Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am getting little orange mites in one of my chuck cages. Can someone please give me some guidance into how I can rid the cage of these little buggers!

Thanks,

Geoff

How are all the critters? Have not heard from you in a while. You have to go simple. Take out all the sand and rocks and throw them out and do not reuse them. Replace it with newspaper and something like a sweater box top propped up on one very dense rock with no craks or pores where mights can hide and lay eggs. Change the paper and thoroughly wash the rock, sweater box top and cage every other day or so. You can brush the lizards down with vegetable oil at night making sure you get in all the nooks and crannies. Put it in a swaeter box overnight then in the morning wash with a mild soap and water solution. The mites should be gone within a couple of their life cycles-a month or 6 weeks. The key is to stop their eggs from hatching!!! I have also had great luck with a product called provent-a-mite. The stuff works like magic but there have been reports on this forum of it killing animals. I have used it on at least 50 animals including hatchlings and have never had a problem. I think the key is to follow the directions and this will keep you from killing the animals I think. Good luck and let us know how it works out. If it is in your outdoor cage then you have trouble. About all you can do is use ivermectin every six months or so to keep them under control but you will probably never fet rid of them outside. Too many places to hide and lay eggs! Tom

Hey Tom,

How are things?

All of the animals are doing great. Luckily, the mites are only in one small cage and haven't spread. Thank you for the advice. My angel islands are growing fast, how are yours doing? The Dickersonae's are still sleeping away. The San Esteban’s are growing like mad as well and I hope to try breeding them next year. Are the mites going to pose a health risk or are they just a nuisance?

Take Care,

Geoff

sorry could not help myself ! Seriously hope ya get rid of those pesky lil buggers.

Good they are only in one enclosure, but keep an eye out anyway !

Eve

The Angels are as big as the Estebans. My varius are growing a lot slower that the first ones I got. They are now about 14 inches at about 1 1/2 years old. Have not weighed them lately. The first ones I got were about the same size and 90 to 120 grams at one year old and were 600 plus at 2 years of age. Of course I think the first ones I kept a lot warmer through the winter. The mites are quite a nusaince and can cause health problems. I would really try to get rid of them with the high dollar collection you have. Tom