Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's day four, and I'm still seeing these nasties. Haven't seen anything moving, but that doesn't mean they're all dead.

Last week was really busy. Noticed my Boa soaking, but she's done that before. After three days I thought to myself that I should check it out. Mites!

First thing I did was remove everything. Hide box and wood went into a sealed contained. It's still baking in the SoCal sun in a haze of Black Knight. I won't tough those for at least another week.

Removed substrate. Put in a sealed trash bag and discarded. Sprayed the shopvac. Left it outside.

Cleaned the glass enclosure with soap and water. Disinfected with Novalsan. Sprayed with Black Knight.

Snake was left to soak in mildly soapy water for 8 hours. When she came out there were dead mites floating around. She then got a quick spray of Black Knight, rinse and replace in enclosure. All there is left is paper towels and her water dish, which has been run through the dishwasher at the high temp sani-wash setting.

Repeat three more times, and I'm still seeing mites! Not very many, but a few.

I'm guessing possible reinfection? Of course, I don't know where I got them in the first place. Best I can think is the occasional trip to the pet store, but haven't handled anything. Have a dog that could bring junk in from outside, but that's a long shot.

Also very strange, but none of my other animals has mites. Not the 7 snakes or three lizzards. Am 100% sure of this. Could be related to how I have it all set up, but still weird.

So, I'll keep up the cleaning/soaking/spraying and hopefully in a few more days will stop seeing the buggers. Only worry is the stress I'm causing the snake.

Had my whole collection of 14 venomous infested by the little bastards... I caught it very early... I would suggest getting rid of anything I could not part with, i.e. wood water bowl and anything else that was in the cage. I would also (and I did) spray black kinght on the floor in the room with the snake, and anything around it. Also, vaccuum the floor with moth balls in the vaccuum every day, and then dump the contents of the bag ASAP. Do this for two weeks and keep checking the water bowls in the snake cage, usually they fall in and die there, that is where I found mine... I would also consider giving the dog a good bath, mites are terrible here is a great site that helps with mites, it is a three parter, but it is well worth the read (at bottom of page, just copy the link and paste i your address bar)... Good luck, you'll need it, they are a pain. Be thankful you only have a boa, rather than 14 venomous (cobras, rattlers, and a whole bunch more...) ~Nick

http://www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/thewaragainstsnakemites/Mites-KnowTheEnemy.htm

Fourteen venomous snakes with mites is definitely a worse problem!

It's coming on two weeks. Every day I find a few more mites. Not many--maybe 15-30 visible in the soaking water. Maybe 10 on the paper towel substrate in the morning.

I wanted to know where the mites were coming from, so after soaking and spraying the snake I put it in a different cage with a different water bowl and nothing else. I surrounded the cage with flea powder--powder is better at killing arachnids than liquids.

Figured, 1) I wasn't killing all the mites in the enclosure, 2) new mites were getting in, or 3) I wasn't killing all the mites on the snake. Based on my test it has to be number 3.

Well, I'm sick of soaking and spraying my boa--and I'm sure she's sick of it too. I ordered some predator mites today. They'll be here in a few days, and I'll post again to let people know how they work.

predator mites??
can you please elaborate on what these are, ive never heard of em and im having mite problems myself, think i got em from live feeders from a pet store

You can buy them here:

http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/hypoaspis.html

Basically these mites are good. They eat snake mites, eggs and everything. After a few days with no food they die. They don't bother the snake and they get rid of your snake mites once and for all.

That's the theory. Mine will come sometime this week. Should know a day or two after that if they really work.

If your infact useing BK and still seeing mites then your feeders are the carrier.So the expense your investing will be wasted after your next feed unless you get feed from another source.
Since we cant purchase BK spray right now we use corn oil to coat the snakes and small chunks of pest strips to kill off any incoming critters that may be on feeders.
The pest strip chunks kill off everything before they have time to anything but die.
The oil choaks out the attached mites and prevents others from hitching a ride,its natural and wont hurt the snake.
Pest Strips chunks should be cut into 1"X 2" and placed on each end of cages. I use 3 pieces in my 75 gal for example.The snakes have no interest in them and they can be hid out of sight even under dry substrate and they still kill very effectively.
AGAIN ! It wont Harm The Snake(s)
Use rubber gloves to oil the snakes,coat your hands and let the snakes crawl through.

"Important"
When coating the head area,gently grab the snake acouple inches behind the head and hold steady till the snake pulls backwards through your grip that way you dont load thier vents with oil.

Good Luck !

A trip to the vet for a shot of a systemic mite poison on a 2 week interval for a month will get rid of the buggers on your snake better than any spray. I use pro-vent a mite in my cages once a month and have started using DE FLEA on the snakes and cages as well. Prevention is better than having to deal with an outbreak. Usually this occurs when a new snake has been added and even after quaranteen and treatment i have still had them show up. I got them once on live rats that came from another breeder. That made me switch from lived to frozen fast!!!

Good Luck! susan

The best stuff I have seen is "Equate bedding spray" from the WalMart pharmacy. It is used for lice which is basically what your snake has. I use a 1-2 second spray per ten gallons of enclosure and thats it. You can use more if you have a wooden cage(3-4 secs-per) but its just a longer dry time. There is a 30 day residual at least and I have tested the spray on a pretty bad infestation myself (about 100 adults in my collection).
Simply take out the snake and water bowl and treat the cage. That's it I didn't need to trash my driftwood collection or any cages. Soak the animal for awhile and check for mites still on the snake but don't worry to much cuz they will die when you put the snake back in the cage. Important, especialy in Boids get the dead mites out from behind the eyes carefully about two days after you put the snake back in the treated cage because they will all die in the ocular space and that can cause problems ie. shedding or infection.

Good Luck, Jason Hood
Snakesunlimited.com

hi,weve recently had a problem with mites on our albino burm some one recomended frontline spray (flea spray)and a clean cloth just simply wipe down the snake with cloth spayed with frontline then wipe snake again with clean damp cloth repeat a couple of days later awell as spraying the whole viv and accesories touch wood weve not seen anything of them since they really are annoying though arnt they we were asking the same questions as you how did we get them and why did none of the others get them.its still a mystery lol. andrea.

All that for one snake!!! I keep huge burms, boas, and a variety of hots. Prevent a mite is the only thing i have ever used. take snake out, leave substrate in the enclosure and spray it doesn't even take alot. Wait about 30 minutes and put snake back. no more mites for 3 months. Then all you have to do is spray the entrance to the enclosure every 90 days and no mites. The directions come with it. so easy, safe and effective. In the past five years i have only used three cans. Good luck Jason

there is this thing that i use wich is called insect guard and you can get it at almost any reptile shop. i live in pico rivera and there is a pet shop i get it from the shops name is call crossroads pet store. the way you use this is to cut a pice off 1 inch long by 2 inches wide. and you hang it in the tank for 2 to 3 days all you do is remove all water from the tank and it will kill all mites or what ever you have. the size you cut depends on how big the tank is. it will not harm your snake. i have been using it for about 5 years now. But do not let your snake come in contact with it you have to make a screen cover to hang it .