Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I caught an Alligator Lizard a few weeks ago and noticed that he has a very bad case of mites around his neck. Can anyone tell me how to get rid of them? Here are some pictures I took of the mites (they are on both sides of his neck)

My alligator lizards both had a very mild case of mites, and following the instructions of some people on this website, i found a useful method of getting rid of them. Submerge lizard in mildly warm water for 10-15 minutes (keep ears under water bu allow the rest of the head to stick out) and clean out the cage with a 10% bleach solution every day to every few days. Line the top of the cage with vaseline to keep the mites from escaping (I did not have to do this since it was a mild case, but judging from your pictures, you should probably do this) Once a week, bathe your lizard in vegetable oil (this is a very effective wat of drowning the mites since the oil sticks to the scales) Repeat this for about a month. If neccesary you can keep bathing your lizard after that, but hopefully they will all be killed.
I hope this has helped!

Those are black-legged tick nymphs not mites (great picture btw). You will need to get a fine pair of forceps and pull them off. Be careful not to squash the ticks and not to pull off the head. I've found over 60 of these ticks on some als.

Your lizard may also have mites, these will be smaller, softer bodied and more mobile. Wolfgirl's treatment should eradicate these, but the ticks need to be pulled off.

An interesting note on black-legged ticks: These are the ticks that most commonly carry lyme disease which is caused bacterium transmitted when the tick bites. Nymphal / baby black-legged ticks feed on reptiles and small rodents. There are compounds under study in the blood of reptiles such as alligator lizards and fence lizards that apear to kill the bacteria in the tick, thus, rendering it lyme disease free.

-Alice

Thanks for the tips. Your right about them being ticks. On closer inspection I can see the little mouths of them. Will Petroleum Jelly kill them if I put a few globs around the side of the lizards neck and on top of the ticks? I wouldn't cover the opening of his neck or head or anything. Also, I have the lizards cage in my room and am worried the ticks could get out. If I put a line of petroleum jelly around the top of the cage would it keep them in?

A line of petrolium jelly will keep them in the tank, but you really should manually remove them from your lizard. Petrolium jelly is not terribly effective on ticks. Your lizard also likely has some hanging out in its ears and I'm not sure how good it would be to start stuffing its ears full of the jelly. With a fine pair of forceps such as those in a swiss ary knife, manual removal is easy. Removing them will also ensure that they don't drop off to reproduce and re-infest your lizard. After you remove them you may want to use a little rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip to disinfect the removal sites to prevent infection.
-Alice