Parasites - Dealing with and preventing mites

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#568985

Reptifan
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Dealing with and preventing mites

First off I am the reptile tech for a local exotic vet, the following information is an approved procedure the Dr. I work for heard about. This is the easiest way I have found to get rid of mites, and it works, I personally used it on one of my snakes:
Use a wash cloth to gently rub a coat of vegetable oil on pet, let oil stay on for about 10-15 minutes, then soak pet in water for about 30 min. to rinse. Worked on my snake after one treatment. Mites are easy to prevent, simply bake all substrate in oven at 350 for 30 min. before putting in tank. Contaminated substrate is the most common way for a reptile to get mites.

12/09/05 11:30pm

#632939

Midnightworrior
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Message To: Reptifan In reference to Message Id: 568985

Dealing with and preventing mites

its a lot better if you freeze all you substrate for a day or two before putting it in your Viv

02/02/06 09:16pm

#719905

Shem Turner
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Message To: Midnightworrior In reference to Message Id: 632939

Dealing with and preventing mites

Sorry to be a kill joy but you are actually much better off baking the substrate.

04/01/06 10:19am

#741812

Lyric
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Message To: Shem Turner In reference to Message Id: 719905

Dealing with and preventing mites

I just thought to share this, from the Herp. Guy at the local zoo here, and also numerous breeders: if the pet is a gecko, they are much healthier and better off with you using Viva paper towels to line the bottom, for frequent cleaning, prevention of mites altogether and sanitation reasons. Hope this helps.

04/16/06 01:15am

#937462

Iggywiggy
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Message To: Lyric In reference to Message Id: 741812

Dealing with and preventing mites

will your vegtable oil method work on my mountain horned dragon i’m not sure what kind of parasites he has but i was told that they were mites.

08/13/06 11:12am

#960398

Snakebite4
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Message To: Iggywiggy In reference to Message Id: 937462

Dealing with and preventing mites

this is what i do its much simpler and was approved by a vet too just change the bedding wash the cage really good soak him in a little bit of water then go to walgreens and get a pest strip pad and put it ontop of the cage but dont give him any water the pad can affect water greatly then in a week the bugs will be gone

08/28/06 01:07am

#960483

N2t
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Message To: Snakebite4 In reference to Message Id: 960398

Dealing with and preventing mites

The pest strip is not always a good idea. I personaly keep tarantulas pest strips are not a good mixture with bugs I also have roaches..badness again. And it’s a toxin..imho and it is only my opinion I like to use the veg or olive oil method. I got my first case of mites last week. Used some olive oil and soaked the tank in bleech...yes baking would have worked but I was angry so I put the snake (JCP) into a new tank and filled his with bleechwater, it’s been full for four days everything is dead now. I will pull out the plastic plants and rince them off even though I could drink the water at the moment without fear of bleach. Substrate was aspen mulch...it’s soaked now but will be tossed and I will actualy go to reptacarpet now. The snake shed and alot of dead mites were in the shed but he appears to be clean so. For my money the veg oil is the way to go.

08/28/06 03:25am

#961977

Snakebite4
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Message To: N2t In reference to Message Id: 960483

Dealing with and preventing mites

not good for bugs but excellent for reptiles i use it all the time and i havnt had a problem since

08/29/06 01:01am

#962159

Rabernet
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Message To: Snakebite4 In reference to Message Id: 961977

Dealing with and preventing mites

For snakes (not for any insect) - the best thing since sliced bread is Provent-A-Mite. I pre-treat enclosures before I bring in new animals, and I’ve never had a problem with mites. No wiping down my animals with oil, no baking or freezing substrate. One treatment of PAM lasts for a month.

I also re-treat the enclosure of the established colony when I bring in new animals (you never know if the new animal has mites that gets on your clothing that you might transfer to your other animals, no matter how careful you are with quarantine). I might be a big anal, but one time getting mites from a new animal was the catalyst to my current regimene.

08/29/06 06:56am