Diamond Python - Mites in eyes & Water bowl issue

[IndisPeople]

Hi

My 9 month old Diamond Python boy, Indiana, had mites last week.

I have removed all the mites from his body through bathing, he is in a different tank at the moment for other reasons.

Since I bathed him last Saturday he has been sitting in his water bowl constantly with only his nose poking out. I change the water daily and bathe him in the sink also every couple of days.

My problem is there are stll a few mites in his eyes, there were a lot more but there are a few stubborn ones.

They aren't coming off when I soak him (or rather he soaks himself).

He is a very placid tolerant little guy and lets me handle him, in fact, I think he enjoys it.

My understanding is that there is nothing that can be used near his eyes. Will this affect his sight? I'm concerned he will have eye damage.

Is it possible they will come out with the next shed?

He also has a respiratory condition which is being treated under the guidance of our vet.

The temps are up to 31 and not under 28 in his tank. When I do bring him out and dry him off he has a chalky look to him.

He hasn't shed since 15 Jan which is unusual for him, he was shedding every 3 weeks until then.

Sorry for the long post, more info is better than less I guess!

Any advice appreciated.

 

[mrmikk]

I would give your enclosure with the snake in it a good spray with Top of Descent and follow up with another a week later. Check with your vet first though if you are treating him for RI.

Good luck & let us know how you get on.

 

[FAY]

Buy some Top of Descent.
Take his water bowl out, dry him off an fog the whole cage with him in it.
Do not spray directly onto the sanke.......just fog.Very important that you take the water bowl out as the insecticide does something to it. Where abouts in Australia are you??

Diamonds are a cold climate snake..keeping the tank min 28 is just too hot for diamonds.
They are not like other pythons.

 

[mungus]

Sounds like he's in the wars abit.
spray the enclosure throughly with Top of Descent.
Remove the water bowl for say 6 hrs afrter spraying.
Put him back in the enclosure after the fumes have dispersed.
That should get rid of them - dont forget to spray the hide as well.

 

[IndisPeople]

I'm in Canberra.

Vet said to get temps up for his repiratory issues. He is mid way through his antibiotics.

He was sold to me as an Integrade but everyone who has seen him says he looks pure diamond. He does also like to stay up high.

So it's possible he is in the water bowl coz he is too damn hot hey?

 

[IndisPeople]

Despite having a shocking week he is still acting like his usual adorable self. Only reason I noticed anything unusual is because I handle him daily and he looked different (grey rings around the eyes where the mites have made the poor thing all puffy) - luckily the rings are gone and he no longer sounds like a childs crinkly toy when he breathes.

I'm going shopping for a new set up in the next few months - willing to travel to do so.

 

[adderboy]

Top of Descent used as described will get rid of the mites in the cage and on the snake, but you might need to do it again a few days later because mites may exist outside the cage and find their way back in, starting the whole cycle again. If you only have one snake it should be easily controlled that way, but if you have other herps in the same room, you may need to treat the whole room as well as the enclosures, and that may require a slightly different approach.

Simon

 

[GSXR_Boy]

You should also do a follow up spray in about 2 weeks.

I don't think it's a good thing to be handling it daily, especially if it's sick.
People will probably argue with me on this one,but i think over handling can cause stress which lead to things like respitory infections.jmo.

 

[mrmikk]

What antibiotics is the vet using Indis? Baetril, Fortrum, Tobramycin?

 

[Aslan]

Indis - I agree entirely with GSXR - you need to spray again in about two weeks to break the cycle of the mites - they are similar to fleas in that you need to kill the living ones but also need to sort out the ones in eggs...the respray will kill the ones recently hatched since your first spray...

Relying on soaking and bathing will not stop mites - it doesn't break the cycle so they just keep hatching...

The reason your Intergrade is soaking is related to the mite issue - got nothing to do with the heat - he is trying to drown the ones on his body...

I agree with Fay in regards to the standard heating regime for Diamonds - however - if your critter is suffering from an RI I think the increased heat is beneficial - over the course of its life it would be detrimental but not getting rid of the RI will be worse...I have a Diamond that has struggled for some time to get rid of an RI - he is also on antibiotics and I have bumped up his temperatures...his ambient warm end is 32*c with a hotspot surface temperature of 35*c and a cool end of ambient room temperature...

Another issue you may face if you do not spray the mites soon will be that constant soaking will aggravate the RI and be counter productive to the medication...

 

[IndisPeople]

Thanks for your advice everyone.

I went and got TOD today and have just sprayed. Left it till I could see in the enclosure again and popped Indi back in.

I'll leave his water out for the night and pop it in in the morning.

He is on Baytrill every second day Mrmikk

Cheers, Kerrie

 

[mungus]

Your doing all the right things, congrats on that.
He'll come good for sure.
Cheers.
Aleks

 

[MrBredli]

You need to spray the cage while he is in there to kill the mites on his body. Do it again while he's in there.

 

[IndisPeople]

MrBredli

Is that ok to do even while he is recovering from a RI? I don't see any active mites on his body, just 3 or 4 in the eyes. But Im told they come in several stages so I may not be able to see them.

The spray sent me into a coughing fit....

Cheers Aleks - Being a first timer it's always unknown territory - I'm sure raising my girls to 1 year old was easier than getting this guy there in one piece!

 

[MrBredli]

It's ok, you don't need to spray heaps, just a light fog.

 

[IndisPeople]

Cool thanks. Really appreciate everyone's help and advice.

And so far everyone's so friendly

 

[Auzlizardking]

Also wipe out the enclosure top to bottom as mite like to climb - if you have F10 or 1/10 bleach/water.