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I just found mites on my burm. I must say as i am amazed at JUST how tame she is, i think even my dog woulda takena nip at me roughly probing her the way i was to get off every mite i could find. I cant go ordering the stuff i need until monday to start treating her beyond simple disinfecting and drowning the evil things, and i've read a few long instructional sheets so i thik i have that end covered. i didnt find all that many, but im guessing the ones i could see well were probably fat, well fed, pregnant girls, and the rest are too tiny for me to notice easily. i picked off around 20 of them from the eyes, all the misc holes on the head, from the line under the chin, and some chin scales. i swiped a pointy qtip under a few belly scales and found none there.

What i'm worried about is them NOT SPREADING to my other reptiles. i moved her cage clear across the house. after cleaning her off, i then washed myself, changed, and washed again, and checked the snake kept closest to her, and he appears clean. he is also about to shed so i think i'm going to clear everything but a DIFFRENT waterbowl out of his tank, do the paper towl thing, and change it daily and whatnot, just to assure myself that any he DID happen to get, went away with his shed. hes a ghost corn, so i figure any that did happen to find their way onto him should quickly be discovered. i only handled him for a moment, incase any were still riding on me, to help lower the risk of jumping. I'm thinking until i pronounce my burm clean, i'll sort of "reverse quarintine" the rest, not even allowing myself into their enclosures, using tongs to change water and clean and whatnot... I'm afraid to check my other snakes out of fear that any i got on myself will get onto them, rendering and diagnosis of "clean" immedaitly false.. i've never had mites before, and i sure dont like them already i dont know what i'll do if they get to my tokays, those things will NOT let me even consider handling them to de-mite them!

anyone have any input on how they prevented the spread?
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
0.1 Normal Corn (Tigera?)
1.0 Yellow Rat
0.1 Central American Boa Constrictor (Achilla)
0.1 Burmese Python
0.1 Rose Hair Tarantulla (Grumpy)
0.0.1 Usambar Starburts Baboon Tarantula
0.1 White Knee / Zebra Tarantula
2 ferrets (Otis, Milo)
1.2 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Nile Moniter
0.0.1 Tegu
Jack Dempsey Tank...

A simple and safe way to stop mites from spreading is to put legs on the cage, put each leg in a pan of water, and add a dash of dish detergent to each pan. Any mites should drown.

A number of insecticides will kill mites when sprayed on the surface surrounding a cage. I have heard claims that Equate Bedding Spray, a louse treatment available at Wal-Mart, will kill mites. I have not tried this myself, so read the directions carefully and use it at your own risk.

Hope this helps.

Paul Hollander

Your "recommendation" can lead to potential health problems, acute or chronic with one's reptiles.

Different, more toxic isomers are widely used in many products as they pose no risk to humans, mammals or birds as a rule, but they are definitely more toxic to reptiles. Most of these products also use chemicals such as Piperonyl butoxide in their formula, which is a synergist that modifies and increases the toxicity of the active in various ways. One will find that most formulations use this and/or other synergists as it is much cheaper than the active and creates a more lethal product.

Studies have been done, and products are marketed, showing that Piperonyl butoxide as well as other chemicals are definitely toxic to reptiles, regarding the killing of brown tree and other snakes, and improve the formula to do just that. You can do a search on these products used in the South Pacific and Indonesia that use various formulas to KILL snakes. They are packaged in high pressure containers (like a wasp & hornet spray) so you can hit the snake up to 20 feet away.

Many of these chemicals can absolutely be lethal to snakes.

There are many other chemicals in these formulas that will never be made public and since the manufacture did not make any claims to the EPA (or on the label) that the product would be safe and effective on reptiles, no such studies or proof would be required. Many of these inerts can be potentially toxic to reptiles and since no tests or studies have ever been performed, no one knows. Since all formulas are proprietary and secret, no one will ever know what is really in the can and will only be sure that the product is OK to use with reptiles if that claim is specifically on the label. This is why it is a federal offense to sell, distribute, offer for sale, promote or use any pesticide for an unlabeled use. The EPA enforces this, as using a pesticide indiscriminately for a non tested use can have deleterious effects on the site, host and environment and they do not want any such problems to develop.

Contact the manufacture of any of these products and ask them if the product is safe to use with reptiles and see what response they give.

People are always making claims about various pesticides and state they are OK to use with reptiles when they have no knowledge as to what chemicals are even in the formula. Even with a product that lists the same "generic" active, the active can be a different isomer and the remainder of the formula will always be a mystery. Just because one does not see any negative outward effects after using an off labeled product, certainly doesn't mean that it is not causing chronic health problems to the animal over the long term or creating other problems, such as the potential for resistant mites and other environmental damage.

No Pest strips were once considered safe (and some people still hang on to this theory), but after many years of our reptiles being guinea pigs, it was found that they are harmful, both acutely and chronically. Some of our leading vets, including Douglas Mader as well as several zoos have confirmed this. Unless the product has been specifically tested and approved for use by the USEPA, no one can state whether or not it can be harmful to a reptile.

Bob@ Pro Products
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