Lori's snakes and such

[Loren]

Bob Evans is currently in a wet bag (he still has some shed stuck to him)

Ahhh. I finally understand why you knew you had mites just because your friend Bob Evens had mites on his snakes. Bob is one of your snakes. I guess I missed that story.

[Loren]

On the mites, the biggest thing to understand is that you have to break the entire life cycle. Many treatments kill the mites but not the eggs. If even a couple eggs survive, it will start right back up again. I have read that they lay eggs under the scales, I have read that they lay eggs in the substrate, and down in the bottom crevises of the cage. Most sources I've read say that they leave the host animal at night to go lay eggs in the cage bottom.
Maybe they do both, but either way, all the eggs must be killed, or a product must be used that assures the little buggers die the second they try to crawl away from the egg.
Olive oil or mineral oil type treatments will suffocate the mites and kill them, but they will not assure that eggs do not hatch and allow mites to get back to the snake. By the way, it is claimed that mites can cross a large room in a matter of a couple hours or something like that.
Popular Reptile-aproved products for the cage are Provent-a-Mite and Black Knight Spray. As for the animal, the only product I have used is Reptile Relief. The only complaint I have with Reptile relief is that it seems to dry the snakes skin out badly. My Lyre snake had a really tough shed after treatment- although the stuff worked, and one more shed later he was back to normal.
These products are available at LLLreptile.com , Beanfarm.com, and Proexotics.com, among other places. One thing I have heard is that you must follow the directions on the products EXACTLY for good results.

Maybe some of the other forum members will chime in on personal experience with these products.

[drache]

my vet swears by provent-a-mite and I believe he also uses sevin dust around cages to prevent migration
I've been using provent-a mite, except with animals that are delicate - then I use reptile relief
I am a little more careful with Provent-a-mite than recommended because a friend told me they got a really awful respiratory thing from accidentally inhaling some

[Garter_Gertie]

Are these just snake mites? If they crawl all over the house can other pets - or me! - get them?

[Lori P]

No, most mites have preferred hosts. Yes, they can get on you-- but probably can't survive on you for long. Ex., dog mites (mange) prefer dogs, & even tho they can make you itch for a bit, they can't reproduce on you. So snake mites may crawl about on you a bit but you are not their preferred host.

Loren, sorry, yes, Bob Evans is a ribbon snake (named after a brand of sausage because he stuffs himself like a sausage!!!). :-) I do understand about breaking the life cycle, so thanks for the tips. I can see the little buggers crawling around on the paper towels this morning. Grrrrrrrrr.

[Lori P]

These little rat snakes CRACK ME UP!!!!! They are SO VICIOUS!!!! LOL Omg, what little personalities... and what little monsters!!! Here's one of them after eating TWO pinkies--





I TOLD her to wait 30 minutes before doing gymnastics, but do kids listen?? Noooooo....

[Garter_Gertie]

Oh, Gods! She's Gonna Drown!

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol cute

[NetBSD]

These little rat snakes CRACK ME UP!!!!! They are SO VICIOUS!!!! LOL Omg, what little personalities... and what little monsters!!! Here's one of them after eating TWO pinkies--





I TOLD her to wait 30 minutes before doing gymnastics, but do kids listen?? Noooooo....

wow she is beautiful and looks so full

[jitami]

Soooooo cute!!!