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25-May-06, 09:52 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: May-06 Location: Canberra | | |
Hi all,
Due to a long time lingering mite problem with my Water Pythons where no matter how many times I treat with Top of Descent I dont seem to beat them (the rest of the collection in the same room are all ok so I can only guess it has somthing to do with scale size) I have done the research & have decided to try Hypoaspis mites from Biological Services in SA as a trial to see what results I get (they prey on reptile mites). I have introduced the mites tonight to the enclosures so if anyone is interested I can keep the thread open with what results I get. My intention is to see if at $33 per litre if it is worth getting every second month to treat the collection as a just in case method rather than treating with chemicals.
As a side interest I have cooled the Waters for breeding so Iam also interested how the mites will work at 18 - 20 Deg C
Thanks
Jason
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25-May-06, 10:49 PM
| | Moderator Moderator | Join Date: Jun-03 Location: Sydney, NSW,Australia | | | |
Hi Jason,
Yes, please keep us informed.
The Hypoaspis mites have been mentioned in past threads on here, but I can't remember if any results were ever shared.
Cheers Neil
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26-May-06, 05:47 AM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Aug-05 Location: Rugsville..... Gender:  | | | |
this sounds very interesting so keep usinformed.
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BIGGER THE PYTHON THE BETTER........
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26-May-06, 09:16 AM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-06 Location: Sydney Age: 25 | | | |
How would you then get rid of the Hypoaspis mites?
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26-May-06, 09:20 AM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Jan-03 Location: Cairns | | | |
One thing I have heard is that you need you use a substrate like mulch or similar as the hyoaspis mites will not live on newspaper?
MannyM, you don't need to, they feed off other mites so once those mites are gone, they have nothing left to feed on.
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Fool Injected Physhopath |
26-May-06, 09:21 AM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: May-06 Location: Canberra | | | |
The mites will eat the reptiles mites including the eggs & larva stages, once they have consumed them they will then eat each other ! When I spoke to the staff at Biological servers they assured my that they wont start attacking anything else. The interesting thing is they can be picky about humidity so Iam carefully monitoring this as well.
Jason
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26-May-06, 09:23 AM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-06 Location: Sydney Age: 25 | | | |
Sounds like the perfect natural option.
Good luck
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26-May-06, 09:23 AM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: May-06 Location: Canberra | | | |
Good question - as a substrate (a patch in the enclosure) I have used coco peat & keeping that very lightly misted.
Jason
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26-May-06, 09:43 AM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-06 Location: UK (for now!) Gender: | | | |
i feel sorry for the last Hypoaspis mite left !!
__________________ Sick & Twisted ?.........Me ?........Why, thankyou for noticing... |
29-May-06, 08:47 AM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: May-06 Location: Canberra | | | |
I received the mites in the 25th (as they promised), they essentially appeared to be packed in vermiculite & some sort or organic mixture - I can only guess to keep a ratio of moisture, I used coco peat in the corners of the Water python enclosures & used 4 table spoons of the mite mixture, & misted every day since. I will swab the male tonight with white gauze to see if there is any reduction in the amount of adult female mites.
Jason
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29-May-06, 05:54 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: May-06 Location: Canberra | | | |
Guys, checked the male water python using the white gauze method & a massive reduction in mites, before adding the Hypoaspis Mites last thursday when I carried out the same test 20 or so adult femails on the gauze, when done tonight down to 5 or so very small mites (Hypoaspis or bad guys I dont know). So all I can say is there has been a reduction & 100% chemically free !
Will continue with the mite checks & will post.
Jason
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29-May-06, 07:20 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-06 Location: Vic Gender: | | | |
Awesome, I've never heard of these predatory mites before but i hope they become more common amongst reptile keepers.
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[5:55:17] ihaveherps: pfft i took a dare at work to eat a chilli some blokes dad grew..... within 10 mins i was sh***ing fire..... have been applying lucas paw paw cream to my date daily since and every day a bit of my shpinc skin has been peeling off..... 3rd degree burns from a pepper.... best $20 i have ever made
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29-May-06, 07:53 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Aug-05 Location: Rugsville..... Gender: | | | |
did they cost a lot of money or free for a trial.
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BIGGER THE PYTHON THE BETTER........
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29-May-06, 09:05 PM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Dec-04 Location: Penrith Gender: | | | |
Very interesting to see what the results will be.
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29-May-06, 09:18 PM
| | Suspended | Join Date: Feb-04 Location: Sydney | | | |
One reason for the reduction could be that the mites have acftually completed there breeding cycle and are now holed up in cavities on the snake and feeding.
The fact that you waited for the Hypoaspis to arrive before initiating treatment means that the mights have probably moved out of the enclosure as well. This willprobably lead to a reinfestation later on. Wait for a hot humid day.
I have used Hypoaspis mites on numerous occasions and while intially thought they were effective but have decided they are inefficient in the prevention of mites.
That is the main action that needs to addressed. killing mites that are present doesnt resolve the problem.
I also do not recall that they eat the eggs of reptiles mights being stated anywhere. I would like to see the document that states this. I did introduce them to my outdoor lizard enclosure. This seemed to work for a time but eventually the herp mites reinfested. When I made the enclosure secure from rats the problem of mite infestation has seemed to abated. As I have not set anyt controls all this is of course anecdotal.
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Peter
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