Mites: Treatments and Preventions

This would be a great time for everyone to spread the wealth of knowledge gained over your many years of collecting and breeding.
I currently have a mite problem. I have the Black Knight for prevention. But am looking for an effective treatment of an existing mite problem. Know this all infected snakes are babies. None over a year old. All are Colubrids

Any suggestions, whether they be products for sale or home remedies, would be appreciated.

I had mites in my collection when I was into snakes years ago, but they were all Pythons over 10 feet and easily treated with different home remmedies. These are just babies. I don't want to do anything to harsh that might jeopardize their health.

Thanks,
Jim

heres mine  , the few times i have delt with mites i used mineral oil ..  i have heard people disagree with it but the only thing it ever did was make the next shed a lil flakey , but within 2 days it totally wiped out the mites i had on a  14 reic i received , i wqould wipe down the snake  with a rag and  mineral oil on it then let her sit then a few hrs later wipe her down w warm water an anti bacterial soap  the mites best i could tell were suffocated by the oil and died within hrs as they would literally fall off with  in 2-3 days  i could find any signs of them  so thats what i keep incase i ever have them again .

Howdy Jim,
There is a product out there on the market called "Provent-A-Mite". I swear by it exclusively. It is an effective weapon against mites. The Black Knight you refer to- is it Black Knight Roach Killer? If so, the best thing you can do is to stay as far away from that stuff as possible. It is not approved and is very deadly to reptiles. Good luck!

OK, I'll have to disagree w/ emeraldguy on this one.  The mites down here in FL, (at least the ones I've dealt with), laugh at provent-a-mite, but Black Knight works great.  Do not put provent-a-mite or Black Knight on babies!!!!!  They will suffer nuerological problems.  On the babies I would use Olive oil, coat them well and leave them in it for about 15min.  while they're soaking clean the cage and hit it with Black Knight or if you've got wimpy northern mites ( <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''> ) provent-a-mite.  The only topical product I've had ANY luck with on babies is one called "Rep Rinse."  But I haven't been able to find that lately.  After the babies have soaked in the oil put them in some warm soapy water, and then rinse them clean.  That should do it.  I've tried pretty much everything on the market except diatomacous (sic) earth and garlic/peppermint oil and this is want works for me.

What i do is use NIX head lice killer..I dilute it one small 2 oz bottle to 1 gallon of water..I use a 1 gallon pump garden sprayer..I have a had a few problems with mites in the past and when i get new animals in from South America i always treat them..I spray them and leave  it on them for about 3 hours them i rinse off the animals..It works great cause it also kills any eggs that MITE be there as well.I have yet to see any side effects and or harm to any of the animals i have treated like this.. Hope this helps

I've used NIX also it works well, BUT BE VERY CAREFUL, it will kill babies if it's to strong.  A friend of mine lost several babies that he hit w/ NIX.  Brian

Ok
For all you people out there with mites who don't want to use chemicals
USE DIATOMACEOUS Earth
We all know mites breath by a book lung or spiracles
This stuff only needs to touch the mites and in a matter of a couple of days all mites are dead
I have a seperate tub that I let the snakes[even baby colubrids] bath and wallo around in the stuff
I got the idea from a friend in Florida and have been using it for years[it kills even the steroid injesting mites in florida] <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>