Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Two months ago I bought back a pair of Striped BRB's from a long time customer. They were some of my 2010 babies and had only been gone from my care for a few months. The buyer needed to sell them and had them for a fair amount less than I originally sold them for. Since I regretted having sold them in the first place it seemed like a good deal.

Got them in and stupid me did not fully quarantine them, after all they were my babies.

UGH, couple days later I found mites in the water bowl. At least they were high up in a mostly empty rack with several rows of empty cages separating them from the other babies in the rack. I treated the tubs and adjacent areas with provent-a-mite and after a few days did not see any more mites - great. Continued treating as I know not seeing them now does not mean they won't come back. Provent-a-mite treats the area and any mite that crawls across a treated surface will die. Problem is eggs can already be laid and will hatch a few weeks later and new mites. I even treated the other tubs with babies in the same rack as a precautionary measure.

Just recently I found mites in the adjacent rack - double ugh. One must have crawled off in that direction and got away before I treated the original source. Original ground zero was about 5' up. New ground zero is around 2' up in a full rack. The snakes ate the same height do not have any mites. I believe the second ground zero is centered around a egg deposit made by an escaped mite?

Any way I only post this as education and warning for others.

I found several mites dying in the tubs after treatment.....

I had read they were tiny before engorging on blood and clearly there is a size difference between the few that had just started to feed and the monster that was about to explode. If I read correctly, those smallest ones in my pic are probably 2X (or more)the size of a unfed hatchling mite. Darn near impossible to find / catch one as they are translucent and you only see the snake blood meal in their belly.
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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 that, Dave. What kind of camera did you take those pictures with? Those are some nice images.

I'm shooting with a Canon EOS 40D, had the Macro lens on for that shot. I can literally be inches away and get a great shot.
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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 have had, and prevoius customers have had, very bad results using any chemicals to kill mites....I know of dozens of rainbowboas being found dead within 24 hours of Prevent-a-mite and/or Black Knight.

My younger brother almost died 27 years ago after a professional pest company treated our home....massive seasures and a few days recovery in the hospital. I have been weary of chemical pesticides ever since. I did my masters research on organic pesticide treatments.

What I have used and recommended with great success is a predatory mite (Hypoaspis miles) that attacks and eats all stages of snake mite. Typically one dose of hypoaspis and you will not see any more snake mites. the spider breeders also use bio-controls because they cannot use any chemicals. (black-knight will kill spyders DEAD).

Just my two cents.
Link

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Bryan Hummel
www.rainbowboas.com

Dave, that picture is AMAZING!!! Nicely done!

Sorry to hear about your mites though. Hopefully you get it under control before they hit the rest of the collection.

So..... are you keeping those two snakes you bought back?
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

Thanks Aubrey, really sucks to have mites but at least was able to make something positive about it with the pic.

So far seems like I have it under control and kept away from the rest of the collection. Reminds me I need to freshen my kill zones around the infected area.

Planning on keeping them still.
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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