Help! I\'ve got mites! (I think)

my red tail has been sitting in its water bowl almost the whole day today. i took it out to handle it and noticed a few uplifted scales near its head and along its belly. then i noticed black spots under these scales. i haven't ever seen mites before but what else could these be?

how can i get rid of these?

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[Ghost]

well there problably mites just buy a bottle of mite off, you spray it on and repeat in 24 hours or you had carefully pluck them off with twezers (carefully)then kill the mite between your nails. [img]images/forum/icons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JuliusSqueezer]

There are a zillion commercial herp mite sprays available but I've never had any luck with any of them. Best thing to do is empty the tank or cage and bleach it...let it dry good and sprinkle 5% seven dust in the bottom and line it with newspaper and rub some all over the snakes body avoiding his head. Put him in the tank for a couple of hours then rinse him off. leave the sevens dust under the paper for a week then bleach it out again. Repeat dusting the snake and rinsing him every 2-3 days for the remainder of the week. Throw away any unused substrate you may have because this is likely where they came from....Find a local vet that handles herps and take him in for a checkup to make sure there are no endoparasites too. He/she will advise you on bringing back a stool sample at a later time. DO NOT SKIP TAKING HIM TO A VET.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

The best product for Mites is Provent-A-Mite. I had the same thing happen to a Guyanan when I first started and under the reccomendation of some reliable sources tried it. It got rid of them and was easy to use and I havent had another Mite since. Here's the phone number of the Company, Pro Products 845-628-8960. Its a great product.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

SURE SOUNDS LIKE MITES TO ME!
I stay away from commercial/insecticide items for this problem. The thing I use is mineral oil...yah..it's a cure all for a lot of things with snakes. What I do is to SOAK the snake in the oil..all over the body..be careful near the head..don't get this in the nostrils. I completely coat the snake in the oil and let it sit for about an hour. While this is going on..CLEAN the tank/cage. I use full strength bleach for this and hot water. Only use newspaper for a substrate at this point. Next I run down the snakes body with oil again...running the body thru the hands..this removes most of the mites. the remaining mites will need to be removed by hand..usually these ones are the ones whom have burrowed under the scales. This is done by scaling the snake..very carefully. I lift each scale individually and remove any mites from under there...fingernails help well at this point. You can actually see which scales have mites under them without even lifting the scales up. You must then 'wash" the oil off the snake using just water. After this is done I repeat such in 5-7 days time just to be sure.. I have never had to do anymore than this for my snakes when I have run into mites. REMEMBER TO ISOLATE THIS SNAKE FROM THE REST OF YOUR COLLECTION!! ALSO CLEAN THE AREA WHERE THE SNAKE IS HOUSED VERY WELL WITH BLEACH. ALSO..NEVER HANDLE ANY OF YOUR OTHER SNAKES UNTIL YOU HAVE STERILIZED YOUR HANDS AND CHANGED YOUR CLOTHING!! MITES WILL TRAVEL THRU A COLLECTION VERY FAST!

LORI


<font size=1>[ This message was edited by: LORI on 2001-03-05 03:03 ]</font>

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JuliusSqueezer]

If you have a large enclosure made of wood and plexiglass bleaching is going to be kind of hard. In this case 5% sevens dust is going to be about the only answer. as a preventitive. I put aspen shavings heavily dusted with sevens dust in a stocking and hang it in the enclosure for a few days once a month usually when I change substrate or add anything new. My last mite infestation was 5 years ago when I got some cypryss mulch from Home Depot....5% is the weakest sevens dust comes in and is safe for small animals. When I had dogs, I would rub them down with it too to kill fleas and ticks...The stuff works great.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JuliusSqueezer]

Oh yeah. Dont forget to bleach the water bowl and any decorations or hides you may have.

[Drax]

thanks! a friend of mine told me to get one of those yellow pest away strips and lay it across the top of the cage (i have a wire screen top) for 48 hrs. should i also bleach the cage and seven dust the snake? b/c he/she has a couple under his/her neck.

[JuliusSqueezer]

yes bleach the cage...and anything thats in it...you will have to kill the new mites that hatch from eggs laid under your snakes scales as well. a pest strip over the cage is iffy at best. Sevens dust worked for me. I had a burmese python covered in mites 5 years ago and I tried everything. I bleached the cage and sprayed the cage and snake with commercial mite spray....put the snake back in the tank with newspaper and 2 hours later he was covered with them again....frustraiting....I called a vet and he told me to use sevens dust so I did and poof ...no more mites. I talked to a breeder the other day and he swears by it too. Lori swears by mineral oil...I've never tried that but I can see how it should work killing them off the snake but you will have to thoroghly bleach the tank and everything in it to kill eggs and hiding mites in there. They can be hiding in any of a zillion little crevaces under the lip of the tank...in any wood or silk plants. #$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^& try em both...I know sevens dust kills mites on the snake and anywhere in the cage instantly....if nothing else the mineral oil will give him a pretty shine and suffocate any living or hatching mites under the scales...kill em twice. I hate those lil blood sucking bastards.