Mites

I am wondering what you all use, myself ...I have been using Diatomaceous earth for quite a long time and usually only one application does the trick for me
I have never gotten mites from my own neglect, but I have received them from other supposedly 'mite free' animals and the outbreak as we'll call it has never invaded into my collection <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>
I know this might be old news , but...I can't say enough good about this stuff
Chemicals would kill my theraphosids which are housed in the same room

for a quick cleanout, you can't beat Black Knight. I've had the same thing happen to me...bring home a supposedly clean animal and 2 days later I have an army against me. Another good preventative is Mite Guard by Nature Zone....helped clean up the spare wandering soul that I missed.

I've tried the diatomaceous earth thing a couple of time and it didn't work. &nbsp;I usually just soak and clean. &nbsp;There is a new product called De Flea reptile relief. &nbsp;I've tried it once, it killed some of the mites but not all, I am waiting to try a second application.

I'll keep you posted

Steve Schindler

On new comers to my place I soak them for 8 hours in a water and dish soap mix. Then for my animals I use a NIX and water mix. This is used for head lice in humans. It has an active ingredient called &lt;b&gt; permethrin &lt;/b&gt; which will also kill any mite eggs which most stuff used will not.

I have used No Pest Strips during the few events of a mite outbreak in my collections. My snakes have been infested with mites only about three or four times in 35 years. The last time I had an infestation the mites piggy backed in on live mice. I know people claim that mites that infest mice do not infest snakes and visa versa - but I beg to differ. Once I realized my snakes were infested I tried to figure out where those little pests had come from and I discovered that my mouse supplier's mice were heavily infested, and the supplier had stopped selling them because of this. There was pretty much no other way for my snakes to have gotten mites unless the mites crawled in from outside. I now check any live food very carefully before feeding them to my snakes. As for the No Pest Strips - I used them carefully and only for about 2 to3 hours a day over a period of a few days and it wiped out all of the mites. I may try some of the newer stuff in the future though because of all the reported potential hazards associated with the No Pest Strips even though I have never witnessed any ill effects to my snakes or their breeding abilities due to this stuff.

franklinedwards60....
What is the mixture that you use with the NIX?
Also what mixture with the soap and water? And any particular type of soap?

Thanks in advance for your time and efforts.

What I did was put a small 8oz bottle of Nix in a 1 gallon pump up sprayer. I then started in one corner of the snake room and sprayed everything down including the snakes. You must remove all their water dishes and substrate. after the snakes and cages etc. have soaked for about an hour I then rinse everything down.I also spray down the floors again one more time and leave it. I switched to newspaper and repeated the process again in 8 days. I never had another problem with mites again. I am now very careful and give each new animal a good spray down with the solution and repaet again in 8 days. Just incase a couple eggs did make it.
Hope this helps.

what Bpmorphs said. If you treat every new animal as if it has mites and treat them as so you should never have them.

Thanks to both of you, I greatly appreciate the information you have provided.

<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''> &nbsp;<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''> &nbsp;<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

Steve
I never had a problem using the D earth
I allways literally bathed the snake in the stuff, let him crawl in it for a few hours. With in a day all mites had died, I never put the snake in the same cage and 'microwaved' the box he was in.
The stuff works for me , one thing though there are two grades...fine and course
I use the fine and if there isn't any fine I'll ground the stuff up in my 'coffee' grinder into a fine powder
The little critters breath one of 2 ways ...book lungs or spiracles, the dust get in there and will shred up thier breathing apparatus or they will accidently injest it and dry up and die
the cage your treating them in should be bone dry
take care <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>