Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So as i posted a few days ago my BRB regurgitated its last meal. Here we are a week later, I see it's not in its normal hide and i wasn't home last night so i wanted to check up on him. Pull off the hot side hide find him covered in mites. After immediately removing him from the tank and forcing him to soak in a water filled tupperware, I think of how this could of happened when i just cleaned the tank last friday with new everything. Look in the pack of bedding that was left over, there they are by the thousands. I go to my local shop sure enough every other pack of cypress mulch from this well known company is filled with mites. SO i had to result to only having spagnum moss in my enclosures at this time until i find somewhere else with cypress mulch from another company. Come home and have 2 enclosures to tear apart and clean, and follow the suggested ways of how to take care of this problem... ughh 3 years of keeping snakes and not once ever did i have this problem. The shop gave me a bottle of "natural chemistry reptile spray: kills mites on reptiles" followed the directions, hopefully it works :/ Any suggestions of what works best for brb's?
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//LJ//

1.0.0 BRB '09
0.1.0 BCI '10
1.0.0 English Bred Chocolate Lab

It is not likely that any of the reptile specific products would arrive at the shop infested with mites. What IS very likely is that a shop that does not have Provent-a-mite has a serious mite problem and the mites got into the mulch after it got to the shop. Alternate possibility is that they get the mulch from another reptile supplier and THEY have the mite problem. All of those products like what you got will kill some of the mites. You can kill most of them and they will still reproduce and be back in force in a couple weeks. Permethrin as in Provent-a-mite is the only snake safe product that will kill all of the mites. While trying to get rid of mites just use plain paper substrate and change it often. I HATE PET SHOPS THAT SELL REPTILES WITH MITES BECAUSE THEY ARE SO INEXPERIENCED THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW ABOUT PROVENT-A-MITE. Why is it that so many people who know very little about business or animals decide that opening a pet shop is the thing to do?
Cheers,
Grouchy old Jeff

Rest a sure Jeff I didnt get the snake from a local store and definitely didnt get him with mites. I'll call around and see if i can find some Permethrin in my area. I know you said you can kill them but they can come back in a few weeks, is there anyway to stop that from happening?
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//LJ//

1.0.0 BRB '09
0.1.0 BCI '10
1.0.0 English Bred Chocolate Lab

Permethrin is the only product that will kill all the mites and all their eggs. A can of Prvent-a-mite lasts several years here at my house. I use a small spray of it in any boxes that are leaving the house taking snakes to shows where they could pick up mites and that keeps the mites away completely. Any new snakes get put in cages that have had a small spray of Provent-a-mite and that keeps them from bringing mites into the collection. I only get live rodents about once a month and check them closely for any sign of snake mites. The cages of the snakes that get those outside source mice get a half second spray of it every once in awhile. If I am in a store with mites on their animals I can spot it right away. Snakes with mites often look dry and dusty. They also often have raised edges of scales especially around the eyes and under the chi. If I handle snakes at suspect shows or stores my clothes get a quick spray when I get home and then go into the washing machine. The mite problem is not a problem if you practice safe procedures and use Provent-a-mite. Mites are the most likely vector in the transmission of reptile diseases including IBD.

It really sucks that your snake got mites. This is where being attentive pays off. I wonder if your local pet store took any action after you pointed out their infestation. I buy my peat moss and cypress mulch at Lowes, and I've never had a problem with contamination. Its also usually much cheaper at stores like that than pet stores. Anyway, I'm confident you'll be able to get rid of those mites.
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Paul D

www.MoonlightBoas.com

Jeff's right, your local shop likely has mites and the mites are using the bags of mulch as their breeding ground. Traveling back and forth between the reptiles to feed and the mulch to lay eggs. May even be like ants and have a scent trail to follow??

Like Paul mentioned, it's actually a LOT safer to get your bedding products from a non-pet store as they need the nearby reptile to feed off of or they die.

From here you need Provent-a-mite, order it online, if you search the threads you will find other products with the same active ingredient (also used to treat human head lice) but the kicker could be in the "non-active" ingredients. No way of knowing what those are and what if any effect they could have on a reptile. May be totally safe for a human but deadly to a snake.

I also keep Reptile Relief on hand. Is a lower toxicity spray that can be used directly on the infected snake. Of course is not as effective but will kill all mites already on your snake. Good piece of mind for me when dealing with mites. I've had then a few times on incoming animals and every time was fairly easy to eradicate, just follow the DIRECTIONS on the can exactly. One case where more is not good.

I also practice preventative measures like Jeff laid out in his other reply. Always best to not have to deal with mites and have never had to deal with them in the actual collection. (knock on wood)

Just to clarify, the cage cleaning was after the regurge? I ask because the regurge could be a response to mites in the first place.

Oh, one more thing, don't forget to treat the area around the cage as the mites typically travel away from the reptile to find a good nesting site. Provent-a-mite makes a great barrier strip around any enclosure, mites can't cross it and still live.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Sorry to hear about your mites, they are never fun to deal with. I'm just wondering if you are sure they are reptile mites and not wood mites? When I first started keeping BRBs I used cypress mulch as well. After a short time, I noticed gobs and gobs of tiny white/translucent mites crawling all over the place... even on the snakes. I was very worried at first, but learned that they are just wood mites and do not harm snakes. Even so, I switched all the BRBs to paper and haven't seen a single one with them since.

I still get them on occasion with my smaller snakes that are kept on aspen, but there aren't many of them (that I can see), and they don't hurt anything.

So, if your mites are whitish, then your snake should be ok, but if they are the black ones... then you have a problem. As the other guys said, Provent-A-Mite is definitely the way to go!

Good luck!
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

Thanks everyone for the tips! I ordered my provent a mite today hopefully it gets here by tuesday. My cleaning method and spray that i currently have has seemed to kill somewhat of the majority of them but like you all said its probably only time before they come back. Hopefully that time will be when my bottle comes in and i can just get to it right then and there as soon as it comes in.

Just to answer some of your questions, yes the tank was spot cleaned when i found the regurge, i didnt feel the need to clean the whole tank since it was only a few days after the last cleaning.

Also the mites are black, not white, but thanks for the tip on the white ones.

Last but not least i thought cypress from places like lowes and what not come treated with pesticides and thats why we SHOULD NOT use it with our animals? i never heard of it being ok to use with reptiles before, i was always told not to.

And just to make sure the prevent a mite is ok with applying directly to the snake (away from the facial areas)? I know the stuff i have says it is ok but the Pro products website doesnt really mention anything about directly applying the spray to your animal.
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//LJ//

1.0.0 BRB '09
0.1.0 BCI '10
1.0.0 English Bred Chocolate Lab

Yup, sounds like the refresh not only infested your snake with mites but also may have irritated it into regurging.

To be 100% clear, Provent-a-mite is NOT to be sprayed directly on your snake. In it's wet form is harmful. Even the fumes are not safe. Follow the directions on the can very carefully. When used as directed it's 100% effective. Any mite that walks across a treated surface will soon be dead. Since mites need to feed on the snake and live off it, they cannot get from one to the or=ther without crossing the killing field. That's also why paper substrate while treating is key, no possibility of finding an untreated path under shredded bedding.

The whole treatment process will take a few weeks to kill all mites including ones that hatch from eggs that are already laid.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I've been using Premier Sphagnum Peat Moss from Lowes in my damp hides, and I'm not aware of any pesticides. All of my snakes seem perfectly healthy. I would think they would be required to list any ingredients such as that. Anyway, good luck exterminating those nasty mites.
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Paul D

www.MoonlightBoas.com

Just got my bottle of PAM in the mail, and im in the midst of applying this now. How long would you say to let it dry? it doesnt give an estimate on the bottle and just o be safe i think i'll keep them in there feeding enclosures over night that way i can keep them out of the room and let the tanks dry over night if i have too.
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//LJ//

1.0.0 BRB '09
0.1.0 BCI '10
1.0.0 English Bred Chocolate Lab

If properly applied, only takes a few seconds (minutes to be sure) to dry. Only a light misting of spray, not a soaking spray.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

My rainbow hasnt ate since the week before i found it with mites, so i got a little worried. Just to be on the safe side i went to see Dr. Goodman, who writes alot of the exotic pet veterinary books. She was really nice, so A for her if anyone is ever in the area of PA and needs a Vet for theter snake. Anyway the PAM did its job well and there were no more mites. With that out of the way she explained that theres a possibility that since i was feeding pinky rats (which she suggested not to, because of there not being enough nutrition or calcium in a pinky because theres not much to them.) that after dealing with the mites that left him a little off his game which probably was why he has been turning down food. So were back to fuzzy or close to full grown mice until hes big enough to take weaned rats i guess. She gave him two shots, one of Vitamin A and one of B, and a tube feeding which consisted of three different things, one being Vitamin E i believe. She sent me home with Neocalglucon, a liquid calcium, to kind off put a droplet of two on the next item i offer to feed him. We talked about alot of different things but one thing in general was his size vs his age. He's definitely small for being close to 1 year old, not to sure whats causing this either because i have always fed him weekly since i got him and fed food comparable to his size so food wise he's getting what he needs obviously up until this little run in with pinky rats. August will be 1 year he still about the thickness of a sharpie marker and i would say 28'' at most. I was just looking around here and saw IkeLightner's progression pics. His snake at one year and a month is humongous compared to mine, so that left me kinda stunned. Anyway just thought I'd update this topic, I'll be offering the snake food come tomorrow and we'll see if he'll take it or we'll be scheduling another tube feeding :/ FML
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//LJ//

1.0.0 BRB '09
0.1.0 BCI '10
1.0.0 English Bred Chocolate Lab