Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As i mentioned earlier this month I picked up two fresh imported red tail green ratsnakes. I tried treating the ticks with Nature Chemistry Reptile Relief and I am not impressed. After two weeks of treatment I was still finding live ticks on the snakes. So I went with what everyone said works best. Provent-a-mite. I have treated the cage once, Tuesday, and I was wondering how often you should repeat the treatment. It says once a month to prevent any further infestations. But Today when inspecting the animals I found one or two ticks. Not sure if they were dead when I found them, but they were after I took them off with tweezers. Can anyone inform me as to how often I should be treating them?

Thank you,
Jeff

On the up side, they have both taken two meals each. One meal with mice filled with panacur.

Word of Warning. Do not use Vapona (No Pest Strips) to treat these snakes.

There is an excellent article called "The War Against Snake Mites" in the Tips and Tricks section on www.vpi.com that indicates this material is toxic to many Asian Ratsnakes.

Amazing how things change over the years. Thanks for the tip.

Jeff,

You need to be careful with these snakes. Many Asian ratsnakes are quite sensitive to chemical treatments, especially the tropical forms. I think PAM is the best treatment, but make sure the cage is very dry before putting the snake and furnishings back in. I usually let it dry overnight. Then I repeat the treatment every ten days until I'm sure the infestation is gone. Usually, any parasites are gone after the first treatment, but a second treatment is to kill any that hatch out. The chemicals don't kill eggs.

PS: What dosage of panacur did you use? You want to be careful you don't overdo that treatment either

Terry

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