OPHIONYSSUS NATRICIS JIHAD!

[chameleon]

Ahhhh summertime.........
The flowers are in full bloom, the geckos are catching insects on my
windows and the odd coastal carpet can be seen on the nightly prowl...
AND MY SNAKE HAS MITES!
Last time i used permoxin (under vets advice) on my baby coastals
and they all died. The snake in question is a sub adult waterpython and
asking another snake breeder he put me onto "Fido's free-itch rinse
concentrate.......i was thinking more along the lines of orange medic
or just soaking them in water with some dish washing liquid for about
10 hours....
Any genuine opinions would be great........
Personal experience and past stories would be great aswell...

 

[MrBredli]

Use Top Of Descent available from Herp Shop or Animal Attraction. It only costs about $17 and is safe & easy to use.

 

[chameleon]

i ve heard of this stuff and i know where to get it but for a 4 ft fish tank how long would you spray for?

 

[MrBredli]

I'm not sure as i have never used it. Look for instructions on the bottle i guess. If there are none then i would be spraying for 10-15 secs. I will be buying some very soon to use as a precautionary measure, as i have just acquired a number of new herps. I'll let you know how i go with it, should be within the next few days.

 

[chameleon]

what about just soaking her in water with dishwashing liquid at 30 deg for 10-13hrs?
surely that is safe?

 

[lutzd]

My advice, for what it's worth : Remove any substrate and replace with newspaper. Remove the water bowl then spray TOD for 4 -5 seconds. Wait for the mist to disappear. THOROUGHLY wash out the water bowl and return it to the enclosure. Remove anything in the enclosure that has cracks, etc., where mites and/or eggs can hide. Repeat the procedure after a week. Keep a lookout over the next few weeks for new ones (hatched from any eggs that might be there. Treat any other enclosures as well.

Wear rubber gloves when doing anything inside the enclosure and drop them in hot water when finished (to kill any that might get on your hands) and wash your hands and arms thoroughly.

I'd also spray around the immediate vicinity of the cage - they can and do crawl out of the cage and migrate. I believe there's a version of TOD that works like a surface spray as well (anyone know the name?) which you can use to spray the outside of the enclosure to get rid of "migrants".

That's it for me! More knowledgable people may be able to give you more/better advice.

 

[chameleon]

thanks alot. ive had aproblem with them before and i always have deaths, and it seems that everyone
is recommending TOD.
ive heard it is highly biodegradable and most snakes can hack its punishment.
it is $30 a tin up the road..might grab some.
this snake must not die for it will be a breeder.......

 

[Springherp]

Go easy on the TOD, make sure you remove the snake and waterbowl from the enclosure before spraying. A good idea is to cover the snake in a liberal coating of mineral/vegetable oil to suffocate any mites. I reccomend you go hard out for the next few weeks and kill everything (except the snake). Be aware of the mite breeding cycles and hatching rates. Even male mites can produce eggs!
Do us proud chameleon! :?

 

[chameleon]

use vegetable oil as well as tod? what about the eyes? i suppose it wouldnt hurt the eyes.
so oil her down every day or 2days? what about vasolene on the eyes?

 

[MrBredli]

I thought you were supposed to leave the snake in the cage when you spray TOD..?

You could get TOD delivered to your door for less than $30.. probably $22-23, try the Herp Shop or Animal Attraction. The latter would probably have it delivered to you within 2 days.

 

[Rediah]

Sorry, double post.

 

[Rediah]

My bro had a serious mite infestation when his baby carpets hatched somehow. I took all the snakes out, left everything else in there gave it a reasonably good spray (maybe 5-10 secs insuring that you get a good spray all around) then left it for a little while, no longer than a minute and put the babies back in. The next day I cleaned it all out and i havent seen a mite since! Oh, and all snakes were in just perfect condition, it didnt affect them one bit.

So just a once over with TOD did the job and no mites for almost a year.

I thought i should share my own personal experiance with you, hopefully it helps.

 

[africancichlidau]

I've used tod on a pretty heavy infestation in the past and did not remove the snakes from the enclosures, DO remove the water bowls for 24 hours though and thouroughly wash before returning them to the enclosures. As long as you don't have crickets, roaches or the like in your snake room I would, and did, spray the whole room with tod. Herp Shop has the best price on this stuff and delivery is pretty damned fast too Good luck with it all mate, mites are a pain in the butt to deal with. Though they are much easier to get rid of since the entry of TOD into the hobby.

 

[Gregory]

ToD is only $15 per tin at Sydney Reptile Supplies.
Get in quick, it's sure to run out at this price.

Shop 4 115 John st. Lidcombe.
9643 1500
or at Morrisset Mega Markets every weekend.

(Over counter sales only while stocks last)



Cheers, Greg.

SRS Employee of the Month for December.





.

 

[Rediah]

Well it seems that TOD doesnt affect them as when i was spraying it i had taken them out and they were roaming around then i closed the doors, got them and put them back in there... thats what i meant by left it for a little while (but the doors were closed and it was only while i was getting the snakes to put hem in there. And i cant remember whether or not i took out the water bowls... I think i did... :?

Anyway, your lucky its only a small issue and extremely easy to get rid of. So, we all suggest, give TOD a go as soon as you get a chance and there you go, problem solved!