Originally Posted by Nerys

a few things to remember:

mites have a 2-3 week lifecycle. adult->egg->baby mite->adult mite

there are several stages of mite life cycle

an adult female snake mite will not lay eggs on the snake

an adult female snake mite will leave the snake to find an egg laying site, she can walk a long way to find one, adult mites have been known to cover over 48ft in an hour.

a hatchling snake mite.. can "sniff" out a snake from some distance.

so.. the mite leaves the snake, leaves the viv, walks out of the frontroom, up the stairs.. maybe lays eggs in the skirting board crack. 2 weeks later the eggs hatch. and about 2 weeks after that, you will start to notice mites on your snakes again.

mites WILL go out of doors, even shut ones... also up stairs, down stairs, etc.. if you have mites in one tank in your room, you will 99% likely have them in all the tanks within a month.

if you find an infestation, your source is normally somewhere you were about a fortnight ago, or someone who has been to you within the last fortnight, if you clear a snake, and place it back in an untreated viv, you will get them back within 2-4 weeks or so. (2 weeks if your eyes are good enough to see baby ones.. 4 weeks if you have to wait to see adult ones). by the time you can see adult snake mites.. they will already have been laying again.. reported number of eggs layed by each female varies from 60-150 or so..

its common to see people cycling through mite treatments, with the mites never fully being eradicated.. its the eggs that do it, people always forget the eggs, and when an adult can walk 48ft in an hour, just sticking it in the room next door does not always help.

N

Originally Posted by bite_me

Has anybody heard of defenders.co.uk, mites that feed on snake mites and eggs but don't harm the snake and when there is no food just dies off?

Originally Posted by Dexter

Very nice set ups Mark, well done