Well, after I made the mistake of buying a silk plant that was not in a packet or wrapped, to put in the viv of my royal, I discovered mites!!
I am guessing there were eggs on the plant and the inevitable happened. Not long after I put it in there.

I must have tempted fate when I posted not long ago and said that I had never even seen a mite, and now I have, and quite a few.

As soon as I discovered them on the royal, seeing them through the glass, I picked him out of his viv holding a baby wet wipe in my hand and let him slide through it, without letting the front half touch the back half, to avoid picking any up from himself! I found 6 mites on the wipe.
Then it was in to a tub of nice warm water for him. The tub was only just big enough for him to curl himself into a coil so that his head rested on his top coil when the tub was full of water. This saved him from getting tired from keeping his head above the water without resting and he could touch all 4 sides of the tub. No holes in the tub, but plenty in the lid.
He stayed in the tub for 3 hours, as I constantly checked the water and kept just the corner of the tub on a heat mat.
The idea of this was to drown the mites on him.
While he was in the water, I stripped out his viv, and bleached it with a 5% mix with water, then sprayed an anti-bacterial all over it, then left it for two days to air out.
Everything that was in the viv was taken out and went straight into individual bags, until disposed of or cleaned, the substrate, plants etc were disposed of.
I had a tub ready for him to go into, and back into quarantine.
His hide and water bowl were left to soak in water for a couple of hours. I found 2 mites in the water.

I took him out of his box bath and wiped him with a baby wipe again and found nothing on him, but I found 4 mites in the water.

The following day, I took him out of his quarantine tub, wiped him with a wet wipe….. Nothing! Not one!

Drowning them worked for me. Everything that I wanted to keep went into water and the mites simply drowned. I had water in a clear plastic tub with a white sheet of paper underneath, so I could see the mites in the water.

I was lucky this time, as I did wash the plant but I guess there must have been eggs on it and I don’t know if it was used before I bought it. I bought it from an unknown pet shop that sold everything from fish to rabbits and some reps, but never again, lesson learnt.

And, as I tempted fate saying that I had never even seen a mite, never mind had them…………….. has anyone seen my winning lottery ticket?

Drowning!!..... Just a tip. JJ

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how long has it been since you did that as when i got my brb he had a terrible case of mites and i did exactly what you did and thought they wherew all gone like you did then i put my snake back in the viv after about two weeks of constant cleaning and not seeing any mite well... two months later they where back with avengance all i can say is i wouldn't count your chickens honey in the end i had to resort to panomec injections and haven't seen one since!! now that was about 10 months ago!!

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AAwwwww,,,, Dont tell me that!!! lol

Was just at the weekend, so 4 days, and still none!

Keeping fingers crossed, but thx for letting me know that.

hes still in quarantine too, so not back in the viv yet.
And i forget to add that i did the same to my others, just incase they had spread, but found none on any other. Ill post a few pics later maybe, when i get home.

Thv Z&V

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i would defo keep an eye on it and try to give your snake regular baths dont let your gaurd down yet honey i really thought i had done the trick with mineand was so disappointed to find i really hadnt i would keep your snake on white kitchin towel too just as it is so much easier to keep track of it!!

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www.freewebs.com/lutonferretrescue

Oh, i will change him when i get home then, hes on chippings at the mo, just a thin layer, but the plan was to clean his Quarantine tub every morning and night. Kitchen towel is cheaper too, but where i come from its called kitchen paper lol

Seriously though, thx for that.

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no problem at all just wanted to make sure you still kept an eye on it keep us posted though and i hope they dont come back as it is a real pain in the ass

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My royals just had a case of mites 2. Took her back to the pet shop n they sprayed her for me. Another thing they suggested was getting an empty match box and using some of that insect paper you get from B and Q. The sticky yellow 1 and lay it inside the match box. Then pierce the top of the match box with a pencil and put the match box in the tank. Works a treat. Found bout 4 or 5 mites stuck in there since sunday. They royals luking loads better 2!

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Nice one Cali2304!!
Keep checking the tape on your heat mat too, if thats how you hold yours down, if its in the viv/tub. You may find some there too.

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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

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I took mine down to the place near me and gave him over and the guy there put summin on him and over his head, this was in december and I have never seen a mite again!

He sayd the stuff he uses puts a small coating over the snake that the mites dont like so they either die or move on, and it stays with him till they shed, and I think he only charges £5 for it

The shop guy thought mine may of had mites from another snake that was in the shop when I handed him in for feeding when he was being stubborn (till I cracked a way he will feed) and said if I saw any on him, he will clear him for free, but I have never seen any, and that was February so I think its all good! And the Female was checked and she aint got any either which is good!