New asper has mites

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Angil

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After recently receiving a new asper and taking the usual photos I have found what appears to be mites around the top of the eyes, what treatments are there to deal with mites around the eyes as most information is on snakes. I will post a picture up in the next day or so (hopefully) but in the mean time how do I get rid of them?

Thanks for the help

Angil
 
page 121...external parasites

A Guide to Australian Geckos & Pygopods in Captivity

Geckodans Book Shop
 
Thanks for the reply, I have that book, checked it out and it recommends either vegetable oil or small forceps but are they safe to use either one when it's on the actual eye?
I don't want to risk damaging her eye but obviously neither do I want to leave the mites there.
thanks heaps,
angil
 
Thanks for the reply, I have that book, checked it out and it recommends either vegetable oil or small forceps but are they safe to use either one when it's on the actual eye?
I don't want to risk damaging her eye but obviously neither do I want to leave the mites there.
thanks heaps,
angil

If they are the red gecko mite then get a cotton tip dipped in water and gently scrape it off the eye using a rolling motion.

Dont do anything that you think may damage the gecko as the mites themselves are more or less harmless.
 
interesting Josh, id never heard of red gecko mites, i just did a search,..ewww,....!!
 
If they are the red gecko mite then get a cotton tip dipped in water and gently scrape it off the eye using a rolling motion.

Dont do anything that you think may damage the gecko as the mites themselves are more or less harmless.

Hey Josh,

I know there are various species of gecko mites, however these do not appear to be the normal 'red mites' commonly seen on Phyllurus platurus in captivity and Saltuarius species in the wild, they appear more an orange colour. I have attached a high res photo (I hope) that you can zoom in on to see more.

they are right up in under the eye lid and down the bottom of the eye too. This banded girl is super grumpy so could stress, but I don't want the things in the collection.

Thanks for the help

Angil
 

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Hey Josh,

I know there are various species of gecko mites, however these do not appear to be the normal 'red mites' commonly seen on Phyllurus platurus in captivity and Saltuarius species in the wild, they appear more an orange colour. I have attached a high res photo (I hope) that you can zoom in on to see more.

they are right up in under the eye lid and down the bottom of the eye too. This banded girl is super grumpy so could stress, but I don't want the things in the collection.

Thanks for the help

Angil

Are they the mites around the mouth or is that sand?, I have seen orange mites on leafies too, as you said there are more then one species/form
 
Are they the mites around the mouth or is that sand?, I have seen orange mites on leafies too, as you said there are more then one species/form

That's just sand around her mouth, she gets hissy when the hide is lifted.

Do you think the cotton bud with water would work from what you can see?
 
That's just sand around her mouth, she gets hissy when the hide is lifted.

Do you think the cotton bud with water would work from what you can see?

Yeah I would give it a go, I know it goes without saying but just be gentle and they should come of relatively easily.
 
I agree with everything geckojosh is saying. Is there any black mites on the gecko? They may be red because they are full of blood. I got a imported Ball Python years ago that was infested with mites. Along with my treatment I would soak it for a half hour then take it out in the sun and gently rub the outside of the eye socket to coax the mites out. Then I used a q-tip to gently rub them off her eyes. It was not a fun month but they were fully eradicated. I wish you luck.

Regards, Patrick
 
The least intrusive way to remove them is with a cotton bud soaked in vegetable oil. Olive oil or safflower oil that you use in cooking is as good as any. Simply daub the oil on the mites so that there is at least a thin coating of oil over them. Concentrate particularly on the area just behind the legs. This will block their spiracles – the pores through which they breathe – and they will suffocate and fall off when dead. The oil will not affect the gecko’s spectacle.

There are thousands of different species of mite, some parasitic, others free living, many terrestrial and others that are totally aquatic. You might be surprised at the range of mite species that are know to be parasitic on geckos. Fortunately, we seem to get a fairly limited array on most of our geckos.

Blue
 
The least intrusive way to remove them is with a cotton bud soaked in vegetable oil. Olive oil or safflower oil that you use in cooking is as good as any. Simply daub the oil on the mites so that there is at least a thin coating of oil over them. Concentrate particularly on the area just behind the legs. This will block their spiracles – the pores through which they breathe – and they will suffocate and fall off when dead. The oil will not affect the gecko’s spectacle.

There are thousands of different species of mite, some parasitic, others free living, many terrestrial and others that are totally aquatic. You might be surprised at the range of mite species that are know to be parasitic on geckos. Fortunately, we seem to get a fairly limited array on most of our geckos.

Blue

Ive heard great things about oil. I've known about mites for years. I knew there were quite a few species of mites, just not that many. Thanks blue, It's always a pleasure when you share your wisdom.

Regards, Patrick
 
Arent these red mites usually found on Wild Caught aniamls and not on captives?

Also are these mites just skin mites that feed on dead skin?
 
Arent these red mites usually found on Wild Caught aniamls and not on captives?

Also are these mites just skin mites that feed on dead skin?

The animal in question wasn't wild caught, I know who bred it initially (before being bought and sold by someone else), however what the seller had in their collection I don't know.

As for dead skin mites I'm not sure.

Cheers for the advice blue, is vegetable oil alright for the gecko to ingest as it will invariably lick its eyes after treatment

Angil
 
Normally if the gecko was covered in mites I would suggest dabbing them with oil as its less intrusive (as Bluetongue1 stated) than removing them one by one, as there are only a few and you can see them then I would suggest just removing them then and there so whether you use oil or water imo it doesn't really matter, if however you are having trouble removing them then I would also agree a dab of oil is the best choice as it will drown the mites and they will hopefully just fall off.
 
Angil,
The reason for using vegetable oil instead of a petroleum based product, is that both ectopic application and ingestion will not harm the health of the lizard in any way.

I don’t know whether it applies to all lizards, but I do know that many have a blood filled sinus behind the eye. I would imagine that mites located around the edge of the spectacles are tapping into this food source for them. My suggestion with the vegetable oil for mite located here is to ensure that no physical damage is done to the spectacle in trying to remove them and to ensure that the minute heads are not left behind, creating a potential source of infection. I realise this is being excessively careful and conservative. Other methods have proven successful without negative repercussions. It is a matter of personal choice.


Stacer,
As a generalisation I would agree. However, if the conditions provided are satisfactory it seems that some mite species can not only survive but also reproduce in captivity. I do not know what the required conditions are but I suspect providing a particularly humid substrate, something like sphagnum moss, may have a definite positive effective in this regard. Please realise this is purely a guess.

Blue
 
Caliherp,
Your comments have encouraged me to share more of what I know with you and to chase up a few figures I have long been intending to....
On this topic, which is something I have been interested for many years, I have always found it is particularly difficult to procure information on the effects of mites on lizards, in particular on geckos. The following is based upon my own observations and is yet to be properly verified by a scientific report that I can locate. I believe that many mites affecting geckos and agamids are parasitic and not simply commensal. They tend to be located where the skin is thinnest – the armpits, the ears and around the eyes. This, to me, indicates they are likely to be drawing blood or body fluids from the host. However, those species found more widely distributed on the body of an animal may well be living on the outer layer of skin, as do the common dust mite found in human habitation. These mite possess the gut structure to break down the difficult to deal with compounds that skin is composed of – rather like the stomachs of ruminants and their ability to break cellulose. I am uncertain as to how many species are red or orange or yellow and as to the potential degree of colour variation in any given species.

My apologies that this generates the usual scenario – more questions than answers. I have known for some time, based on reliable sources, that there are around 3,000 mite species in Australia. I recently managed to locate a figure for the actual number of species that have been described, compliments of one Dr. Bruce Halliday, a CSIRO expert on Acarina - 2620 described species of mites that are known to occur in Australia. At the same time, compliments of Karingal Vet Hospital, we have the statement that there are over 250 different species of mites that have been reported to parasitise reptiles. If you are interested, the two main groups known to infest lizards are trombiculids and pterygosomatids.

A particular study found that Shinglebacks with the most severe tick infestations appear to achieve the largest mature size and mate more than those animals with minimal infestations. Weird, hey? I wonder if we can say the same for geckos and mites? All I can say from observations is that mite load on geckos does not appear to affect their abilities of movement or response.

Blue
 
I had not considered that removing mites manually may be a cause for potential infection, thanks for pointing that out BT1.
I do now wonder though if an oil drowned mite that doesn't fall off (rough skin on some species seems to stop the mites from being rubbed off easily by the host) would also pose the same risk?
 
I was wrong. My apologies.

I had assumed that parasitic mites had similar mouthparts to ticks but such is not the case. Your comments, GeckoJosh, and a very rusty memory, got me researching. To either side of their piercing/sucking mouthparts is a spear-like projection which effectively holds the animal in place. In ticks, this anchor is toothed or barbed and they use their palps to keep these embedded. Mites lack the toothed/barbed edge. So while ticks are problematic to remove when alive, mites, on the other hand, may be simply brushed off.

I was initially more concerned about someone using forceps and potentially doing some physical damage if the forceps were sharp and the gecko squirmed at the wrong moment. I think the rolling of a wet cotton bud tip across the offending animals is a good technique. The water would provide a degree of adherence, like wetting a finger tip to pick up a sheet of paper or a needle etc.

Blue
 
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