Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how do i check for mites? And how do get rid of them? I was told that i should look for little black spots and then soak my baby in listerine...not sure if that is right though...also i have noticed that there is no scat in my babies pen...he ate on tuesday and still nothing...how will i know when he goes?

If the mites are bad enough you will get them on your hands from handling the snake. If you use news paper as a substrate , and mites are present, they will show up on the paper. I've not heard of bathing them in listerine to kill mites, and probably wouldn't try it. I use product called reptile relief, but a better product is Provent-a-mite. Not sure but I think you can only get it online. As to when you'll know when he poops, you WILL find scat . Hope this helps.

Quig

thanks for the advise! The person i heard about the bathing in listerine is a family member. However for as long as i can remember he has had reptiles and i trust him 98% of the time...he may be a little bit stupid at times but when it comes to his animals he is top notch...at least in mho anyway...thanks for the info though..

LOLOL! Well if he's done it and it works I guess there's no harm in trying.

Quig

ahhh, the nightmare of the internet. anybody can recommend anything, with zero thought or qualification.

"no harm in trying". so if his buddy recommended soaking in gasoline, "no harm in trying" right?

that has to be the worst suggestion i have heard in sometime, both the listerine and the "no harm".

please be careful in applying what one newbie endorses to another newbie on the internet.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I appologise profusely for my insanity. Frankly I didn't think it was a good idea. But he did say he knew somebody that did it all the time.

Quig

You should be able to spot mites, fairly easy, they'll be little black dots crawling around on your snake. Also snakes with mites often spend a lot of time soaking and you'll see a bunch of them floating in the water dish.

DO NOT USE LISTERINE - it contains alcohol which is very irratating to snakes, look for someplace to pick up some Reptile Relief and bath him in that, thoroghly clean and disinfect the cage throw out the old substrate and put down new and spray down entire cage with Provent a Mite, make sure you get the corners real good, thats were the eggs will most likely be laid. Repeat this cycle again in two weeks then again two weeks later.
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Tosha

8.13.0 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