my boas got mites - i think!

Husky · #1 (**permalink**) 15-02-2008, 06:12 PM

what the hell can i do to get rid of them? shes bein very snappy wit me and spending all of her time in her water bowl!!!!

bradbaxter · #2 (**permalink**) 15-02-2008, 07:53 PM

Mite-off by Zoo Med. Always works well for me, plus its completely non-toxic! Can spray cage and snake!

Athravan · #3 (**permalink**) 15-02-2008, 08:03 PM

Don't panic. If there are loads of mites on the snake give her a soak to get them off. Use a drop of washing up liquid or olive oil in the water to break the surface tension.

Clean out her tub/enclosure. Use boiling water if it's a tub, just wash it out with a kettle full. You can also use a weak bleach solution (say 1-2 teaspoon bleach to 500ml water) and wash the viv/tub down with that. Both bleach and boiling water will kill the eggs.

To kill the mites on the snake I personally use provent-a-mite. Other products that seem to work are Mite Off, and Beaphar Insect Spray. This will kill the adult mites.

The biggest problem is that there is a cycle. The adults will die but may leave eggs behind. If the enclosure is not being wiped down then the eggs will hatch and your cycle will begin again. Keep the enclosure sterile, have her on newspaper/paper towel, and sterilise the enclosure every 3 days for 2 weeks. That is my method anyway and always works within 2 weeks

Mites often come in on wood and also in bags of substrate, if you boil/bleach wood/accessories first and you can microwave or freeze substrate to avoid them.. but they are usually not too bad to deal with.

Have you actually seen the mites in the water or on her? Because also being in the water bowl doesn't necessarily mean mites if you haven't seen any.

Husky · #4 (**permalink**) 15-02-2008, 08:42 PM

Iv bathed her and dried her wit a clean towel, there wer a few mites on the towel afterwards so shes defo got them! i disenfected everything in her viv wit reptile disenfectant and boiling water, removed all substrate, hoovered the inside of the viv to get rid of all the dust from the substrate, wiped all the inside down wit disenfectant and boiling water! iv put saphira in a plastic tub which i disenfected, until 2moz! iv got a vet apointment 2moz and im gna get proper spray from the vet! iv bin told dat the stuff you buy from pet shops aint really that reliable! Btw, the mites arent from my other snake, u mite wana check your shop out!

Jomel · #5 (**permalink**) 15-02-2008, 09:13 PM

Sorry to hear that mate, don't worry to much, a bit of time and care and they should be easy enough to get rid of. There's loads of advice on here. Don't forget to keep a close eye on your Royal, or if you can treat them both the same because they could just move back and fore. We had a few on our first snake and the bathing and olive oil seemed to worked. Pretty sure they came from some hides we bought and put straight in the viv.

Keep me posted 'Chandler' lover!!!!!

SnakeBreeder · #6 (**permalink**) 15-02-2008, 10:15 PM

I have not had mites for several years but once they are in a collection they can be difficult to get rid off.

I prefer to use ivomec or Hypoaspis mites to kill snake mites.

Ivomec is a chemical you can mix with water and is harmless to most reptiles, when used correctly, but kills on contact with snake mites.

If you prefer a more natural route to killing the snake mites then the Hypoaspis mites sre the best answer, in my opinion.
They eat snake mites and have no effect on reptiles, people or other pets.
Once all the snake mites have died or been eaten the Hypoaspis mites just die off.
There have been several threads on here relating to the use of Hypoaspis mites so I'll not duplicate the information.

For details of treating with ivomec see here
Snake Mite treatment, advice on eradicating snake mite Ophionyssus natricis

The Hypoaspis mites can be obtained here
Defenders - Safe Effective Natural Biologist Pest Control for Gardeners

Hope this is some help.

Stephen.

Husky · #7 (**permalink**) 17-02-2008, 08:03 PM

I took both of my snakes to the vet and he treated them both, i totaly emptied both there vivs and disenfected everything, im using newspaper instead of reptibark for substrate now, im gna keep the vivs minimal for a month until i know theyv got rid of them! i prefer really natural looking vivs so i hate the newspaper but its easier to keep an eye on! im goung to start microwaving my substrate now, just in case!

hey jomel, u must be a fan urself since ur the only one thats recognised it and commented! lol!

Jomel · #8 (**permalink**) 18-02-2008, 01:23 PM

Seen every episode at least 10 times

Good luck with the snakes!

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