Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, i just found what appear to be mites crawling around on the sides of my tegus cage. my eyes are horrible and to me they appear as specs of dust that move so i cant be certain that that is what they are but i'm pretty sure.

that being said, does anyone have any suggestions as to the best method of removing these pests. also is there anything else that these are likely to be? i'm going to be purchasing a burmese python on saturday at the NARBC and would really like to welcome my new baby home to a pest free envioroment.

clean everything! new substrate, new carpet, disinfect the enclosure/feeding and water bowls, clean everything as best you can.. hot water, little bit of bleach, perhaps even some special mite away stuff

your tegu might have the mites on him already, if that's the case buy some spray or a soak for him, i spray my guy with Rep-Rinse which did the trick.. or if you want take him to a vet and get him checked

another handy tip i found out from a friend, microwave the new substrate for 30 seconds or so before you put it in the tank.. that how i got mites here, they came right in the bag

i hope this helps!

well, they could be mites... or they could be something other than mites, but it's best to play it safe. they might be harmless fly nymphs, but who wants to see tons of little critters crawling around your enclosure. this happened to me twice, i thought they were mites but turned out not to be. its only happened to me in miami, though... must have something to do with humidity and temperature.
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if nothing else, i at least amuse myself!

My vet told me if you use bark you will get mites .He also told me there not going to hurt your lizard. He said tha I could freez the substate or put it in the microwave, before you put it in the cage and you wont have this happen to your cage. I will email my vet to get a better answer. Russ

i thought i had mites one time when my red was in my 55 gal fish tank as a baby that her hide box was so high in humidity that the crickets were having babys and they looked like little mites and when i started moving the bark around i started to see all the baby crickets every were just a thought

tony

ooo sorry this is late, but get some of the mite spray made specifically for reptiles. my bros bluetongue got pretty nasty mites, and i sprayed her down. havent seen one since! the cool thing is, since it is not toxic, you can spray it lightly over the substrate. i even sprayed the top of the aquarium shes in!
hope this late info helps.
ian