I tried Hypoapsis but they weren't a total success. Left the substrate in, kept things lightly sprayed so they wouldn't dry out etc. Things seemed to go OK but within a few weeks the mites were back.

Just installed three new 55" vivs which have been lined with newspaper sprayed with Provent-a-Mite from Rico and transferred the snakes to them after the usual bathing in lukewarm water with a few drops of soap to remove any mites lurking on them, so hopefully PAM will do the trick.

One thing occured to me regarding Provent-a-Mite - instructions are clear enough that after spraying, the substrate must be completely dry before the snake is returned to the Viv. What happens then if, after being returned to the Viv, the snake sits in its water dish, then crawls over the paper which has been treated with PAM, making it wet. Will this wet paper treated with PAM becoming wet be of concern?

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1.1.0 Common Boa
0.1.0 Salmon Boa
1.1.0 Royal Python 100% Het Albino
1.0.0 Royal Python Albino
2.0.0 Adult Bearded Dragon

I think your main problem there is leaving in the substrate. This leaves many more nooks and crannies for the nasty mites to hide away from the hypoapsis. You should take as much out of the viv as possible. Use newspaper and a single hide and water bowl.

I've had mites on my 3 boas now for 4 months+ and I cannot for the life of me completely get rid of them. My 2 smallest have been clean for a while I think but they will not leave my big boas viv. There have not been enough mites around now to effect there health for a long long time though. It always that stray one or two...

I've tried frontline. I've used 100ml of the stuff will no effect. I've tried mite-off and for the last month I've been cleaning the vivs out twice a week at least and steaming thg vivs down completely each time. That has had the best effect to be honest but I think the mites are hiding in the esposed sections of the melamine (as I built the vivs myself) thus i cannot get to them.

I'm hoping that releaseing 10,000 hypoaspsis on there ass will finally get rid of the remaining few... Will keep people informed

not sure on that one tbh. What I would do is just not put a water bowl in for 48 hours after the POM has been used. A snake will be fine for that amount of time or if you worried give him a bath each day. That will sort him out... After 48hrs I can imagine whatever is in eth POM will have dissapated

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I can't recall the name of the substrate brand, but it was German made stuff which was supposed to replicate the Boas natural environment ( i.e., rain forest floor) - just looked like compost to me. I was a bit unhappy that I wouldn't really be able to see any snake mites in this dark coloured substrate(as opposed to on paper) but the advice on using Hypoapsis suggests they need the substrate to be left so that they can survive. Certainly I could just see them moving about on it if I looked carefully, them being a light colour.

Bizarre thing is that despite the fact that I even found a handful of snake mites on my Beardie, my Royal Python, in the same room and just a few feet away, has escaped completely. Not a mite to be seen anywhere on him or in his Viv. Just moved him into a new Viv today which was pre-treated with PAM a couple of days back so hopefully he will remain clear.

One thing at least, it has re-affirmed my affection for my bigger female Boa who has been pretty stoic about the whole thing and despite the mites and the numerous baths etc and lots of hassle has remained as placid as ever.

I'm introducing an Albino Royal at the end of the month so wanted to get clear of mites before he comes.

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1.1.0 Common Boa
0.1.0 Salmon Boa
1.1.0 Royal Python 100% Het Albino
1.0.0 Royal Python Albino
2.0.0 Adult Bearded Dragon

I used the hypoaspis mites with great success but you have to use them in every cage/viv that you have or they will just keep coming back from the others.

John

Soon as I became aware of the mites I ordered Hypoapsis and used them in every Viv. Not sure whether they worked for the Royal but not for the Boas Vivs, or whether the Royal just never had any in the first place. Only the Boas had visible evidebnce of mites, so it may be the Royal was clear anyway.

Can anyone tell me how quickly PAM works to kill off the mites ?

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1.1.0 Common Boa
0.1.0 Salmon Boa
1.1.0 Royal Python 100% Het Albino
1.0.0 Royal Python Albino
2.0.0 Adult Bearded Dragon

I had mites about a year ago, and i went through a number of precautions. Might be easier to treat them in tubs though?

I used olive oil, mite off, frontline, and hot (131F) soapy water on equipment, and soaking the snakes in soapy water.... All the methods seemed to work for me, and they never returned. When I soaked everything in soapy, and bleached water... tubs included, I also changed their tubs regularly until i was sure they were gone. Anything i could put outside, i would, to take advantage of our cold weather. Snake mite eggs need a certain temperature to incubate at, and they also need a certain temperature to thrive (75-85F). You can kill all life stages of mites exposing them to temperatures greater than 105F, and below 35F. Might also be worth noting, the mites are not known to lay their eggs on the snakes, so I believe the temperature thing should be an effective way of dealing with those.

I'm currently fighting off another batch after purchasing a couple snakes that had them, they really are horrible little things lol.

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I discovered them on my rankins dragons yesterday morning - I noticed one crawling near one of them's eyes and closer inspection revealed all 3 to have some in the corners in their eyelid area all hidden until the lid was pulled down. They also had some in the corners of their mouths. Fortunately I had some Provent a Mite from a couple years ago when I got my first python so removed dragons and substrate then cleaned and sprayed enclosure with the PAM and put in newspaper. I don't know where they came from really as my snakes are kept upstairs - only thing I can think of was they went to a pet shop to board for a couple of weeks at the end of the Summer ... checked over pythons last night and boas and they all seem clear. Should I treat them as well?

I checked the dragons again today and they all had one or two of the bugs back again in their mouths (eyes were clear).

I'd like to know this too ... I didn't really expect to find any more of the buggers living on them after spraying - or is it normal to find a few more next day or so?

i rubbed vaseline round the eyes of the royals that had mites in their eyes. this suffocates them i believe, not sure if its ok to do that with rankins?

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I would treat everything as a precaution and also get some alcahol gel to wash your hands in just to be sure... i hope when i get rid of these mites finally I never get them again. For a small outbreak I reckon Hypoaspis is the way forward. I've had mine in 3 days now and not seen a single mite, which I can usually find on his hide (an upside down dog basket so they are quite easy to see)

not really dure about that but mites don't tend to go for the eyes

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PAM seems to be working for me. Going for a fresh start with brand new vivs after throwing out the old ones, they all had PAM treated newspaper as a substrate. After a few days I check the inside of the hide in one Viv of a three month old Boa. Found just one mite. Another Viv with a 15 month old boa seemed OK. I gave her a bath anyway and got just a couple of mites, but to be honest I reckon they were dead anyway as they were kinda shrivelled up looking.

Since then ( its about a couple of weeks now), I have checked again. Not a mite to be seen and bathing the snakes showed nothing at all.
When I assembled the Vivs, (55" from Vivexotic) I sealed them, and sprayed all around the vents and glass runners etc with PAM, on the basis that if the snakes still had a few mites on them when they went in, at least the mites wouldn't go walkabout. Seems to have worked, the Vivs with my Royals - which hadn't been infected before, but are now closer to the Boa's Vivs, are still clear.

Due to collect an Albino Royal next week by which time it will be around three weeks since the Vivs got the PAM treatment, including the empty one which is waiting for him, so hopefully if nothing has appeared by then its looking positive that PAM got rid of the damn things.

At least mites will be easy to spot on an Albino. Keep imagining I'm seeing mites on the Boas when its just the black colour speckling on their skin. Mite infestations definitely make you paranoid !

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1.1.0 Common Boa
0.1.0 Salmon Boa
1.1.0 Royal Python 100% Het Albino
1.0.0 Royal Python Albino
2.0.0 Adult Bearded Dragon