Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This friend of mine recently bought out a collection of rat & corn snakes...... in addition to his new aquisitions the shipper also included a free colony of mites......... Luckily this guy was smart enough to isolate everything from the arrival date as per MY instuctions since he's new to Herps, so I told him to call this person he purchased his snakes from to 'thank' him for the mites.........

Anyway said supplier was very apologetic & is making good on the situation however he told this guy to coat every snake with mineral oil??????? I've NEVER heard of this before, is this something new?? Or have I been 'in the closet' when it comes to parasite irradication?? With some WC Spilotes I had year ago, it was just a diluted 'Nix' spray solution for about 2 sheds, then it was safe to put the new mite free reptiles in the main reptile room.

This mineral oil thing sounds just too easy but hey if it works.. I'll certainly keep that method on file......... just thought I'd toss it out for discussion.... any thoughts or personal experiences?????

Thanx
Dean

Yrs ago mineral oil may have been the only thing to use. These days there are way better ways to get rid of mites. I recently had a similar problem and a friend told me about Preventamite. I used it and haven't seen a single mite. I know several others who have used in and got the same results. It's about 20.00 to 30.00 a can but well worth it.

Don Gallagher

Dean,

I have heard of people using mineral oils. My thinking is that it suffocates the mites that are already under the scales. It's been a while since I've dealt with mites, well over a decade, and I did use Terra's Rid-Mite to great success.

I just picked up an Aurora House snake from a dealer at the White Plains, NY show yesterday and lo and behold, mites. I'm curious about your diluted Nix remedy.

Thanks,
Carl

Well as you know...... NIX is a treatment for humans who through no fault of their own get Crabs aka bush-spiders, crotch crickets......... whatEVER ya wanna call em...... dey is just NASTY!!!!!!!! NOT speaking from personal experience here either ;-0

I have a friend that works in a Govt. Public Health clinic & they distribute this stuff to poor promiscuous people who pick crabs up regularly. SO he gave me this stuff (which otherwise costs $30 for 1 weeks treatment @ the local pharmacy) which I diluted 1 teaspoon for 2 litres of water, sprayed it on my Spilotes pallatus & 'voi la' no more mites to be found ANYWHERE........ it IS strong stuff tho & should not be used by anyone inexperienced otherwise can kill a fragile baby WC snake. I DID learn as well never to buy WC Spilotes again, those things had every pararsite (both internal & external) imaginable.....

Sorry about to hear about your House snake....... guess those lil snake cooties are out there everywhere, I've been lucky considering how much stuff I get from different sources. Had nuthin since the Spilotes thing 4 years ago......

Thanx for the feedback

cheers

Dean

Hey Dean –

LOL. I wouldn’t say (as you did) that you’ve been “in the closet”. Rather that you’re a little challenged in the public health field. Click here if you’d like to educate yourself on the subject. You’ll discover that there’s a difference between head lice – the “cooties” that get kids sent home from school each September, and pubic lice – the “crabs” which are usually transmitted sexually, but could also be caught from sharing a bed, towels, or clothing with someone who has them. Nonetheless, an infestation of either is often regarded as a moral lapse or a lack of cleanliness by those lower class folks, rather than an entomological issue. It's a good thing we don't feel the same way about keepers who have snakes with mites, isn't it? Well, most of us don't, anyway.

Regarding the use of oil, which was your original question, they actually discuss its use as a treatment for head lice in that article, but discount its effectiveness.

Cheers,
Joan

And it would appear that the oil does pretty much only act as a bandaid for treatment of the mites...... guess real treatment is best..... maybe this guy who advized my friend to use mineral oil for the mites just wanted more of a 'drug free' alternative for a treatment.

Guess I shouldn't have made it seem like only poor folks get crabs either....... I'm sure rich folks get them too...... the public health office my friends works at deals with a lot of street kids & prostitutes as well so thats why they hand out the NIX some frequently......

Thanx again for you help

Dean

Nix and Provent-a-mite have the same active ingredient.

back in the old days we used Hartz or Zodiac kitten/cat powder (not the spray...just reg powder). The snake is placed in a pillowcase and sprinkled. After twenty minutes remove the snake and rinse. Was pretty effective and there no noticable ill effects. I have not been able to find any the last few years so i am experimenting with their dog/cat powder. So far results have been similar...Frank