Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If anyone here has had to deal with mites while keeping snakes, drop me an email. I need to talk to somebody about this. I got a eastern hognose baby a couple months ago that had mites, but I may or may not have had them before that. All I know is my eastern milk snake adult male ended up getting them, and spreading them. So now I have a eastern king that has them, a night snake, and probably 10 enclosures.

Help please
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
Helmz777@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Updated 9/19 NEW PICS/INFO

they have them at academy or similiar camping type store work great,,nuke the ba$#%ds no direct contact with snakes just vapors 24-48hrs exposure is enough to kill'em allmetallica the mites that is! ive never had a problem with vapors and snakes but then again i dont expose the snakes to the vapors for extended periods of time also sevin-dust 0.05%perynthrin will rid them as well,sux but,mites happen,eradication IS the only option dave barker vpi has a great article on their erradication as well good luck and now go kill,kill,kill!!!!,,,,,,,,,,,thomas

I remember way back when we brought home an eastern hog w/ mites from a show. We also used no pest strips in that case and the hoggie didn't make it. Hogs may or may not be more sensitive to the poisons than some others so be careful.
I had used the strips before though, cut into tiny pieces and placed in a plastic 35mm film case w/ small holes poked in it,with success.
The natural sprays available now are good but are for direct contact with the pests and won't keep more from appearing with a residual affect like the more volitale sprays that are possibly more risky yet than the strips. I think there's some question about a hog death from Provent a mite on that forum somewhere.
Good luck!
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

www.crimsonking.funtigo.com

A good trick i found was to submerge the tank in water for two days , I had a 20 gal.(tall) that my 10 gal. tanks all fit into so i would soak the tanks to debug them inside and out while the snake was in a NEW tank with a strip. The spaces between the glass and plastic can hide the mites. Filling the tank with water won't work cause they can still be on the outside part of the tank. The water trick may be how some snakes rid themselves of mites in nature. You may have noticed that snakes with mites sit in waters bowls to kill them.
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Doug
....and am I the only one here that thinks designer snakes are ugly ?

Take the snake out of the cage you house it in and dispose of bedding then clean anything else you have in it and sit it to the side for several days. Take the snake and wipe him/her down with vegetable oil you will wipe most of the mites off on the rag that you are using. The remaing mites will be suffocated. Place snake in a new cage and just watch them for a couple of days. Since getting back into reptiles I havent yet had any troubles with mites but back years ago I used this and it wirked like a charm. Oh yeah then snake will be real pretty and shiny TOO!!!!!!!
Just my 2 cts. worth

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sorry, just wanted to get your attention and see if you would please post more photos of that gorgeous eastern and give a little history of it......thanks in advance

I went to your website..
Thats a carving!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are incredibly talented..
no wonder there is a ribbon on that "stick".

Thanks Cool thats the ultimate compliment for sure.

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You definitely deserve the compliment. How long did it take to
carve that "stick"???
Obviously you must have been very artistically inclined before you started carving.

Provent-a-mite works. It comes in a spray can and you just spray a little on the substrate and mix it around. Be sure to water the snake first and don't allow any food or water in the cage while treating. If you need to feed or water the snake either clean the cage first or do it in a separate cage. I treat for about 2 weeks with 1 application at the start then clean the cage, feed and water then a second application. A week after that the mites should be gone and you can clean the cage and go back to normal.
I should note that I use wood shavings and I don't know if it would work as well with a more natural substrate or if you have rocks, branches, etc.
Last time I bought it I got it from East Bay Vivarium but that was about 2 years ago so I don't know if they still sell it.

I spray my cages in the garage when I use it. I bring them inside after an hour and let them sit for two more hrs. before putting snakes and furnishings back in. I repeat in ten days at normal room temps for the herps. You have to disinfect every cage and anything else the snakes come into contact with, such as holding jugs. The mites can return if even one survives. I use PAM for preventative reasons also, like when I get a new snake. I also use it if there's any other pests like flies getting in my cages. It works if used according to directions. One thing I don't like is the fact it's a spray. Make sure you don't inhale or expose any pet to the spray. Also, the spray doesn't come out properly on some cans. It might come out as a liquid. I've had this problem maybe 10% of the cans I've purchased. Good luck.

TC

Have you ever considered using predatory mites? I've heard a lot of great things about them being effective for snake mites. Do a Google search on Hypoaspis miles and snake mites, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I haven't personally tried them on any reptile mites, but I did have a mite problem spread through my tarantula collection. It was widespread, and I wasn't about to face the daunting task of sterilizing each and every cage (30 ). The predatory mites worked like a charm.
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www.BugChick.com

chickabowwow

Way to think outside the box, Zelda! How's the chickabowwow? I smile every time i see that! Hey, what do you get to get rid of the predatory mites?! LOL!
Todd Hughes

The mites just disappeared on their own. I hear that when they're unable to find any food (mites and small larvae), they devour each other and then eventually die off.
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www.BugChick.com

chickabowwow

Too cool! The ultimate in pest control! Thanks for the info!
Todd Hughes