Reptile & Amphibian Forums

as i was handling my snake,,,i realized some insects under its mouth,,,i gave it a bath,,and then i took it out,,i saw another insect,,but it was dead,,so i figured they die by water,,but anyway

im sure they arent ticks,,,they look like small small ticks,,theyre kind of black i think,,

what are they,,and what can i do?

There are a number of treatments for mites. There are sprays that you can order like Provent-a-mite. The best thing I've found so far is a .1% Ivomec solution. Just put it in a spray bottle and mist snake cage, cage furnishings and everything once a day for 4 or 5 days...problem solved. You can get it easily from your vet.

i need a solution that can be made from pharmacy solutions,,

can anyone help?

i remmember someone mentioning something about betadine or something

I've used baby oil or olive oil on my snake when it had mites. worked great . . . you have to clean the enclosure and everything in it though before you put the snake back in . . . this was my vet's advice . . .
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You can buy Ivomec at a Co-op that is intended for livestock without a prescription. As outlined in another thread below, if you use it for anything other that what it is packaged and labelled for, it is technically a violation of Federal Law. However, since you are not going to be dosing an animal with it, but only spraying the cage, I don't see why anyone would want to come down on you about it. It's hard to believe that there are NO vets around you. Not even large animal vets? ANY vet can mix the Ivomec spray for you, the use of it is not restricted to reptiles.

np

I don't know about that....some animal meds are the same as human meds (such as Flagyl) so you can get the prescriptions filled at a pharmacy. However, I've never heard of Ivomec being used on humans. You could call your pharmacy and ask them.