Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I'm thinking...a quarantine rack is kinda like a prison...and we don't want any convicted mites escaping our prison system...so how do we keep them isolated to the quarantine rack? What about a mini-Alcatraz?

In the Dark Ages, a king would isolate himself from invading forces by building a moat around his castle. Again...a mini-Alcatraz.

So how difficult would this idea be to implement in a small snake room?

If the base of my quarantine rack is...say...26"x20"...and I set the rack on a sheet of plywood...say...30"x24"...that would leave a two inch lip (plywood moat) that could be heavily treated with Provent-A-Mite. The only other escape route would be the electrical cord...which could also be treated. Or the plywood base could have a small hole drilled into it...where the electrical cord runs through. Then the electrical cord would run straight into the plywood moat. Hmm...

I'm just kinda thinking out loud here. Any ideas? Mites can't fly...can they?

Good Things,
Chris
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"Dear God...Please make an Albino Woma." -- Me

... remember how small mite eggs are and that once they are laid in bedding or on a dusty shelf they can easily travel by air. So maybe mites can "fly"

These damn things are incredibly scary. Its not so bad when you are uninformed about mites but once you dig into their life cycle they can be SCARY! Anyone ever had a huge wall of racks that had mites and killed them all and months later had mites pop up in the center of the wall of cages? I haven't had this but I know someone who did. So how long can mite eggs REALLY lay dormant?

Since we have a retail store we have always had to be careful with pests like these. Whenever you have people coming into your facility that have been exposed to reptiles elsewhere you run the risk of problems such as these. I always found that mites were at their worst in the fall. Just a personal observation from a retailer. Thankfully we have not had a mite issue in several years. Thank god for good captive bred stock!

We have never had a mite problem in the breeding collection. I could only imagine the stress we would be under if we ever got mites in our baby room or colubrid room. What a nightmare it could be!

I think your "moat" idea would probably work well but it wouldn't hurt to spray down every inch of rack you can to kill those eggs and demonic little hatchling mites!

DIE MITES DIE!!!

Good luck...
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Sean Bradley
Owner : EbN
www.ExoticsByNature.com
www.BallPythonMorphs.com
www.CornSnakeMorphs.com

Of course! I agree about treating the entire quarantine rack. I probably should've mentioned that, but I was focused on the idea of a secondary line of defense...quarantining those mites that survive.

I'll give it a shot...

Good Things,
Chris
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"Dear God...Please make an Albino Woma." -- Me

My only experience (so far) with mites happened just a couple of weeks ago. When I got this female, I went over her with a fine tooth comb, she looked great! I put her in quarantine on paper towels after about 10 days I took her out and examined her again, she looked clean, her cage looked clean, so I put down some aspen and put her back into quarantine. Like 3 days later, I'm changing her water and theres a little dark spec on the side of her cage (I'm assuming it's just dirt) and I go to wipe it off and it squishes and theres a blood trail (OH no). I get out the magnifying glass and go over her head to tail, all together I only find 3 of them so I'm hoping I caught it early. I do the whole reptile relief/provent a mite thing on her and her tub and all the surrounding area. But then I get to thinking, I'm really good at washing my hands between snakes, but what if one (or more) hitched a ride maybe on my shirt or in my hair (ick) between snakes. What if I didn't do a good enough job, what if a few got through, what if they're in the bedding or the feeders, and what about the other people that have been handling my snakes have they been careful too? So I pulled out all my snakes, and treated each and every one of them and the whole house (what an all day, expensive pain in the ass). I didn't see any other mites, but feel better knowing that if there were some out there that I just didn't see or eggs, they are now gone from my collection. My new method of mite provention is to treat everything upon arrival, that includes snakes, bedding, and feeders. Of course every day I'm pulling out my snakes and examining them under a magnifying glass (call me paranoid). So far no sign of the little buggers.
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I've been lucky enough to never have any mites...but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Eventually I'll have an outbreak. And when they come...I'll be waiting...with a Provent-A-Mite plywood moat! =)

Good Things,
Chris =)
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"Dear God...Please make an Albino Woma." -- Me

Sounds like a cool idea. If it was me though, I'd quarantine new arrivals in a separate room as far away as possible. You could use the moat as well for maximum security. . .

andrew

I agree. New arrivals should always be kept in a different room far away from other animals. Regardless...mites can travel considerable distances. So they need to be quarantined, too.

(Picturing little mites in armor and horseback...scouting and drawing little battle plans.)

Good Things,
Chris =/
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"Dear God...Please make an Albino Woma." -- Me

LOL, ain't nothin' in the world like a vivid imagination But all in all the moat sounds like a great idea.

KISS without the stupid on the end. There is a simple way to handle this. All incoming snakes get soaked in warm water. Check the water before dumping it. If the snake(s)have mites, there will be some in the bottom of the container. Next you spray with Nix or whatever mite killer you prefer. Keep the snake(s) on white paper towels during quarantine. That makes it really easy to see the mites. Then get yourself some Sevin dust and sprinkle a little around the perimeter of each shelf and box. That's your moat. Mites can't spread because they cannot cross over the sevin dust. When changing or cleaning boxes, spray them down with the Nix solution or whatever mite killer you prefer.
I had snakes for about ten years, never a problem, and then a couple of years ago it happened. Now the steps above are standard procedure on everything coming in regardless of whom it came from. Hope I never have to go through it again.
John Q

Interesting concept. I use Sevin dust on the shelves of my rack, especially around each tub. So far so good!

Rob Reiding.

I do the same,and i use it like "carpet fresh" around the door to my quarantine room too.
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Charles Glaspie