Ticks

[peterescue]

I have a feeling that liquid parafin is a form of vaseline. I could be wrong but I recall it could be used internally(eeyuk!)

[instar]

I do know that 20 mls of liquid parrifin down the hatch works a treat for a constipated dog! lol Also great for cleaning gunk from their ears after a little massage. Just a little trivia :wink:

[africancichlidau]

I have a feeling that liquid parafin is a form of vaseline. I could be wrong but I recall it could be used internally(eeyuk!)

it could be used internally

Have you been keeping the wrong company Peter???

[Adam]

FOR GOD'S SAKE WASH THE ORANGE MEDIC OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I nearly killed my waters with orange medic!!!!!! WASH IT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON"T GET IT NEAR THE SNAKES HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best method is Top of Descent!!!!! Spray the viv. with the snake out of it then spray the snake with top of descent then wipe the snake down 15 minute later. I have been through this MANY times!!!!!! BE CAREFULL!!!! I killed 2 baby GTS with orange medic and my 2 waters cost $250 to get fixed from orange medic and $500 for my 2 baby Diamonds, WASH IT OFF!!!!!! It is ok at 10 parts water and 1 part orange medic, make sure they are ticks and not mites. If they are tiny and multiple, then it sounds like mites not ticks, if you KNOW for sure , then sweet. Treat as you know, but I really suggest top of descent and then be carefull from where you get your food for your snakes, cause this seems to be where I get mites from, the bloody chickens carry them, now we have a mass rat population, I only feed rats, but when I am desperate for food then chooks are a good option except for the mite and ticks.Metho works but not well IMO.Try top of descent but if you have already used orange medic, then GET UP NOW AND WASH YOUR SNAKES OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[peterescue]

Sorry, Adam is totally correct.
When I use orange medic I wipe it on. I leave it for a few minutes and them i dunk the animal into clean water and wipe them off with a clean towel. If I treat yonger animals I dunk them after about 20 seconds.
The towels are bagged and washed in bleach.

[Paddy]

now you have me worried!
what is the danger with orange medic, i have heard loads of people talk about it. is it safe when well diluted, or not to be used full stop?

not sure if it was the soaking, wiping or just good fortune but there doesn't seem to be anymore visible on her today. fingers crossed!

i had wiped all the snakes down with it diluted to 10% just in case, but now i have gone back and wiped them all down with warm water, and given them a dunk to be sure. the water python is happily submerging herself in a tub of warm water so i will keep an eye on her.
i was sure not to wipe it too close to her head, but thats not to say she didn't curl up on herself with it, when i gave her the warm water she went straight into it and fully submerged for a while.

i have ordered a can of tod, but it won't get here until the next tuesday or wednesday. will keep an eye on her between now and then and then spray the cages etc all with the tod!!!
as for what adam said about mites or ticks, how small are the mites found on snakes? these things are about .5mm round, and black. they were individually placed on the scales, not clustered together en masse!
they definitely looked like smaller versions of the ticks we have had on our dog in the past, but i have never had mites before so i am not sure what they look like.
will keep a close eye on her over the next few days.

[JunglePython]

you got mites!

be persistant and you can get rid of them.

One thing though at this time of year the life cycle of the mite will be longer.
This means you will need to treat the problem for longer than you might need to in summer.

What ever you do do not stop treating simply because you can no longer see any mites. You need to treat for longer than one complete lifecycle at the temperature your cage is at. If you do stop after a couple of weeks I can guarrantee come spring the mites will return.

I have had mites before, I got rid of them and I have not found any evidence of mites for 2.5 years now.

Oh top of decent is my weapon of choice. It is awesome for cockroaches as well, spray the kitchen cupboards and it will kill them for about two weeks.

[Paddy]

i had imagined mites being smaller, but as i have never seen them i couldn't be sure! yes, i intend carrying on the treatment even though i can't see anymore, the last thing i want is an infestation of mites throughout my collection.
do you always sparay tod with the snakes in the cage or do you take them out and treat seperately?
thanks for the tip, will let you know how i get on.
paddy.

[NCHERPS]

Paddy,
You spray TOD with the snakes in the cage, just remember to take the water out!

Neil

[PilbaraPythons]

Hi there Adam
Could you please explain your procedure of treating reptiles with orange medic?
I ask this because I personally have never had any problems at all and I have treated hundreds of reptiles over many years using orange medic at 1 part water I part orange medic. I also completely submerge the head very briefly and I do not wash any residue off.
Cheers Dave Mackintosh

[Adam]

Well I don't know what went wrong. Here what I done: Diluted Orange Medic in water at ratio of 1 part OM to 10 parts water then held the snakes above the container and washed down with a cotton ball except for the head, but some did get it on thier heads, then I put the snakes back into thier cages, about 2 to 3 hours later I noticed one of them regurgatating it's meal of a small mouse, it got stuck and started to fit, so I pulled the mouse out and the snake was still fitting, so I held her over the heater to warm her up and she came good so I put her back and checked on every thing else ( this was a 3 month old Diamond). I found my water pythons in a worse state, they were upside down and fitting, I rushed them and my baby GTS to the vet, but because the GTS were only 3 and 4 grams they were too small to do anything with, so I had to take them home and watch them die, one took 12 hours to die the other took 14 hours to die, by far the WORST thing I have had to watch in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then my 2 baby Diamonds were still in a bit off trouble so I dosed them with a big drink of saline and washed them off for about an hour. I got my waters back from the vet about 4 days later in perfect health. I also suffered with a 7 foot Brisbane who had blood in her mouth for a week afterwards. The vet didn't tell me what he saved the waters with but they lived so I was happy. So Dave there you go, I am not sure what happened but I have just learnt to steer clear of Orange Medic unless the kids get nits. TOD works really well and never had any problems with the snakes, I just accidently killed 200 woodroaches with it!!!!