Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, as I was watering my new snow corn, Frost, I noticed a little black thing crawl over his head and go in between his eye and the surrounding ocular scale.

Is this the same type of mite talked about in the Manual? I looked him over completely, and this is the only one I found. I couldn't remove it from it's hiding place, so I placed some Vaseline around the snake's eye, hopefully smothering it.

Is it possible to only have one mite? What do you all recommend for treatment and cleaning of the enclosure? The manual had many, I'm just curious as to what you all have found works with the best success.

Thanks in advance..
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints

Well, you will know in a day or so, as they fall in the water dish and die. Check there. I hope you've kept him away from your collection, or else you may need to treat them all. Start by washing his cage with a 1/10 bleach/water solution and rinsing very, very well. Boil anything that you can. Then give him a bath. I have used "Reptile Rinse" as a wash for mites. Treat, Retreat, and do it all again! Just don't put any pest strips in the cage!

He is in the same room as the rest of my collection, but on the complete opposite side of the room from everything. He's been in there for going on 5 days now, and his water bowl is spotless. I've only seen the one on him so far.

I've looked over everyone else, and they all appear mite-free as before. But the Vaseline on his eye seems to have done the trick, the mite hasn't moved in over 3 hours since the time of application. I'll clean and disinfect his cage tomorrow, while he soaks in a water bath.

Has anyone tried the ivermectin applications such as Frontline for their reptiles? Applying a very small dose and letting it soak into the bloodstream of the animal, and subsequently killing any bloodsucking parasites. Just a curious question, as ivermectin seems to have a large margin of safety with any animal I've ever encountered it being used on.
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints

i had one mite on my little corn a couple weeks ago. i was pissed. i searched under his substrate, i searched my other snakes but no other mite to be found. i figured why do the work if there was only one mite. so i wated to see another one and still havent. if you want to be extra careful go ahead and disinfect. just thought you might like to know that it has happened.

There's a product called 'Provent-a-mite' that I have used before. It completely wipes mites out. You remove the snake and the water, spray the cage down, air it out, then replace the snake and water. I've had some great success with it. Breaking down the cage and washing the snake (or covering it with oil) also works. Keep in mind that if you've seen one mite your snake might be covered with mite eggs. Also keep a close eye on the rest of your collection, they do spread pretty easily.
Ivermectin is used internally in snakes and lizards but I don't think there's a frontline for snakes (Interesting idea, though). The one thing is that it wouldn't take care of mites in the substrate, but if they couldn't bite the snake I guess they'd die too. Hmm... (but how do you put it on a 10 gram hatchling?)

Good point about the eggs. Mites can be a real pain and they can spread quickly. If you have been touching one snake and then go handle another, you could easily infest your whole collection. If you have seen one, go ahead and prevent anymore from growing and use provent-a-mite on your setups. Follow the directions and you won't see anymore mites.
Brian

Gonna pick up some Provent a Mite stuff and use it on everyone, regardless of whether I see any on them or not. I was parasite free before, and aim to be again. =)
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints