Another mite thread...

[Naturesfury]

Okay, so here goes... I noticed today 4 of my dragons swimming and going crazy in there large water bowl.....I have pygmy's and are kept tpgether with no probs...anyway this was unusual behaviour so I was staring at them and saw something black move on the head of one of my lizards...pulled it off and placed in an air tight jar...yep its a mite...now my question is obviously yes I have to clear out the entire closure. Got it re black plastic bag for the furnishings out in the sun....lucky I live in north qld...the big question is though what and how do I get them off the lizards...

 

[Beans]

Theres plenty of good mite sprays you can pick up at many pet shops. Follow directions on the back and you're good to go

 

[Dr-Zoidberg]

Top of descent works a charm, remove the water bowl and spray into enclosure while the reptile is still inside. Put the water bowl back in after 24 hours. I'd switch to a news paper substrate while treating. Respray 4-7 days later to get hatched eggs. I've had mites twice, once on a bredli and once on a spotted they suck. You can get top of descent online cheaper than pet shops by about $20

it'll say on the can to remove the reptile before use, you don't need to and it works better leaving them in. Don't concentrate the spray directly at the reptile and don't use one geckos or amphibians. Top of descent was fist sold to spray on people before leaving a plane to kill bugs that hitched a ride to foreign countries

 

[Chris82]

https://aussiepythons.com/forum/showthread.php/211820-yet-ANOTHER-mite-thread?highlight=Mites

There's some good info on this thread already which might help

 

[MesseNoire]

Read the thread linked by Chris82, lots of good ideas in there. Be careful using Top of Descent as it has recorded fatalities to its name. I'm pretty sure Pythoninfinite on here will tell you the exact same thing.
If you want to be extra careful you can treat the enclosure (WITHOUT the lizard in there) with top of descent and bathe your lizard in a weak Betadine and water solution or water and a quick squirt of detergent.

 

[Snakesmum]

Haven't heard of any fatalities from Top of Descent before, but have used it with success on the one
occasion when I was unlucky enough to have mites on one of my pythons. I used T O D to spray the
other cages, and the snakes in them did not get mites.

 

[Dr-Zoidberg]

D phenothrin has a low toxicity, I dare say those deaths are from misuse eg sealing of vents, spraying animal directly, heavy contamination of water. The toxin is poorly absorbed when ingested inhaled or absorbed via skin/eye contact. If you can direct me to a case study on these deaths that isn't hearsay or second hand knowledge that's be greatly appreciated as I'd hate to be giving out incorrect information. Unless a necropsy was preformed to say otherwise, those deaths are more than likely either directly caused by the mites or a side effect of a weakened immune system due to mites. Mite infestations are a known killer of captive reptiles, causing septicemia, aniemia, infection, and spreading of disease. Chances are if they show up on one herp they'll show up on another.

 

[kitten_pheonix]

Id suggest that everyone saying that mite spray doesnt causr fatalities go to the reptile quarrentine and virus awareness page on facebook then find the many posts about reptiles becoming ill after inhaling the spray.if you wouldnt spray it in your face dont spray it on the reptile either.

 

[Dr-Zoidberg]

Social media posts (without cited/verified information) aren't scientific evidence, many factors come into play with d-phenothrin ie body weight, body temp (captive herps are kept at stable temps) the amount in the system, you will find that most deaths Are recorded in animals that groom/preen like cats dogs birds and geckos as they unintentionally ingest more than the body can break down in a short amount of time or reptiles kept in fluctuating temps with an already decreased immune system due to severe infestation. I wouldn't spray my face or my reptiles but id spray it in a room full off people or a ventilated enclosure containing my precious herps , my information is sourced directly from a toxicologist who's worked in vetinary science for many years. I have never said it can't kill a reptile, an overdose of any medication/ treatment WILL kill a reptile

 

[apprenticegnome]

I haven't had any issues with T.O.D. Although I removed snakes for 20 minutes while I sprayed the enclosure and the room to allow it to ventilate. Brilliant stuff, I did the whole house to kill an insect that shows up every summer from the trees brushing up against the house. I read the Material Safety Data sheet from the manufacturer and read some posts on here first before I purchased it. You will always get differing opinions but given it's track history I was inclined to lean significantly towards it being safe when used as directed. I haven't tried the betadine solution but it is a solution I would definitely consider if the spray didn't work. I've been lucky as I haven't had mites in my snakes but I am fairly restrictive in giving opportunities to introduce them to mites. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[kitten_pheonix]

The reason I say to look for those posts is due to the information posted by one of the leading reptile vets Shane Simpson.