Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Back in my organic gardening days, I released ladybugs to control aphids. They are voracious predators of insects smaller than themselves. I was wondering if they would be effective in a reptile cage for eliminating mites? Snake mites may not be their preferred food, but deprived of aphids I think they'll eat anything. And they survive in my house all winter, so they should last a long time in a reptile cage. One type, the pink spotted ladybug, is somewhat of a mite specialist. Has anyone tried this? A few ladybugs per cage couldn't hurt( although they can give a surprising nip), and would eliminate using chemicals. Just don't put them in with reptiles that eat insects, I've heard they taste nasty!

I believe that there is a type of predatory mite that will feed on snake mites; in fact, I've seen them for sale on the internet. Generally, ladybugs will only feed on plant mites, aphids, and mealybug larva.

While this type of organic control keeps parasites under control, they don't eliminate them. While, as in the garden, control is all that is necessary, many herp keepers need them gone. This prevents transmission to other animals when breeding attempts are made or animals are sold, transfered, or brought into the collection. It is a good thought though

There IS a predatory mite whose normal diet would include snake mites, the problem is they are small and have a short life in artificial environments. The ladybugs normal diet may not include snake mites, but in the absence of aphids I believe they would eat any bug they could catch. And they can live weeks or months indoors. I admit I haven't tested this; if someone wants to send me some snake mites in a jar, I'll put a couple ladybugs in and see what happens. The other factor to determine is whether they would bite a snake if they were unable to find food. I doubt it would be dangerous, but their bite is annoying. Please note that I am not saying it that it IS an effective treatment for a mite infestation; I just think it would be worth investigating if no one has.

It definately is interesting, I'm happy to say that I don't have mites to send you

Seriously though, if you wanted to investigate this, you would probably have to have the entire snake and not just the mites. This would probably influence the outcome of the experiment.