Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After past years of battling internal parasites that swept through my collection and dealing with the fruit flys that likely carried them I have a new foe.
Mites.
I wiped out the internal killers and the flys that transported them but I violated a personal rule of not bringing home anything ill.
I picked up a clutch of malnorished ball pythons feeling bad for thier treatment.
I thought I could bring them back to good health. Well they had mites which have been marching through tank by tank.
While they are a problem they are not the threat that I dealt with lung worms. They d have to go though.
I've been treating by cleaning the heck out of the tanks, rinsing the snake and giving them 24hrs in an empty tank with a pest strip above. Its working but I'd like to head the little buggers off by steaming the racks as I think we've talked about before. These things are persistant. What steamers are good, not going to break my bank ($ Oreck $)and where can I get a good one.
Lastly any suggestions on thier use?
Mike.
PS-on a better note I have mulitple clutches of RS eggs incubating and many more pairs that are actively mating.

Hey Mike, try provent-a-mite (PAM) or the similar product called Equate sold at WalMart. The PAM is a spray that I have found to be VERY effective at erradicating mites. Take a clean cage outside and spray the inside and fresh bedding according to directions. Allow the cage and bedding to ventilate VERY well and ensure its completely dry before putting the animal back in. Treat each cage the same way. You can even treat the inside of racks, shelves, just about anything with the stuff. HOWEVER, make sure the snakes do not breathe the fumes or come into contact with the non-dried surfaces!!!! You can move all your snake cages to another room and spray the entire herp room down. Then treat each cage separately.

Mites suck (pardon the pun), but can be effectively and safely erradicated. Good luck!

Thanks Kevin, I'll give it some thought and look into it. I was looking into a steamer because its nontoxic. I've got some expensive stuff, some I've got years of effort in that I'm quite fond of. Mites arn't as dangerous to the animal as internal parisites can be. You know the saying that the cure is worse than the ilness? Well I'm afraid of killing the snakes along with the mites.
Mike.

I don't know much about steamers but question just how necessary one would be. About 8 years back, a new snake brought with it the black mites & before I knew it they were in every cage. A couple treatments of Equate stopped them cold & we've never been bothered again. I've also used pest strips in the past but wouldn't do so again. Good luck. I HATE those bugs!

Ok, I'll have to check out the equate. Still makes me nervous.
Mites are bad, but not as bad as lung worms or fruit flys that carry them. I've dealt with them and came out of it.
Mites arn't like having a prowler in your home, more like inlaws that don't know when to leave.
Mike.

Can you provide some details & background on your experience with lung worms & fruit flies? You live in Florida if I remember correctly. I live in Tallahassee & wouldn't know a fruit fly if it landed on my nose. Please chime in.
Thanks,
Dan.

Hi Dan the lungworms were introduced by an asian wild caught import and was spread thru my collection by these damned little gnat like flys or fruit flys. The flys feed on the snakes waste. The infection causes a resperatory illness that turns into pnemonia and took a number of my snakes. Treatments with panacur and flagyl killed off the lungworms while fly tape next to the snakes rooms lamp along with bowls filled with apple cider vinegar with a drop of dish soap to lure and drown them did the job for the flys. Though as by chance I actually am in Florida right now my home is in New Jersey. You know its cold here now,hope not so that I can't find a few snakes.
Mike.

Cool weather is GONE. The next several weeks should prove to be super for road hunting, both at night & in the AM's. Happy Fla herpin!
Dan

Went cruising last night so. central area. Great spots, found nothing but a few shivering frogs in the road. temps dropped into the mid 60s after the sun went down. Saw fox,deer, racoon, armadillo, & a possum to keep the interest up. Maybe too early for cruising. Temps to be in the 80s for the next week though so possibilities still exist.
Mike.

The PAM is great, but you must use as directed. Mites are bad, dont kid yourself. They can kill young snakes due to the stress of blood loss and also cause infections in all snakes which can lead to problems and death.

As I stated in my earlier post, DO NOT subject the snake to the fumes from the spray!!! Clean your cage thoroughly and bring it outside. Add bedding and spray the bedding inside the clean cage. Fluff the bedding around to help the spray dry out. After about a half hour or so you should be able to place the snake and CLEANED water bowl back into the clean cage with NO PROBLEMS. The same wih your racks. Remove all the cages, bring the rack outside, and spray it down with the PAM or Equate. LET DRY FULLY and make sure all vapors have dissipated. Then replace with the clean cages.