Reptile & Amphibian Forums

MY NEW BABY HAS MITES TODAY AND I DONT KNOW WHY!!!

Ok.. I have had the baby burm roughly a month. NO mites (unless I just didn't notice which i guess is possible) so far but tonight I walked by and noticed him a corner of the cage he doesn't normally sleep in. I took him out, and bam, mites under his scales on lower mouth(underside) Now.. there are 2 possibilities of where they may have come from. 1)The spanish moss I have in the cage. 2)The cypress mulch I have as bedding

1)The moss was heated in a microwave for 6 minutes to kill mites. (maybe it didnt?)
2)The cypress mulch.. I was scared about just opening the mulch from home depot and just putting it in the cage, but SO many people on here, and at local pet shops said there shouldnt be a mite problem by doing that, so I went on and put the mulch in there. No baking, or anything. (im guessing this is the problem)

Now.. I have a Ball Python as well and using some of the same mulch in her cage but I haven't noticed 1 single mite on her at all. (yet anyways, pray!) Which makes me think it's something else in the burmese cage. I also have some orchid bark underneath the mulch in the burm's cage, but I baked it for 10mins @ 400 in the oven before putting it in. I also have a stick that I also baked @ 400degrees for 10mins. I left a thawed rat in the cage overnight last night but this couldn't be the cause, right? I mean it Was frozen after all. Please tell me any suggestions/tips of where these may have come from? I am so mad at myself right now for NOT baking or *something the mulch I could scream! so ARRRRGGG please any help is good. thanks!

Don't worry too much...it happens to all of us from time to time. Treating mites at one time was a laborious task that was usually only met with limited success. Now, there is an FDA approved product called Provent A Mite by Pro Products that I have used with 100% success. No other product makes eradicating mites so easily. A can or two will take care of the problem for good and I would recommend treating your ball python's cage too. Just follow the manufacturer's instructions and you'll be set. As an aside, I would highly recommend ditching the mulch and just using newspaper....one more reason why paper still reigns supreme as the ultimate bedding for captive herps.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

Thanks for info. I have already ordered a can of provent a mite. I have heard such good things about it but never needed any before now. Using newspaper is great, yes. I used it in my Ball's cage before but it just doesn't keep the temp/humidity I need. (it's one of those glass "critter cages" The mulch does a great job of that so far but I was worried about just throwing some in there, but so many people said they do it and it's ok. well to all those who say "go ahead and put the mulch in there with no backing/treating for mites" THIS IS NOT GOOD ADVICE SO STOP SAYING IT PLEASE!!!
I did get some good pics of them swimming in the tub though.(seperately of course) lol

I put towels over my tanks to hold the heat and humidity in better....
Just make sure not to let the towel touch the light in case of fire.

>>MY NEW BABY HAS MITES TODAY AND I DONT KNOW WHY!!!
>>
>>Ok.. I have had the baby burm roughly a month. NO mites (unless I just didn't notice which i guess is possible) so far but tonight I walked by and noticed him a corner of the cage he doesn't normally sleep in.

I have used natural substrates (soils, mosses and barks) for many years, never having done any cooking and not had any instances of mite or other parsite invasions. The mites usually will have been on the anilmal in some form prior.

You said that you only had here a month and that is probably the time it took to get a mite pop. big enough for you to notice.
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Chris, my wife Mary
a dog, two cats, two birds, three snakes
oh and three kids