More about mites.

[drache]

oh man - I posted about this already - where'd it go?
there's a number of things that can happen as a sequela to mites
I don't know about lung mites, but regular mites can be carriers for aeromonas hydrophilia bacteria which can cause some kind of pneumonia

[keelerskiddiecare]

How does one know if their snake has mites??? Can you see them?? We have had Mrs. Wiggles for 2 yrs now and I don't thinks she has mites. If she did I would know by now would I not?

[drache]

mites are tiny black critters, and yes, you can see them; they're about a quarter of the size of a metal pinhead, and they move around
and they proliferate, so you'd have known within a couple of months you had bugs of some kind

[guidofatherof5]

How does one know if their snake has mites??? Can you see them?? We have had Mrs. Wiggles for 2 yrs now and I don't thinks she has mites. If she did I would know by now would I not?

They like the scales under the chin and if you handle Mrs. Wiggles much you find them on your hands. They might(no pun intended) look like a moving spec of dirt. Rhea's right, you would know it if she had them.

[bigj2484]

going bck to the frontline post i have never heard of using frontline for cats and dogs for snake mites, is this the same kind of frontline or something different? If so has anyone used it with success and how do you apply the product i currently am dealing with mites i have done one treatment with reptile relief de flea and it seemed to kill the mites on the snake but not so much on the enclosure. any any info is appreciated

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

going bck to the frontline post i have never heard of using frontline for cats and dogs for snake mites, is this the same kind of frontline or something different? If so has anyone used it with success and how do you apply the product i currently am dealing with mites i have done one treatment with reptile relief de flea and it seemed to kill the mites on the snake but not so much on the enclosure. any any info is appreciated

In order to be successful with reptile relief, it really helps to know how it works. It needs to directly come into contact with a mite to kill it. That's because reptile relief is a natural remedy that chemically interacts with the exoskeleton of a mite and basically turns it soft and mushy, effectively causing the mite to die. It will take a mite that has come into contact with the stuff a while to die, but eventually it will. The biggest problem is the eggs that lay waiting in the cage. if you are using a substrate, not all of the eggs will be killed by it because they are buried, and so new mites will hatch and reinfest.

Treating with frontline plus is not something ever recommended to a beginner, because it would be extremely, extremely, incredibly easy to overdose your snake on the stuff and kill it. I myself won't even bring myself to every try it for that reason. Go online and order a can of provent-a-mite. That should very effectively rid your snake of his mites! You simply take the water bowl and snake out, treat the cage, wait for the mist to dry and replace the snake and water. For faster, better results, use newspaper as a substrate while treating, and change out and re-treat the new paper each day. Treat the snake itself first with an overnight soak in a container that 1) it can't get out of and 2) forces him to remain in the water but make it shallow enough so that he can easily rest with his head up. Then you can follow up that by using the reptile relief.

[drache]

I've never used it and I've asked both of my vets about it and neither knows anything about it and they think it's weird
one of them contacted the company and they advised against it
so I just went to look at Mader and he warns against it

[gregmonsta]

I'll still sing praises for provent-a-mite. It is a little extreme but at least you never apply it directly on your animals - remove water and snake - 1 second spray per metre on the substrate - ventilate room - bathe your snake for a bit and then wait for another hour or so - return snake to enclosure - give water back the following day - forget about the mites.
1 treatment = 6 weeks = broken lifecycle = excellent

PS I also treated the carpet surrounding the viv at the time.

[Masticophis]

I've not tried the provent a mite but I usually use ivormectin, in the form of panomec. Diluted in water and the snakes bathed in it then the viv cleaned. Still tricky for a large collection though.

Another one I had great success with was the predator mites 'hypoaspis mites', you need to keep damp places in the vivs but they breed and kill off all the snake mites. One I would certainly recommend.

Also I've noticed that diluted F10scxd, which is a disinfectant that is safe to use with animals, it kills small flies and seems to kill mites. Not sure if you get F10 in the states but it's probably the best cleaner out there, kills just about everything and is very safe to use. Have cured fungal infections in snakes just by bathing them daily in it.

Mike

[adamanteus]

Interesting info on the F10, Mike.