Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just wanted to ask you guys because I know that leaftails and geckos in general are senitive to differnt chemicals. I just want to do it right and I need help quick.
Please help me out.
-Eli

when i bought a pair of pietschmanni at a local reptile show, i found out soon that they had mites. what i actually did for them was get the vet to check them out, and i think they got a shot every other week of ivermectin a total of 3 times. since then, i've dealt with mites myself. you can either buy a product call provent-a-mite, which is basically a spray, but its not my top choice because it kills all insects and arachnids, so it will even kill off your crickets. i usually just use that now to treat new branches and stuff i add to the enclosures. probably the cheapest and most effective thing you can try is reptile relief, which is another spray you can probably buy at the local pet store. you just spray it or dab it onto the mites, and it should kill them within a day or two. if you think mites might be in your substrate though, i would recommend changing everything out in the enclosure. there are probably other alternatives as well, ive heard of using vegetable oil on the mites, but i think people mostly use that for snakes, so you might wanna get a second opinion before going that route.

hope that helps!

I don't reccommend prevent-a-mite or reptile relief for mite infestions because of reasons Mike already stated and the fact that I have never heard of anyone have that much luck with it... The mites will attach primarily around the eye and in the llamella of the hands, and you can't get those products near the eye, and geckos toes are are known in the animal world for their ability to repel objects such as dirt and fluids... So in essence the drug will be shed from the feet with little time to act on the mite... Ivermectin is a sure-fire way to rid them of mites, but I highly highly highly reccommend that a herp vet do the treatments... Ivermectin is a very nasty drug and your gecko will not tolerate ignorance with its use...
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Ben

My uroplatus pietschmanni had mites on it. I did nothing about it and they were completely gone within a month.
-Matt

dude, thats a real bad idea. since they fell off, they could be reproducing in your tank without you noticing it. i would keep a close eye on them if i were you, and make a substrate change....

You must take into accoutnt those types of mites that are present. Some will do nothing more than ride around on the animal, get into the substrate and otherwise be a nuisance. Others will remain on the host and not leave, being of a parasitic nature.
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www.wildeyereptiles.com

Chameleons, geckos & invertebrates

Leah is exactly right, if the "mites" look like the one in the picture below, then they are actually not even a mite... They are a trombiculids, which is a "chigger" and they are in the larval form... They are generalized parasites that, as adults, will eat very small inverts such as collemba... To rid your gecko of these you must practice great husbandry... If you have your geckos set up naturally, there is likely food in the soil for the adult chiggers to eat... This is another reason why it is a great idea to set up quarantined geckos on paper towel for a period of time... Change it out very regularly and the mites should drop off, starve and soon die off...

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Ben

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who took there time out to share some advice. THANK YOU. I do believ they are chiggers but I am dealing with it accordinglly. I'm just glad only one has them, but I will treat all of them with great catuion just to be safe. Thanks again.
Eli