Got Mites?

[Bushman]

Jabs1, I strongly suggest that you do not spray the tub with water until you've thoroughly washed out the tub after you've sprayed 'Top Of Descent'. Otherwise, it will probably lick the water drops containing 'TOD' residue.

 

[Kah.]

Hi folks!
Quickie mite question. I recently purchsed a new carpet python. It arrived last night and I popped it straight into it's new enclosure (yes away from any other snakes). Today when I got home I took it out to have a proper examination and discovered a few mites in it's eyes pits. I immediately gave it a soak in the bath and sprayed it with mite spray and have put it into a basic plastic tub enclosure with hide, water, heat mat (thanks to all the info from this post so far!).
I have 2 questions>
Firstly the mite spray says do not spray on the head near the eyes, but this is where I can see them. Will treating the rest of the body be enough? I don't really want to poke around his eyes with a cotton swap as they're really in there by the eyes.
Secondly with treating the enclosure- everything was brand new, foam background and substrate is breeders choice. Will spraying it all be enough or should I completly pull everything out and spray individually and chuck out everything that's not plastic?

Thanks for any further tips

 

[SnakeyTroy]

Thanks so much for this. I just have found some mites on a couple of my snakes and I am freaking out about it. I have no idea how they could have got them because I do take good care when it comes to quarantine and hygene proceedures.Hopefully I can have them under control quickly!

 

[Nayla]

Thanks so much for this great post D3pro. I am currently battling mites with my little girl, who came to us with them. With so much conflicting info around it is really hard to get a straight answer and one you will be comfortable with to ensure you animal stays healthy.

I have soken to a local herp vet in my area which was recommended. His suggestion was 'warm wash with a mild dishwashing liquid on a regular basis as well as giving cage a thorough clean also.
Lots a pet shop visits today found no 'Top of Decent' in stock anywhere and then I was told by one to use 'Ivomec' What the? Is this not for cattle?
Was told by this same guy not to use 'Breeders Choice' as a substrate also as the snakes can swallow it, i know a few ppl who use it and it without issues. Thoughts on this please?

I am new to snakes and am struggling with trying to do the right thing for my gorgeous girl but find it very hard to get the right info at times.

I would like to know who else uses Mac and has it worked well?

Again thanks for an informative post.

 

[Selenotypus]

Not happy, I saw what I thought was a mite on my snake so I took him to the herp vet, he didn't see any and 3 days later I had a good look and he is infested... now I need to figure out how to treat them with so many different ways... he is REALLY infested.. he's a bhp...he has white ones walking on him and bigger black ones >.<

 

[abnrmal91]

Not particularly helpful but at above 50C° all stages of the mites life are killed.

 

[wokka]

Lots a pet shop visits today found no 'Top of Decent' in stock anywhere and then I was told by one to use 'Ivomec' What the? Is this not for cattle?
.

Someone will soon bring out reptile ivermectin, All they have to do is get cattle ivermectin dilute it by 10x and increase the price 100X , with a picture of a snake, then keepers will be happy.

 

[Wrightpython]

easy fix for mite. remove snake from enclosure and spray with top of decent then put into large plastic click clack. top of decent $50 for three at herp shop.
leave for three days then spray again take water away for six hours after spraying. this kills any mite that have hatched as tod doesnt kill eggs. remove cat litter as this will be infested with eggs and mite. spray enclosure for a few seconds then close door(do this when you pull snake out). Three days later spray again then reintroduce snake. This treatment has worked for me. Be careful using on death adders.

 

[wokka]

easy fix for mite. remove snake from enclosure and spray with top of decent then put into large plastic click clack. top of decent $50 for three at herp shop.
leave for three days then spray again take water away for six hours after spraying. this kills any mite that have hatched as tod doesnt kill eggs. remove cat litter as this will be infested with eggs and mite. spray enclosure for a few seconds then close door(do this when you pull snake out). Three days later spray again then reintroduce snake. This treatment has worked for me. Be careful using on death adders.

I thought the life cycle of mites was closer to 4 weeks than 3 days, in which case you would need to retreat for four weeks unless you use a residual chemical.

 

[Wrightpython]

Mite eggs hatch between 18 and 96 hours after being laid so you thought wrong. tod kills all forms off the mite except eggs as the eggs hatch in 3 to 4 days this is the time frame you have to wait. why do people pick faults in stuff they obviously know nought about.

 

[wokka]

The Life History of Snake Mites | Vida Preciosa International, Inc.
Here is a few facts about mites. I note the time for mites to morph through their various stages is variable, dependant upon humidity and temperature and the type of mite.

Mite eggs hatch between 18 and 96 hours after being laid so you thought wrong. tod kills all forms off the mite except eggs as the eggs hatch in 3 to 4 days this is the time frame you have to wait. .

You are right that eggs hatch within 5 days so if all mites in the area have been killed then treatment 5 days later should be sufficient.
My experiece is that mite infections originate from mites outside the cage and so often adult mites re-infect a clean cage.

why do people pick faults in stuff they obviously know nought about.

If that comment is directed at me, its because not everyone has text book experiences with mites so it can be better to ere on the side of caution than adopting the bare minimum of treatments.

 

[abnrmal91]

Reptiles Australia has 2 great articles on mite and treating them. Vol 4 Issue 3 & 4 if you can track them down.

 

[mrblack66]

Recently a "chemist" friend of mine put me onto a solution for my own mite problems. As you are probably all aware we have millions of the little buggers dwelling in our hair follicles commonly referred to as "eyelash mites." Friend says he used to have the same problems plucking out hairs all the time, tingly skin, etc... he put me onto a solution of 15g/L of Imidacloprid and 2g/L of permethrim to spray all over my body, bedding, etc then shower it off. When asked if I could use the same mix on my Coastal Carpet with mites he said it would work a treat too.... unfortunately, he also said I would never get rid of my mites, but mine are different to the ones on my snake... Anyone else heard of this solution?

I also have heard Ivermectin works a treat if diluted correctly, and as with the previous two chemicals i mentioned, are cheaper in the hardware/gardening/rural co-op stores than in pet shops or herp shops....

 

[Globe]

How can i tell if my snake has mites? Is it obvious?

 

[Wrightpython]

The Life History of Snake Mites | Vida Preciosa International, Inc.
Here is a few facts about mites. I note the time for mites to morph through their various stages is variable, dependant upon humidity and temperature and the type of mite.



You are right that eggs hatch within 5 days so if all mites in the area have been killed then treatment 5 days later should be sufficient.
My experiece is that mite infections originate from mites outside the cage and so often adult mites re-infect a clean cage.


If that comment is directed at me, its because not everyone has text book experiences with mites so it can be better to ere on the side of caution than adopting the bare minimum of treatments.

Sorry just sick of people picking me up on different things. Firstly can i say i have had mites i am not proud of it but when you are handling numerous reptiles as well as wild catch and release eventually you get mite. 2ndly i can not say enough about top of decent i had mite on two of my pythons, cages were touching, sprayed both snakes and put them in plastic empty garbage bins for 1 hr. removed kitty litter which was infested with eggs then burnt. did a 5 sec spray into enclosure then returned snakes to enclosure waited three hours then replaced water bowl. 7 days later i removed water bowl and sprayed for 5 sec with snake still in cage. I have not had problems with mite since. Incidentally when i did first spray i sprayed all of my tanks but did not remove any other snakes due to mite not being visable, this included highland copperheads, common tigers, rbb and also death adders both adults and yearlings. At no stage did any of my deathys look unwell due to spray but becareful as ive heard it can harm them. Every new snake from then on gets dose of spray and placed into plastic click clack of appropriate size with white cotton lining for 1 hr regardless of where it comes from or species. In all the wild captures ive done only one snake has ever shown sign of mite infestation so it got treated also before being released others may have had it but was not easily visible, this rbb was covered.

How can i tell if my snake has mites? Is it obvious?

not all mite is obvious and not all mites are bad, some actually eat bad mites. Normally you see there poo which will be yellowish dots on scales and you may notice dead ones in water dish after snake soaks itself. Look for something half the size of a grass flea mine were blackish but can be different colours.

 

[rvcasa]

(pardon my ignorance, newbie here) Isn't the bleach harmful?
Or do you dilute it? How?

I actually never seen a mite so I'm not sure what they look like...

have seen some creatures crawling around my enclosure (at different times) like tiny light grey (speedy) ants and another time looked like a tiny minuscule cockroach!?
hanvent seen either since but often have ants that get inside my enclose!!

[/QUOTE]Put the snakes in 32C water for one hour
Then hang them from the ceiling on bamboo under lights[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure I understand it?
Somehow I can only visualise it in my mind as snakes being secured with pegs dripping like in a washing line! - As funny/cartoonish as it may sound, I'm sure that's not what you meant.

How do you do that/What did you mean?

Thanks.
(newbie here, with English as 3rd language)

PhotosView attachment 175573View attachment 175574View attachment 175575View attachment 175579
On Light coloured snakes they are easy to see
But on darker coloured ones not so easy
pics 3 and 4 show how they lift the scales

Excelent pics, thank you.

 

[fluffy2011]

Awsome thread, thanks heaps for the info D3pro


I found mites on my Bredli python so of course I jumped straight onto here and got the solution.

Definitely should become a sticky!!

Cheers.

 

[Goth-Girl]

OMG!!! Its wonderful people like you guys that make life sooooo much easyier for all us newbees....Thanks heaps guys....Cloe

 

[mrblack66]

Worked a treat except my numbers were wrong.... 5g/L of each of the above mentioned was the human ready solution and I diluted that downquite watery... sprayed mixture on paper towell while handling snake and covered him from behind jawbones down the entire length of his body. I also sprayed the entire enclosure, furniture and all and kept the snake out for a good few hours...
Having treated the snake and enclosure in this manner, my coastal no longer spends his days immersed in the water bowl like he used to, and has not been in it except to drink...
Also, I have not had to repeat the treatment, as was initially told I would have to.
However, said snake has escaped due to my shoddy cabinet construction....
Onto the Next!!

 

[peterducks7889]

hey my snake has had mites now for more than two to 3 weeks and they aint going away with spray???

the things on my snake are white not dark