Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Are there any natural solutions to getting rid of snake mites? Poor Bongo is really suffering. I noticed that he hadn't shed in almost a month, then I saw that he had a bunch of little black dots on him. I pried most off but there's still a few burrowed under the scales of his underbelly. I've called everywhere in town, but no pet stores sell anything that gets rid of them! He is only about 20" long so they are hitting him hard.

Thanks

Aaron

As far as a natural solution, I'm not sure. Here's a URL that discusses predatory mites as a way to combat snake mites. I guess this would be natural.
http://coloherp.org/cb-news/Vol-28/cbn-0101/SnakeMites.html

Actually, any solution would be fine. I'm assuming that they die in cold, so in addition to bleaching his habitat, I'm leaving it outside for a few days in the 10 degree weather... but I need something to get them off of him

Here's another URL that may help. See the part under heading of WATER. Apparently just soaking the snake in water will reduce the number of mites.
http://www.myherp.com/caresheeets/snakmite.htm

Just soak him in luke-warm water. My Ball Python had mites when I got him so I just soaked him in water and they all fell off. Good luck!

Go to Pro-Exotics web site and get a can of Black Knight. This has worked well for me. another thing that has worked is sevin dust (find it in a plant nursery) It works as well on snake mites as it does on the spider mites that infest your house plants. As far as "natural" solutions. There aren't any that actually are worth a d@mn. These are parasites. You kill them with poisons.

Mark

This stuff works! If you check the classifieds for caging here on Kingsnake, you'll find a few people sell Black Knight as well as Pro Exotics. Also check out http://www.vpi.com/ for some good info on "the War Against Mites". As far as cold killing mites, I'm not a mite expert but many insects eggs overwinter with no problems so I don't think that would destroy the eggs. I've heard of a number of people using a diluted solution of Nix- which should be available at most drug stores. Do a search on Google for snake mites and you'll find a lot of information.
Good luck!
Lora

I had the same problem. I used Pro-vent-a-mite.
It's 100% effective and quick.
I would also recommend Black Knight, which I would have used but it's not legal here in CA. The process is simple, remove the snake and the water dish,and leave everything else in the tank.
Make sure you take the tank outside for proper ventilation. Spray the inside and make sure the vapors penetrate everywhere. It doesn't take alot of the spray, depending on the size of your tank,a few seconds worth of sprays should do the trick. The treatment should last 30 days,staying effective the whole time.
I also make sure and do the "rim" of the tank. You can also spray some on a towel and wipe the area around the area of where the tank sits while it's outside drying. Again don't have the snakes near the product. Good Luck.