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Question about Mite spray

cowtownherper Feb 10, 2004 02:57 PM

Well it finally happened. My first mite infestation has come and gone. The little python we took in with the shedding problem apparently infested some of my boas and pythons. Luckily my corns seem to have made it through it untouched. All of the snake tanks in the house have been cleaned and treated. My question is about Black Knight spray. Have any of you used it? Any pros and cons would be appreciated. My wife bought two cans and sprayed it around the big snake tanks. We had bugs crawling out of the walls and die that I had no Idea that we even had. The company we bought it from swears that it is safe but I kind of have my doubts. Thanks Jim
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel

1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 anery
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
1,1 tx rat
4,4 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,0 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,3 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

Replies (6)

Gargoyle420 Feb 10, 2004 04:21 PM

Np.

lolaophidia Feb 10, 2004 07:48 PM

I used Black Knight last year when some live feeder mice infested my snakes with mites (yes the mice came from a shop that had mites on their reptiles as I found out later). Thank goodness I've gotten all the snakes switched to f/t mice now. I treated 11 snakes total, 6 different types ranging from Mandarin Rat Snakes to a Coastal Carpet with no apparent ill effects. It definitely kills mites dead and did a number on the wasp nests around the house too. I didn't douse the snakes in it- just cleaned the cages sprayed them, added the snakes back in once the fog settled and then the water dishes a few hours later.
I have heard that some snakes are more sensitive to treatment than others so I'd still be cautious. After all- it's a poison.
Lora

stratchick Feb 11, 2004 09:45 AM

Somewhere there is a good webpage about using it for snake mites, if you do a search on google I'm sure you will find it. I don't think spraying around the cages would be enough to kill all of the mites and nits (it only takes one mite to start an infestation), but it has been a while since I read the article. I just used Nix and it worked extremely well, wiped them out.

cowtownherper Feb 11, 2004 04:40 PM

I guess I wasn't exactally clear. What we did was soak the snakes in water then sprayed with the natural mite killer you get at the pet store. Repeated this on day two, then waited a couple of days for the Black Night to be delivered. On day five we soaked, treated the snakes with Black Night, fogged the cages and sprayed the whole area around the cages. The corns and others who weren't affected each got a bleached cage and new substrate and a good fogging while in the tank. I think we are in the clear. Each of the infested snakes is still on newspaper and being observed very carefully until we are sure ther are no eggs left to hatch. From what I've read you can't over react to mites. My wife was a little freaked when her Dumeril's had them. She could really care less about my corns. lol Also the Black Knight was rather pricey. Two cans with shipping about $49, but we only used about a half of a can. Bug hunting I will go.
-----
1,0 snow
1,0 amel

1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 anery
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
1,1 tx rat
4,4 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,0 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,3 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

stratchick Feb 13, 2004 10:28 AM

Sounds like you covered everything. You're right that you cannot overreact to mites.

When you finish the can (you'll probably want to use it as a preventative whenever you acquire a new snake), the Nix head lice cream is a whole lot cheaper and produces so much mite killer when diluted properly with water that you'll probably never use it all.

snake26 Feb 13, 2004 02:52 AM

Check out VPI-Dave and Tracy Barker's website. There's an article about Black Knight..I've used it, it killed the mites with no ill effects on anything else.

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