Got Mites?

[D3pro]

I may later post of my experiences with this stuff. Please don't flame me, ( I'm heartly sick of it and its the reason I dont post much on here any more,) before you read the literature! Only been keeping and breeding for forty years, what would I know!!!!!

If you have been successful then I am very interested. Cheers

 

[-Peter]

Couple of problems here, this is fine if the snake is a new arrival but you haven't treated the mites in the eyes or heat pits. It is also advisable to treat the areas around the enclosure as mites travel quite quickly and can be out through the vents before you have seen them. The eggs can lay dormant for very long periods of time. I had plastic tub I with oil used in an experiment to see if the oil method worked, I was left with an oily snake and a plastic tub that couldnt be cleaned properly. I threw it into the shed. 8 months later on a hot day I was cleaning the shed and inside the tub were hundreds of newly hatched mites. the eggs had adhered to the tub with the oil.
Mites can be introduced by birds, visting rodents and of course other reptiles. That they dont feed on mammals or birds is irrelevant as they can live long enough to travel on them.
One keeper recieved a shipment of geckos that were might free. but the container had eggs that had adhered to the carboard. Fortunately he found them just as they were hatching.

Ivermectin is a drench, not a spray. You can OD your animals easily with it. I was told of a better product on the weekend. I'll have to chase up the name.

 

[punisherSIX]

Ivermectin is a drench, not a spray. You can OD your animals easily with it. I was told of a better product on the weekend. I'll have to chase up the name.

You're right, I actually should have mentioned I use Cydectin instead of Ivermectin. Never had the need to use it on reptiles yet though

 

[D3pro]

Couple of problems here, this is fine if the snake is a new arrival but you haven't treated the mites in the eyes or heat pits. I had a snake with mites in the eyes and pits, I bathed id but didn't do much. Placing it in the tub which was sprayed, I found that the mites eventually died.It is also advisable to treat the areas around the enclosure as mites travel quite quickly and can be out through the vents before you have seen them. This hasn't happened to me yet, but I would do the same as I described with all my snakes and then treat the room as one big enclosure. Will take a lot of cans tho lol. The eggs can lay dormant for very long periods of time. I had plastic tub I with oil used in an experiment to see if the oil method worked, I was left with an oily snake and a plastic tub that couldnt be cleaned properly. I threw it into the shed. 8 months later on a hot day I was cleaning the shed and inside the tub were hundreds of newly hatched mites. the eggs had adhered to the tub with the oil.
Mites can be introduced by birds, visting rodents and of course other reptiles. That they dont feed on mammals or birds is irrelevant as they can live long enough to travel on them.
One keeper recieved a shipment of geckos that were might free. but the container had eggs that had adhered to the carboard. Fortunately he found them just as they were hatching. A mate of mine said that he saw a AH gecko carrying a mite, is this possible?

Ivermectin is a drench, not a spray. You can OD your animals easily with it. I was told of a better product on the weekend. I'll have to chase up the name.

Cheers

 

[GeckoJosh]

Geckos carry a different species of mite that are usually orange or red in colour, could this be what your friend saw?

 

[D3pro]

Maybe... he said black but who knows

 

[D3pro]

It seems a funny rumour has been floating around that my collection has mites. The people spreading this rumour have never bought anything from me. I will bring this point up again:

I have had mites twice from buying snakes, but luckily I have a quarantine system so my collection was safe.

Nothing I have in quarantine gets sold or leaves the room until I'm sure the animals are healthy.
Also, I sell as pick up only. Therefore the buyer knows exactly what they are getting.

Cheers,

 

[woosang]

Brilliant post. I use front line spray (not the dot on stuff) and use a cotton bud t get under the chin of the snake. Use otherwise exactly the same method as described.

Got mites from a rescue and I was careless. Serve me right & never again.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Couple of problems here, this is fine if the snake is a new arrival but you haven't treated the mites in the eyes or heat pits. It is also advisable to treat the areas around the enclosure as mites travel quite quickly and can be out through the vents before you have seen them. The eggs can lay dormant for very long periods of time. I had plastic tub I with oil used in an experiment to see if the oil method worked, I was left with an oily snake and a plastic tub that couldnt be cleaned properly. I threw it into the shed. 8 months later on a hot day I was cleaning the shed and inside the tub were hundreds of newly hatched mites. the eggs had adhered to the tub with the oil.Mites can be introduced by birds, visting rodents and of course other reptiles. That they dont feed on mammals or birds is irrelevant as they can live long enough to travel on them.
One keeper recieved a shipment of geckos that were might free. but the container had eggs that had adhered to the carboard. Fortunately he found them just as they were hatching.

Ivermectin is a drench, not a spray. You can OD your animals easily with it. I was told of a better product on the weekend. I'll have to chase up the name.

This is a bit misleading. Snake mites are pretty much host-specific, and bird or rodent would have to come into contact with snake mites (Ophionyssus natricis) via an infested snake to be carrying them - they wouldn't pick them up from the environment. The only way your snakes will get mites is from contact with infested snakes, or if some vector (a human who has handled infested animals) brings them in. Not rodents or birds. It is highly unlikely, for the reasons Michael has already stated, that wild reptiles pose a risk.

Also, the life cycle of O. natricis is brief, with eggs hatching between 1 day in a warm environment, and 4 days at the cooler end of the spectrum. It would be highly unlikely (impossible) for snake mites to be hatching months later in an oily tub.

There are many misconceptions surrounding 'mites'. Not all mites are harmful - indeed, you can purchase predator mites to kill and eat snake mites in your collection, and these predator mites won't harm your reptiles. We need to be clear that the mite we are talking about, Ophionyssus natricis, is the species of concern, it is a specialist parasite, and is specific to reptiles. Other mite species from other animals will not harm your snakes. Ophionyssus natricis is fragile - it drowns easily, it dessicates at low humidity, and it has a relatively short lifespan - 14-19 days in most circumstances, including incubation of the eggs. All this info is available on the web, from people who know far more about them than I do.

Good quarantine, and limiting the access of those who may be carrying them on their clothes from recent contact to your collection, should be all you need to do to remain mite-free. They are not out there in the broader environment waiting for an opportunity to conquer your animals... they almost need to be invited in!

Jamie.

 

[Elite_Reptiles]

Shlanger, you only have 363 posts, you know bugger all. Everyone know that high post counts equal more experience

Not true at all punisher, there are members on here that have been in this game for more years than you could imagine. The number of posts on here means jack poo about someone's experience, they just choose to use the site for other things than posting comments every day!

Fantastic post D3pro and thanks for going to so much effort to explain such a touchy topic as this. Also glad it was made into a sticky, as I'm sure I will refer back to this post should I ever encounter this problem with mites (touch wood that I don't).

 

[adderboy]

Not true at all punisher, there are members on here that have been in this game for more years than you could imagine. The number of posts on here means jack poo about someone's experience, they just choose to use the site for other things than posting comments every day!

QUOTE]

Somehow I think you may have missed punisher's point. I don't think he was being serious with that comment.

 

[punisherSIX]

Not true at all punisher, there are members on here that have been in this game for more years than you could imagine. The number of posts on here means jack poo about someone's experience, they just choose to use the site for other things than posting comments every day!

Somehow I think you may have missed punisher's point. I don't think he was being serious with that comment.

Hehe, yeah, needs to be special font for sarcasm

 

[reptilife]

Does the 'Mac' mite spray (or any similar product) work for ticks too?
I recently found a number of ticks on one of my outdoors lizards for the first time.
I have found all suggested removal techniques to be quite ineffective.
Quarantine and treatment of the specimen and its environment with this spray would be so easy.

 

[adderboy]

Hey, reptilife, yes, Top of Descent will kill ticks as well, so I presume Mac will do the same. Just don't expect the ticks to fall off straight away - they won't. They'll die, but stay in situ. Then just wait for them to dessciate and they'll come off with a shed.

 

[ozziepythons]

Anyone got pics of a snake infested with mites?

 

[reptilife]

Hey, reptilife, yes, Top of Descent will kill ticks as well, so I presume Mac will do the same. Just don't expect the ticks to fall off straight away - they won't. They'll die, but stay in situ. Then just wait for them to dessciate and they'll come off with a shed.

Great thanks! Will pick some up while I'm in the Big Smoke tomorrow.

 

[longqi]

In Indonesia it is very difficult to find any snakes that dont have mites
This is one of my chondros from the shop
They get infected all the time by mites being passed onto them by human carriers and from idiots bringing pet snakes riddled with mites into the shop for free advice
I rarely saw or heard much of mites in Australia
But the ones here actually bite and draw blood
All of my snakes except the breeders are handled very regularly
One of the first ways you find out about the mites is when you get bitten

If you want more photos I will take some in the next outbreak

 

[Elite_Reptiles]

Thanks for sharing longqi.

How do you go about getting rid of them in such mass numbers? I suppose it's an ongoing battle too?

 

[longqi]

Absolutely a waste of time trying to be too proactive up here
My breeders are under sterile conditions so that is different to the play snakes
Simply wait until the mites are well and truly evident

Take the snakes from their enclosures
Put the snakes in 32C water for one hour
Then hang them from the ceiling on bamboo under lights

Spray the complete inside of the enclosure with pure bleach
Wheel enclosures out into the sun and leave there for three hours
Sunlight breaks down the chlorine
Wash the hides and water bowl well
Put snakes back in their enclosures that night

Wait for the next outbreak about three months later
[We cant buy TOD up here]

 

[Dannyboi]

I have heard that placing a snake/lizard in a pillow case with flea powder helps. I heard this from someone in Fauna rescue who obtained blueys with mites so i guess that rules out the theory that mites aren't native.