Reptile & Amphibian Forums

anybody had this experience? I took some nice flat rocks from my yard, blasted them with the hose and ran them under hot (not boiling) water. Put them in my chuckwalla's cage and an hour later there are mites darting around on the rocks. I immediately took out the rocks and crushed the little red mites that I saw running up the sides of the wood cage. That was yesterday. Today, I've only seen a couple of mites. My question is - are all mites visible to the naked eye, in which case they are definitely gone? Can a few mites do any real damage? Third, will pouring boiling water over the rock kill mites?

I never had any red mites in my yard , the red bugs usually on wild caught chuckwallas or collared or whatever are usually chiggers, and kind of affix themselves to the skin.

Snakes mites are like pepper spot with legs, heheheh !

In any case always soak rocks and branches and stuff from outside in a 2% bleach solution, first, then dry and air out over night.

I have even poured ajax in my tub and filled it with hot water and soaked them like that. I'm sure either method will kill your buggies.

Just make sure they are not in the cage or on your chuck

I like chucks , I have 3 myself.
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PHEve/ Eve

Contact PHEve

We have those mites in our garden on the rocks also. Smashing them seems to leave bloody nasty stains. YOu can get a mite strip for cats or whatever and put it in a cup with a lid. Drill a hole in the lid. Make sure your chuck can't get to the mite strip. I have seen this used in pet stores here i trust, and read it in several books. Thats my 2 cents. haha
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Paullywog

If it has scales or smooth wet skin... snatch it!!!