You can hang one in a cage for a few months and be ok. Make sure there is proper ventilation though, not enough for all the fumes to escape but enough.

I am still new to bearded dragons. What does these mites look like? How big are they? How to identifiy these if you see them?