Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My collection has a minor mite problem after a few were brought in on a trade a couple months ago. Last night I noticed my big female cuban boa was starting to shed so I helped her out. She had been soaking in her water bowl for a couple days and I noticed there were about 20 - 30 mites in the bottom. So after she was done I treated her again with the DeFlea. Then I read the label immediately afterward and it says not to treat snakes for 6 hours after they shed their skin. I accidentally waited about 1 minute. She looks and seems fine. I'm not even sure what problems it could cause. But I'm just wondering if I actually have anything to worry about or if that's just a precaution they have to write on the bottle? I've heard this stuff isn't the greatest but I wanted to try it because it's so mild on the animal. It hasn't exactly "worked" for me. I've treated 3 snakes that I've noticed mites on twice in the last month. We'll see if they come back again. If they do, I'm gonna order another bottle of the trusty Black Knight. At least then, I know they'll be wiped out for sure. Anyone have any opinions or suggestions? Thanks alot.

I actually used Reptile relief with great success on my blood python. Guaranteed it was only a few mites on a young specimen but it did the job. I'm a little leary of black knight because it is so toxic. Most of the breeders around here that I have contact with have disuaded me from using it for a number of reasons that I agree with. However with any treatment for external parasites I use the following procedures. 1. follow the directions on the bottle. I see you missed the part about not using after shedding but since the stuff is so mild i don't forsee any major problems from that one accident. 2. repeat, repeat, repeat. Know the parasite's life cycle and be sure to treate long after the adults are gone as more egges could be on the way. 3. most important- develop a good quarantine procedure. this often involves treating other snakes in your collection and keeping everyone on newspaper for a few months.
-----
0.1.0 argentine horn
0.0.2 pixie
1.1.0 fire salamanders
0.0.1 axolotl
1.1.0 golden treefrogs
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.1.0 golden gecko
0.1.0 skunk gecko
0.0.1 cali king
0.1.0 sumatran blood python
0.1.0 ball python
0.0.1 argentine B&W tegu
0.0.2 giant black millipdes
0.0.2 dumpys

Reptile relief works mostly by desicating (drying out) the mites to kill them. As a result, there is a chance of causing dry skin in snakes. Obviously, right after they shed, their skin is at its most permeable, and, thus, most likely to lose moisture (dry out). If you havn't seen any problems yet, then you should be just fine.

Used in conjuction with Provent-a-mite, the stuff is awesome. By the way, theres gonna be a great article on treating mites in the next (April) LLLReptile & Supply Co. newsletter. If your not already on the mailing list, you can join on lllreptile.com Also, you get all thier latest specials.

Jono