anyone from UK info needed

[mark cope]

I think Martha has mites
I was changing her water earlier, and I noticed tiny black dots in it....so I emptied it through some kitchen paper and noticed they were tiny bugs ...are they mites?............ if so what do I need to get and where do I get it from?

[guidofatherof5]

If you smear them on a white paper towel it will stain black or dark blood red. Your description sounds like mite.
They are a terrible thing and can kill a snake. They also spread like a plague.
Be aggressive in this battle.
Not sure if this product is available in the U.K. Maybe some U.K. members can suggest something else.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/9493-provent-mite-usage.html


(http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/9493-provent-mite-usage.html)

[mark cope]

If you smear them on a white paper towel it will stain black or dark blood red. Your description sounds like mite.
They are a terrible thing and can kill a snake. They also spread like a plague.
Be aggressive in this battle.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/9493-provent-mite-usage.html
Thanx Steve but that's why I'm asking for help from UK guy's .....don't know if I can get that stuff over here:confused:

[ScimitarX]

Callingtons mite spray seems to be the best thing on the market these days. Weve just changed to it at work since what we were using before wasnt working.

Reptile Callington Mite Spray 100g: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reptile-Callington-Mite-Spray-100g/dp/B004G62A8Y)

[mark cope]

Callingtons mite spray seems to be the best thing on the market these days. Weve just changed to it at work since what we were using before wasnt working.

Reptile Callington Mite Spray 100g: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reptile-Callington-Mite-Spray-100g/dp/B004G62A8Y)
thanx gonna order some ...like now
what do I do spray the snake with it??

[guidofatherof5]

I just called the company and left a message. Should have an answer in the next couple of days.

In the meantime you can give your snake some relief as follows.
Get two containers. Put cool water in the first and let your snake soak for a few minutes. This way she will get a drink.
In the second container put luke warm water and 1 drop of liquid soap. Place the snake in there for about 30 minutes.
The soap will break the water tension and not allow the mites to float and survive.
After the soak take your snake and make it crawl through some paper towels you have in your hand. Hold the snake tight enough that it has to work to get out of your had. Do this a couple of times. Then check the towels for mite. Whether any are found, treat the towels like they are infected. Place them in a plastic bag and get them out of your house. Remove all the bedding, hides, plants, everything. If it is easily replaced trash it all. Plastic plants can be soaked in a warm, soapy water solution. Spray out the enclosure with a 1 to10 bleach solution (1 part bleach/ 10 parts water) Until this problem is solved it would be best to give your snake the bare minimum of enclosure item as you are going to be repeating this process every day for at least a week. White paper towels are the best substrate at this time. Smash any mites you see.
The biggest problems with mites is the fact you can't see the newborn mites.
Mites are a terrible thing to deal with and it must be done with an aggressive attitude or they will simply return.
I've been where you are at and it is no fun.
Best of luck.

[guidofatherof5]

Callingtons mite spray seems to be the best thing on the market these days. Weve just changed to it at work since what we were using before wasnt working.

Reptile Callington Mite Spray 100g: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reptile-Callington-Mite-Spray-100g/dp/B004G62A8Y)

Nice going Claire. You're a peach;)

[mark cope]

I just called the company and left a message. Should have an answer in the next couple of days.

In the meantime you can give your snake some relief as follows.
Get two containers. Put cool water in the first and let your snake soak for a few minutes. This way she will get a drink.
In the second container put luke warm water and 1 drop of liquid soap. Place the snake in there for about 30 minutes.
The soap will break the water tension and not allow the mites to float and survive.
After the soak take your snake and make it crawl through some paper towels you have in your hand. Hold the snake tight enough that it has to work to get out of your had. Do this a couple of times. Then check the towels for mite. Whether any are found, treat the towels like they are infected. Place them in a plastic bag and get them out of your house. Remove all the bedding, hides, plants, everything. If it is easily replaced trash it all. Plastic plants can be soaked in a warm, soapy water solution. Spray out the enclosure with a 1 to10 bleach solution (1 part bleach/ 10 parts water) Until this problem is solved it would be best to give your snake the bare minimum of enclosure item as you are going to be repeating this process every day for at least a week. White paper towels are the best substrate at this time. Smash any mites you see.
The biggest problems with mites is the fact you can't see the newborn mites.
Mites are a terrible thing to deal with and it must be done with an aggressive attitude or they will simply return.
I've been where you are at and it is no fun.
Best of luck.


Thanx again Steve....once again proving ...the fact I love this forum:)

[mark cope]

Right I'm at work at the momenet but I just got of the phone to the pet shop.
They sell callingtons there. they also suggested that I use Zoo-Meds mite off
The guy said I use the mite off on the snake and the callingtons on the viv, and to repeat after 7 days to make sure.
Spoke to wifey she is going to go to the pet shop to pick up the treatment, and I'm gonna crack on with when I get home.
Mark

[chris-uk]

Sounds like you have a plan Mark. Good luck.

[mark cope]

I just finished first round of treatment.......if you would just take a few moments to have a quick read and let me know if you think I have done anything wrong, or if I have left anything out.
So here goes :-
1. Put some water(tepid) in an old small faunarium and put Martha in for a bath.
2. Binned everything in the Viv substrate,hides,water bowl etc.(pet shop guy said I could boil everything and that would be fine) but I think getting rid is best(luckily I haven't had the chance to move her into new viv yet)
3. Used hot water,viv disinfectant and finally the Callingtons on the enclosure(let the enclosure air dry)
4. Took Martha put her in the bath and rinsed her with the shower(she seemed to like this):)
5. Put news paper in the enclosure
6. Gave Martha a serious coating with the Mite-Off(also using the Mite-Off box as a temp hide)
7. Gave the small faunarium the same treatment as the enclosure(will need it over the coming weeks)
I have got the heat-mat running now so I can moniter the temps(no aspen in there now, so making sure it doesn't get too hot)
.
The follow on treatment is :-
1. Change paper every day
2. Bath and Mite off every three days
3. Callingtons every seven days
For the next two/three weeks
.
So there you go,let me know what you think?
Mark

[Mommy2many]

Good luck! Mites are the worst!

[guidofatherof5]

I received a call back(message left) from the makers of Provent-A-Mite. They informed me that they do ship to the U.K. and have many customers their.
I will call them back during business hours to get the particulars.

[Eight]

Is it just the one snake you have? If it is then no problem but if not then its worth checking your other vivs. Like steve said these guys are like a plague. My first course of action if I found what seemed to be mites would be to remove the infected vivarium to stop any mites from infecting other vivs, then check the others and remove as appropriate.

[mark cope]

Is it just the one snake you have? If it is then no problem but if not then its worth checking your other vivs. Like steve said these guys are like a plague. My first course of action if I found what seemed to be mites would be to remove the infected vivarium to stop any mites from infecting other vivs, then check the others and remove as appropriate.
I have two snakes, the other one is a Thayers kingsnake, and as I'm changing the paper in Marthas viv each day when I finish doing that, I give him the once over but as he is bright green to red the mites would be easier to see but I haven't seen any on him

[mark cope]

I received a call back(message left) from the makers of Provent-A-Mite. They informed me that they do ship to the U.K. and have many customers their.
I will call them back during business hours to get the particulars.
Thanx Steve

[mark cope]

Day 3 of treatment,....Changed the paper yesterday saw some corpses and 3 Live mites.
Changed the paper to-day and saw only 1, checked Martha over and could'nt see anything on her .........
So now the waiting game starts ................dum de dum

[EasternGirl]

Good luck, Mark...sounds like you are doing a great job dealing with this. Like Steve and others have said...mites can be horrible to get rid of...but you are hitting the problem head on. I haven't had any experience dealing with them myself, knock on wood, but you have several members here who seem to be doing a great job staying on top of this and helping you. Good job guys! Best of luck, Mark...keep us posted!

[guidofatherof5]

I just spoke to Bob at Provent-A-Mite. He stated that shipping(to U.K.) cost for 1 can is $15 and $20 for two cans. It can be purchased on the website. An email will be sent to the buyer to explain the exact shipping cost. Bob also welcomed any questions from members, simply email him from the Provent-A-Mite website.

[mark cope]

Thanx Steve
I think the Mite-off and Callingtons seems to to be doing the biz at the moment, the bonus is I can get them off the shelf on any given day.

[mark cope]

Day4
Changed her paper to-day ......no corpses and no mites:)
So now I just keep up the treatment for the next two weeks..and if I don't see corpses or mites then I can declare her a Mite free Martha.
Also this two week period gives me time to set up the new viv.
Mark

[mark cope]

Day4 <br>Changed her paper to-day ......no corpses and no mites<img src="http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" smilieid="1" class="inlineimg" border="0"><br>So now I just keep up the treatment for the next two weeks..and if I don't see corpses or mites then I can declare her a Mite free Martha.<br>Also this two week period gives me time to set up the new viv.<br>Mark<br>

[mark cope]

Day4 <br>Changed her paper to-day ......no corpses and no mites<img src="http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" smilieid="1" class="inlineimg" border="0"><br>So now I just keep up the treatment for the next two weeks..and if I don't see corpses or mites then I can declare her a Mite free Martha.<br>Also this two week period gives me time to set up the new viv.<br>Mark<br>

Don't know what happened there .^^^^^^^^^^^..and I can't seem to remove it:)

[EasternGirl]

Who knows? My threads go wonky on this forum from time to time as well...making double posts and such. Glad to hear the treatments are working! Good thing you got right on that mite issue! Sounds like you did a great job handling it. Keep us posted.

[mark cope]

Day 5
No corpses or Bugs:)

[guidofatherof5]

Good news.

[mark cope]

Day 7
Still no bugs or corpses:)
And she has regained her appetitte of sorts ...she hadn't eaten in a couple of weeks (mites???)
She would Have a couple of pinks or a small fluff every 7/8 days
But as I live in the UK (land of rain) I was out in the back yard last night and saw two decent sized lobworms trying to escape the the saturated grass, and thought why not?
So I grabbed them put them on a piece of kitchen towel to dry them, and put one in the viv,she was in her water bowl, she went like a shot and ironically pulled it in to the water bowl (I'm thinking why did I bother to dry them?)and chomped it up, she had the second one too.
When I got her she would not touch worms, I'm obviously happy to feed her worms if she want's as well as pinks, went to pet shop to-day and got calcium supplement......but how much/many worms do I feed her?
As always your help is appreciated
Mark

[guidofatherof5]

Good to hear there has been no loss of life.

Her not eating might have been due to the chemical used on her.
She's been through a lot in the last month.
Feed her enough to give her a nice lump.
Without knowing how big the worms are to her it's hard to say the amount.

[EasternGirl]

I usually feed Cee Cee a couple to three big worms in a feeding. Like Steve said, it depends on the size of the snake and the size of the worms...worms are digested pretty fast. Best rule of thumb is to look for that little bulge in her stomach to know she's full. Cee Cee is 3 feet long and I feed her 2-3 big, fat worms about 7 inches long...for one feeding...I feed her every 5-6 days. She would probably only eat 2 of the big ones now that she is no longer gravid.

[ConcinusMan]

Day 5
No corpses or Bugs:)

more importantly, no snake corpses either. :p Feed her until she looks plump, then don't mess with her for a few days. It's not rocket science.:rolleyes:

[mark cope]

Thanx peeps,
I know I keep saying it.....THIS FORUM ROCKS:)

[mark cope]

Day 10
And still all clear on the Mite front:)
She also had two juicey worms with a bit of calcium suppliment:):)

[guidofatherof5]

Good deal.

[mark cope]

Day 15
No Bugs ....No bug corpses:)
So it's about time to get set on moving her into the new pad:):)
I'm really quite excited....post some pics tomorrow
mark

[guidofatherof5]

Looking forward to it.
Good job holding the course on the treatment.;)

[mark cope]

Posted some pics in the Enclosures thread.

[Paul.c]

nice to see the treatment is working .........so far :) . mite eggs have a 3 week cycle (from laying to hatching) make sure you give every thing a good treatment 21 days from the last treatment to be sure that no mite survive hatching

[mark cope]

nice to see the treatment is working .........so far :) . mite eggs have a 3 week cycle (from laying to hatching) make sure you give every thing a good treatment 21 days from the last treatment to be sure that no mite survive hatching
From everything I have heard 2 doses of callingtons 7 days apart means pretty much game over for mites (and any other insects and offspring)

[Dan72]

So Mark just read the thread, any idea on how they came to be in the first place? Or anyone for that matter. I know that when you get involved with certain things in life certain things become when they happen not if they happen, but I hope I never have any part of mites....:(.

[mark cope]

So Mark just read the thread, any idea on how they came to be in the first place? Or anyone for that matter. I know that when you get involved with certain things in life certain things become when they happen not if they happen, but I hope I never have any part of mites....:(.

I went to a party at my wifes aunts house, while I was there her cousin showed me his bearded dragon and that had mites, couple of days later I noticed martha had them , so I suspect the little blighters hitched a ride on me or Joe

[guidofatherof5]

I hope the breaded dragon is being treated.

[mark cope]

I hope the breaded dragon is being treated.
I gave him the callingtons and told him how to use it..

[guidofatherof5]

I gave him the callingtons and told him how to use it..

That's great. Thanks.

[AnnieB]

Does this method also remove the mites and eggs in their eyes?