4 month old redtail boa with mites!

angusrock · #1 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 12:37 AM

i have these little black parasites underneath the scales of my boa and i was told by the reptile store i bought him from to use ivory soap, I got simple ivory bar of soap. i was told to get the warm water i tiny bit soapy, and lather the soap on my snake in the water and they should die. Is there anything i should look for in the ingredients or is there anything i should be careful for? any help with this is greatly appreciated.

Brandon28 · #2 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 12:41 AM

Welcome to the site.

http://redtailboa.net/forums/help-me...rid-mites.html

Search through a few threads and you'll find all the info you can handle on mites.

angusrock · #3 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 12:47 AM

I was also wondering what kind of substrate i can use thats not natural.. i have newspapers in right now but i dont want coconut husk or whatever.. or bark, shavings etc.. i was thinking along the lines of carpet or newspaper you can buy for bedding? instead of shredded newspaper. i want somethingto line the bottom .. i haerd the carpeting is pretty good, easy to clean. switch it with anohter one, but the snake has nothign to crawl through ? i dont know, any help would be appreciated.
ps: i was also told to have a heat pad on one end and heat lamp on the other.. i had a heat pad but it stopped working.. do i need another one? because the temperature on the non heat lamp side is only at 75 right now, and at night the whole tank is about 70.

Brandon28 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 12:55 AM

You may find that carpet is more troublesome that you think. You have to clean it when it gets soiled and it quickly mildews. Newspaper and aspen shavings are amon the most popular choices, but reptile bark and similar products all work well. Just keep in mind that the newspaper doesn't need to be shredded. Just line the bottome of the cage with it.

As for the heating pad....YES! Get a UTH immediately. 75 degrees should be the coolest part of the tank. Your snake needs a basking area around 89-92 degrees. There are basic care sheets here that will answer most of the main questions.

angusrock · #5 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 12:58 AM

yeah the temperature under the light is perfectly fine, 90 degrees right on, just checked.. and the coolest part of the tank is 76.. right now, so the heat pad is still needed? the cool part of the tank will just be a bit warmer than it is right now right?

Brandon28 · #6 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 01:09 AM

UTH's aren't mandatory, but are preferred by most keepers. As long as the temps and humidity levels are good, then there's no wrong way to eat a Reeses Peanutbutter Cup.

One problem that is common with basking lamps is that they suck up TONS of moisture. Being able to cover the top of the cage and use a UTH for heat allows the warm, moist air to stay in the tank.

angusrock · #7 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 01:14 AM

yeah i dont think there is very much moitsure in my tank at all. The light is pretty big, same diameter almost as the width of the tank. you think a uth would be a better choice? and spraying down the newspapers a couple times a day would help too would it not?

Brandon28 · #8 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 01:19 AM

spraying the newspaper will just keep the bottome of the tank wet...then it immediately evaporates. It doesn't really serve the purpose as well as you'd think.

Again, whatever's clever....but you'll find that most keepers use a UTH instead of lamps.

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