My Royal has mites.

[6032wayne]

Hi All,

I've just discovered that my Royal Python has mites .

I have read the stickied thread and all the links in it but I wanna make sure I get this right first time!

I am gonna try rubbing Monty (original I know!) down with olive oil, disinfecting the viv, destroying the aspen substrate and replacing with newspaper and baking his hide and other decor in the oven at 150c. Before I do any of this though I have a few questions!

First of all, when I rub Monty down with olive oil, do I do his head and eyes as well? Also, do I bathe him at any point, before or after? Or just cover him in olive oil and leave?

When I disinfect the viv, is a bleach/water solution sufficient, or is there something that would do the job readily available from any local petshop? I would ask at the petshops but don't have 100% confidence in the ones round here!

Monty's viv is stacked on top of our Uro's viv, are the Uro's at risk from the mites as well? I am presuming that the mites are either snake specific or the Uro's viv is far to hot and dry to sustain any mites? Also, are there any other precautions we should take or anything else in the room we should be cleaning/disinfecting? Finally, where is the likeliest place the mites came from? Could they have come from the frozen rats we have been feeding Monty or is it more likely the bedding?

Sorry about all the Q's, Monty is our first snake and I want to get his treatment sorted properly first time.

[Jczreptiles]

I always avoid the head especialy the eyes, but I do rub under the chin as a lot of mite live there. Also make sure you wash off the oil after 2 days and then repeat the treatment 5-6 days later to kill and new born mites as the oil does not always kill the eggs. I use bleach on the viv and then rinse very well and keep the snake in a RUB during treatment with no paper or substrate and even no water bowl during the two day olive oild treatment period as they will soak in it and rub off the oil which will make it ineffective and if they drink it it will give tham the
sts.

[Jay_1987]

When my royal had mite's i used Bob Martin household flea spray. It contain's a weak insecticide called permetherin which is very effective at killing mite's. Never spray it directly onto the snake as the aerosol is harmful so spray it onto kitchen towel or something. Also dont get it in the eyes. You can also read up about permetherin testing on snakes on Google.

[garlicpickle]

When my BRB had mites I soaked him in the bath for about 1/2 hour, then rubbed him all over with olive oil and wiped off the excess with kitchen paper.

I sprayed his enclosure with Ardap and left it outside for the fumes to disperse. I also boiled his viv furnishings, except for the cork bark which was sprayed with Ardap.

I put him back in and have seen no evidence of mites since.

bleach will not necessarily kill mite eggs. The eggs will be in the corners and nooks and crannies of the viv and its furnishings. An insecticide spray like Ardap will do the job much better and is effective for upto 6 weeks, so even if a few stray eggs hatch, they won't survive.

[6032wayne]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I have rubbed Monty down thoroughly with plenty of olive oil, wiped off any excess and he is sat snugly in his plastic travel box at the moment.

The viv has been thoroughly disinfected and is now drying out but I am concerned (as was pointed out) that the bleach solution may not kill all of the eggs. If I run the 250w ceramic heater unstatted while the viv is empty, will the temps get high enough to kill the eggs? I have read they're only tolerant of certain temps? All the viv decor that can be is now in the oven at 150c, anything that can't be sterilised this way will have to be destroyed I suppose . Once I am confident the viv is clear, instead of putting Monty into the viv, can I put his tub in the viv in the centre? Will this maintain a decent temp for him for a few days?

[6032wayne]

Bumping in case anyone has any more advice or answers to my other questions

I have had the viv running completely empty and unstatted now since my last, the temp seems to have peaked at 65c for the last 2-3 hours, is this sufficient to destroy any eggs that may be hiding away?

Monty seems happy enough now bundled up in the corner of his tub (which I've covered 3/4 with a towel and placed on top of the viv for heat, inside temp of 28 which is fine?).

I also have a final question . I currently use aspen bedding, how can I treat this before using to avoid mites in future? (I am presuming that this is where the infestation stems from as I can think of no other source). Or is there a better alternative out there (other than newspaper and kitchen towel, of which I know the benefits but don't want to use in the viv).

Thanks again!

[timberwolf]

freeze the bedding, that will kill any live mites. I know you don't like to use it, but kitchen roll is great for showing them up, it may be worth using this for a short time till you're sure you're on top of the problem.


With regard to the olive oil, you may find that your royal has a bit of a poor shed after this treatment, a nice warm bath will help loosen the shed if this happens, and will also help to kill off any mites that sirvive your treatment regime. Mites have (I think it is) a 19 day life cycle, so you may have to treat
again to break the cycle.

Another thing to consider is vacuuming around the vivs, the mites can move at a considerable speed and will be heading off in all directions..bloody horrible things. Good luck with this, they are a pain in the donkey.

[6032wayne]

Originally Posted by timberwolf

freeze the bedding, that will kill any live mites. I know you don't like to use it, but kitchen roll is great for showing them up, it may be worth using this for a short time till you're sure you're on top of the problem.


With regard to the olive oil, you may find that your royal has a bit of a poor shed after this treatment, a nice warm bath will help loosen the shed if this happens, and will also help to kill off any mites that sirvive your treatment regime. Mites have (I think it is) a 19 day life cycle, so you may have to treat
again to break the cycle.

Another thing to consider is vacuuming around the vivs, the mites can move at a considerable speed and will be heading off in all directions..bloody horrible things. Good luck with this, they are a pain in the donkey.

Thanks muchly, I have put the new aspen in the freezer but I am going to use kitchen roll for the next month to keep track of things!

I've been right down the back of both vivs and all around with the old Dyson so hopefully that got any stray ones!

Thanks again everyone, they certainly are a complete pain in the 'arris! I'll be much more careful in future!

[CKS]

Originally Posted by 6032wayne

Bumping in case anyone has any more advice or answers to my other questions

I have had the viv running completely empty and unstatted now since my last, the temp seems to have peaked at 65c for the last 2-3 hours, is this sufficient to destroy any eggs that may be hiding away?

Monty seems happy enough now bundled up in the corner of his tub (which I've covered 3/4 with a towel and placed on top of the viv for heat, inside temp of 28 which is fine?).

I also have a final question . I currently use aspen bedding, how can I treat this before using to avoid mites in future? (I am presuming that this is where the infestation stems from as I can think of no other source). Or is there a better alternative out there (other than newspaper and kitchen towel, of which I know the benefits but don't want to use in the viv).

Thanks again!

Hi, my female mex black had a bad case of mites - i think they came from some decor i bought for her viv as the other snakes were unaffected (should have cleaned decor 1st i know!). I went to the guy's at charlton reptiles (always very helpful) they sold me 'beaphar insect spray'. It has a lot of warnings that you need to take notice of but it worked a treat and i've never had a mite problem since. May be worth noting the name if all else fails ... good luck

[qball75]

We use Ivomec which can be bought from farmshops, but not all farm shops they need to have a pharmacy licence to sell it but it really does work wonders. It needs to be watered down as in comes in injectable solution. The good thing with this is we use it on carpets to make sure we get em all (maybe a bit over paranoid but as you know they travel).

We use it in the same way as frontline.

Here is a link to where you can get it from on the internet:

Ivermectin 1% injectable, 50ml - CheapPetProducts.Net

This needs to be watered down 2ml of Ivomec to 1 pint of water.

Hope this helps