Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone, I only have 1 reptile, my B&W argentine tegu, so I never thought I would have problems with mites.

Today, however, I spotted a tiny white mite (parasite) crawling around his head. I didn't see any more, but where there is one there are more, right? So what should I do?? Are there internal/external medicines? Special baths and diets? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
JonV
-----
The Blue Raja, Master of Silverware, forks speciality.

Hi Jon,

I have an external spray made by a company named "natural Chemistry" called "de flea reptile relief" which works wonderfully, I orginally bought it for my waterdragon, as she was loaded with external parasites when I got her, and it cleared them up very, very quickly. Just be sure to shield his eyes while spraying.
I got the spray at my local petstore for 9.99

I hope this helps

Ley

Thanks Ley, I'll try it!
JonV
-----
The Blue Raja, Master of Silverware, forks speciality.

Tiny white mites are plant mites, 99% sure they came from your substrate, take him out, or put him in another cage for an hour, mix 1 part white vinegar to 10 parts water, and spray the entire cage, vinegar will not hurt your rep. Plant mites also will not hurt your rep, they useally won't even be found on them. Repeat the vinagar spray every day, or as they come back. They infested my water dragon cage for a while, but I finally got it under control. IF you see them all over your tegu's vent, or ears, nose, mouth, then you have a problem, try the vinagar. If you have live plants in there,water them,then look on them, bet a few hours later you see them all around the puddles of water. Good luck.
Dan

when i first got my tegus about 6 months ago, i noticed same sort of insect (some kind of mite)--i asked a local reptile breeder /collector--he said sprinkle a small amount of "seven dust 5% "---around enclosure-- worked like a charm--have not seen an insect since; and tegus are very healthy-good luck--brian

What is this "seven dust 5%" is this something you find at a greenhouse or Walmart? Or is this a pet specific supply? Thanks!
JonV
-----
The Blue Raja, Master of Silverware, forks speciality.

Seven dust is a insect killer designed for use in gardens/vegetable gardens .It can be found at home improvement stores/plant nurseries/hardware stores/kmart/walmart.It is used a lot with bird hobbyists also--It is sprinkled in nest boxes to keep insects/pests off of baby birds and out of boxes. -------Brian