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Help - I think I have mites

bigjej

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So first of, I owe an apology to Big Cheese. After thinking it may have been their mice killing off my snakes, I think the culprit is actually mites. While inspecting my remaining snakes (have lost over half my collection of snakes since January) and racking my brain, I now notice tiny black creatures crawling on two of my snakes ( a Children's python and Spotted python). I believe they are mites and now need to learn how to rid them. I'm a little puzzled as I haven't added any specimens to my collection since last October's Tinley show. Could the infestion have come from there and remained under the radar for this long? I did take the kids to an educational reptile show where we handled some snakes and lizards. Could we have inadvertently carried them home? What should I do now? I havent noticed any mites or behavior changes in my lizards ( timor monitor, bearded dragon and BTS). Are they still at risk? I've never had something like this happen in 20 years of reptile keeping. Please help!
 
Did you have necropsies done on the snakes that died? I have 70+ snakes, if I'd lost half my collection in four months I'd be seriously freaked and my CC would have melted at the vet's office.

As for the mites... Mite Eradication 101:

*** Permethrin ***

Permethrin comes in many forms - Provent-A-Mite (PAM), NIX/RID, Permethrin-10 from a livestock supply store, etc. Its half life is 30 days if kept out of direct sunlight.

PAM has several advantages. It has been tested for use with reptiles, and it comes ready to use. The disadvantages are that it's expensive and most reptile stores don't have it in stock, so you have to wait for it to be shipped to you if you don't have any on hand. Meanwhile the mites are busy breeding.

NIX/RID is cheaper than PAM and is readily available at WalMart, CVS, and other corner drug stores. It is also easy to dilute: mix one two ounce bottle of the cream rinse containing 1% permethrin with one gallon of water.

At a dollar per ounce Permethrin-10 is the cheapest of the three options; one eight ounce bottle will make 240 gallons of solution, as only 6 milliliters of it are needed per gallon of water to make an effective mite spray. The downside is that it's all too easy to make too strong of a permethrin solution which can harm your snakes.

No matter which product you use, it must be used correctly. I've never sprayed any permethrin product onto my snakes as it's not needed for mite treatment, and permethrin poisoning in a snake can cause irreversible neurological damage.

Permethrin use: spray the enclosure, paper substrate, and hides. DO NOT SPRAY THE WATER BOWL. Allow everything to dry completely before returning your snake to its home. Also keep a supply of treated and dried newspaper or paper towels and treated hides available so that when a snake makes a mess, you replace the soiled paper and hides with treated ones. Treat the enclosure every two to three weeks.

*** Reptile Spray ***

Reptile Spray kills mites on contact while wet, once it dries it loses its effectiveness pretty quickly. Reptile Spray is a solution of salts rather than an insecticide; it kills mites by dehydrating them. I don't spray the snakes as more ends up on the floor than on the snake. Instead, I spray a white paper towel with a little of it and wipe it on the snake. That way you get even coverage on the snake, you can work it into the area under their chin really well as that's a favorite hiding plate for mites, you don't stress out your snake, and you can look for mites on the paper towel to see how quickly they're being eradicated. Apply twice a week. Note - this stuff hurts like hell in an open wound, yes I'm speaking from experience!

*** Hot Shot No-Pest Strips ***

Some people take a Hot Shot No-Pest strip, cut it into pieces, put each piece into a small container, poke some holes in the container, and put each container into the snake's enclosure. I've used the No-Pest strip but I just hang it in the snake room and close the door. Either way is effective, especially if you have a major outbreak.

If you do use it, remove the water bowls as the insecticide is strongly attracted to water and you don't want the snake drinking it. After 24 hours remove the strip (or pieces), put them into an airtight container for future use, air out the room, and put the water bowls back. Repeat treatment weekly for eight weeks.

Important! If you also keep tarantulas, feeder roaches, crickets, etc. do not use the No-Pest Strip as it will kill them too!!!!

*** Mild Dish Soap ***

One or two drops of mild dish detergent in your snake's bath water will prevent mites from floating in the water so they drown. No more than that is needed, your snake should not look like it is taking a bubble bath.

*** Heat ***

Don't laugh, but temperatures of 150*F for five seconds will kill mites and the eggs. I purchased a heat gun used for stripping paint that can be set to blow hot air from 180*F through 1200*F. Using the heat gun and a temp gun I heated the surfaces and crevices of my melamine enclosures to kill off any mite eggs that may have been laid outside the tubs. Be careful not to get your enclosure surfaces too hot or you can damage them.

Mite treatment should continue for 30 days after you stop finding mites, as an egg can take that long to hatch, so plan on eight weeks of treatment total.

*** FINAL NOTE ***

Effective quarantine means that you treat every new arrival as if it has mites, and new snakes are kept as far away from your established collection as possible (mine go to a friend's house) for at least 90 days. I treat the quarantine enclosure, hides, and paper with permethrin a day or so before the new snake arrives, and I wipe it with a paper towel soaked in Reptile Spray as part of my inspection process when it comes out of the shipping box. If the new arrival has mites I will know it within a day or two at most. This also goes for snakes from "trusted" sources, my first mite outbreak ever came from someone I trusted.
 
Thanks for all that. I already went and ordered PAM. I havent had necropsies done - stupid I know but I've been swamped with relocation, 80/hr work week, etc - and the snakes paid. Otherwise I may have caught this much sooner. The two recent deaths (one I found this morning, the albino python, and my remaining Spotted python just died in front of me) are being kept cooled until I can get them to a vet ( I think I found one in my area that can do the necropsy). In the meantime, I'm going to revisit my husbandry and get ready for the PAM treatment. I keep tarantulas and feeder roach colonies in the same room as the snakes. Do they need to be relocated while applying the PAM? Once applied, can they be brought back in the room or does it remain aerosolized for some time ?
 
The thing that really confuses me is that everything I read alludes to the fact that the mites are more a nuisane unless they cause a heavy infestation, or the snake is young or infirm. While a couple of these were yearlings, 3 of these were adults (2 king snakes and 2 spotted pythons - total included also a small carpet python that never seemed to put on size, and decent sized yearling albino BP ) and all were pounding mice at every feeding, behaving robust and showed no signs of illness, except at most for a skipped feeding by one kingsnake (which itself wasnt unsual). Even then, the infestations are not heavy enough that I see loads of mites in the water dishes or crawling around teh enclosures. Even the two dead ones today had no more than a few I could spot. Could there be something more at play here?
 
Mites can kill a snake eventually through blood loss, though it takes a while. They are also a vector for diseases which is why you need the necropsies.

I wouldn't spray a permethrin-based product in the house if you're keeping insects or arachnids of any kind, permethrin will also kill them and your HVAC will spread fumes around the different rooms. Maybe move the insects to a different room, close off the vents, and leave the windows open for a day when you spray the enclosures in the snake room. Otherwise you can take the paper outside to treat them, just don't let them dry in the sun since UV breaks down permethrin.
 
Thanks. Dnakes dropped off by my veeery patient and loving wife for necropsies while I'm at work. Awaiting results.
 
Necropsy may not reveal the cause if it was something viral, full pathology results* may take a little while (I've had it take a week or more). I hope they are able to determine what is going on, it's quite disappointing to get 'nothing amiss found' results but it at least rules out certain things. I wish you the best of luck!

*blood and tissue sample tests
 
Well gross pathology fpund dehydratipn of spotted python but ball python had severe mitr infestation in mouth and nostrils and anemia secondary. Nothing pvertly onfectipus looking but she offered to send samples for cultures which if i do full panel with viral studies, can run up to $400 and may not show anything. Alternately she suggested treating collection for mites and close observation. If any snake is remotely symptomatic then i could bring it in for fuether testing. If money was no object Id pick option A. Since there no obvious infectious signs for now will probably go for Option B. Waiting for the PAM to arrive but will statt cleanong oit aubstrates and giving my remaining 4 snakes betadine soaks.
 
Well gross pathology fpund dehydratipn of spotted python but ball python had severe mitr infestation in mouth and nostrils and anemia secondary. Nothing pvertly onfectipus looking but she offered to send samples for cultures which if i do full panel with viral studies, can run up to $400 and may not show anything. Alternately she suggested treating collection for mites and close observation. If any snake is remotely symptomatic then i could bring it in for fuether testing. If money was no object Id pick option A. Since there no obvious infectious signs for now will probably go for Option B. Waiting for the PAM to arrive but will statt cleanong oit aubstrates and giving my remaining 4 snakes betadine soaks.
Honestly I wouldn't wait around for the PAM to show up since your infestation is bad enough that it's killing your snakes. You can go to CVS, WalMart, Walgreens, etc. and get the 2 oz bottle of RID or NIX head lice treatment containing 1% permethrin as the active ingredient. Mix that with a gallon of water and it's an effective mite treatment. Soaking your snakes will just drown the mites on them at that moment, it won't kill off the ones that have migrated off your snakes.
 
So after mixing as described do I spray the sbake with it or soal the snake in that mixture?
 
Some people have said that they spray or soak their snakes in the solution, personally I don't care to as I don't want to risk them ingesting the permethrin. I guess you could spray a paper towel and wipe the snake with it.

Otherwise you spray the solution on their enclosures, paper you use for substrate, and hides. Any natural/wood substrate such as aspen or cypress, or wood cage decor should be discarded. Fake plastic plants, plastic or ceramic cage decor, etc. can be removed and treated separately.

Once everything - enclosures, paper, hides - is dry put the snakes back into their homes. I can tell you from painful experience that paper takes a long time to dry, so keep a stash of treated and dried paper on hand for when your snakes make a mess.
 
here's a copy paste of that info in case the link doesn't work.
--------------------

SNAKE MITES

Mites are ectoparasites that subsist on blood. They are host-specific, which means that they only feed on one type of animal. Snake mites will not affect lizards, nor will they affect humans or other household pets like cats and dogs.

Mites can be identified as tiny black dots, much like a speck of dirt. However, unlike dirt, mites MOVE and will burst with a small red smear when squished against a hard surface (the remnants of their last meal). Mites can often be spotted crawling around a snake's back or head area and on cage walls.

For every mite you can see on your snake, there are likely dozens more that aren't visible, that are hidden while feeding under your snake's scales. These resilient parasites are commonly known as the "plague of snake keepers". Really, with sound treatment and quarantine paractices, this shouldn't be the case.

Snake mites have been known to transfer disease in snakes, much like mosquitoes can with humans (malaria) and with dogs (heartworm). If unchecked, mites on just one snake in one terrarium can multiply geometrically and establish themselves in an entire collection of several terrariums and dozens of snakes in a matter of a week or two. This is a problem that is unique to snakes in captivity. Wiled snakes are able to keep these parasites in check througth shedding their skin and leaving most mites behind. On the other hand, captive snakes are forced in close quarters with their shed skin and mites, thereby facilitating reinfestation.

Mites will eventually over run a snake in captivity to the point that their host becomes irritated, mildly anemic and therefore lethargic. Infested snakes are often found to soak for extended periods in water in a vain effort to drown the mites on its body, only to be reinfested once it emerges. Snakes in this situation will seldom eat, or even refuse to eat altogether, due to stress and discomfort.

WHY NIX?

Nix was designed to treat human head lice and their nits (eggs). The one characteristic that separates the Nix method for treating snake mites from other mite remedies is its effectiveness at killing live mites AND mite eggs. All other mite remedies to my knowledge do not destroy mite eggs. As such, I have found the Nix method to be extremely effective at eradicating serious mite infestations. I even know of a pet store manager who sells several commercially produced mite remedies, yet uses the Nix method on imported snakes arriving at his store. Another pro to using Nix is economics. Around $12.00 will produces 4 liters of solution - much more than the largest private collection will ever require.

There exists a popular reptile care site on the Internet that discusses the toxicity of Nix, but in the two cases cited, Nix was spread over the infested snakes in full concentration. Common sense should dictate that reptiles and amphibians coming into direct contact with any fully concentrated chemical that does not occur in their natural environment would yield deleterious, if not downright fatal, results.

The use of Nix discussed below involves a diluted solution (1 part Nix to 68 parts water) that has never produced adverse reactions in any python or boa in my collection over the course of 6 years. In fact, some snakes in my collection are proactively treated every 6 months as they make appearances at semi-annual reptile shows and I am not willing to risk the chance of mites from other exhibitors making their way into my collection. Even routine treatments on these boas and pythons over the course of several years have yet to result in any negative effects.



MATERIALS

Spray bottle. Preferably one that has never been used, or at the very least, on that has never contained harsh chemicals and has been thoroughly rinsed.

56g (59ml) bottle of Nix. I have only ever found this one particular size of Nix, which can be sourced at most drug stores and some pharmacy sections of grocery stores for anywhere from $6 - $12.

4L (1Gallong) jug of distilled water. Distilled water should be used to extend the shelf life of the solution. With distilled water, the solution's effectiveness is expected to last up to 12 months as long as the solution is stored at room temperature and in a covered box (light breaks down the active ingredient found in Nix). Although, with one treatment and sound quarantine practices, the first treatmend should be all that is necessary.

CREATING THE NIX SOLUTION

Pour the Nix cream into a 4L jug of distilled water. Nix is a fairly thick cream substance, so it may take a couple of minutes to transfer as much of the cream into the jug of distilled water as possible.

replace the cap on the jug of distilled water and shake until the Nix cream is evenly distributed thruoghout the water. Again, this may take a few minutes due to the thick consistency of Nix.

Pour the Nix solution into a spray bottle.

ERADICATING SNAKE MITES

If snake mites are only found on one snake or only in one snake enclosure, it is wise to conclude that mites have infested ALL snakes and their enclosures that are contained within the same room. Mites may have also transferred to snakes housed in another room by "hitchhiking" on your hands or clothes. Therefore, absolutely all snakes and their terrariums should be treated to ensure 100% effectiveness.

First, remove the snake from the enclosure and place in a Rubbermaid container. Spray the snake liberally with the Nix solution. Do not avoid spraying this solution on their head, eyes and heat pits - in fact, this is where mites commonly hide so spraying the head area is essential.

Remove all substrate from the terrarium and throw away. Do not leave the garbage bag containing this old substrate anywhere in the house.

Spray the entire enclosure, inside and out, including all cage furniture (branches, hide boxes, water bowl, etc.) and glass viewing area. Make sure that all corners and crevices are well covered with Nix solution, as this is where mites and their eggs are often hiding. Even spray the outside back of the cage and a 2-foot perimeter around the cage on the floor. The Nix residue that forms after drying is thought to even be effective at killing mites hiding out elsewhere in the room that may attempt to re-enter the sanke cage.

Replace the substrate with paper, preferably paper towel, as it is easy to spot mites on this. It is essential to use paper until you are absolutely certain that full eradication has been accomplished. I suggest waiting 3 weeks after the last live mite is spotted before using non-paper substrate.

Remove water bowl from cage and replace, filled with water, 24 hours later. This ensures that the Nix solution is not washed off the snake by soaking in the water bowl before the active ingredient has had a chance to destroy all mites hiding under its scales.

Return the snake to its enclosure and spray it, the cage, furniture and paper one more time.

When the snake deficates during treatment, removed the messed paper area as usual, but be sure to re-spray the cleaned area and new paper with Nix solution.

Repeat in 5-7 days twice, for a total of 3 treatments. With all likelihood, the last live mite will perish within a few hours of the first treatment, but repeating treatment is good practice in case the outbreak is sever and mites are able to re-enter cages.



PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE

Any snake entering a collection should be quarantined for 2-3 months, ideally in a completely separate room from where other snakes are housed, but at the very least in a separate cage. It should be assumed that any new snake has mites, regardless of how well respected the previous owner or pet store is. I have personally been let down on several occasions by leading breeders in our hobby, and from personal friends. It is my experience that employing the "better safe than sorry" approach is of paramount importance in ensuring mite breakouts never occur.

Given the above assumption new acquisitions, in addition to their cage and cage furniture, should be treated with Nix solution 3 times (one full treatment every 5 - 7 days). Same should hold true when a snake enters your colony for a breeding loan, even if it is your own specimen that was lent out and is returning. As previously mentioned, it is also wise to treat snakes that attend shows, where other exhibitors and spectators may have mite infestations. With the large number of people that handled your animals, or even just touch the enclosure in which your snakes are housed, the chance that a mite is hitchhiking on at least one of these snake enthusiasts at the show is good. Don't become complacent and cut corners in this area, or you may find yourself right back where you started.


Cage furniture and substrate purchased at pet stores can also serve as mite vectors and should be treated with caution. Mite-free substrate can be purchased from pet stores that do not carry reptiles, from a livestock feed stores, or landscape centres. Newly purchased cage furniture should be sprayed libeally with Nix solution. Highly porous cage furniture (wood hide boxes, brances, etc.) should be soaked in a 10% bleach solution for a day, then rinsed thoroughly, sprayed with Nix solution, and allowed to dry for a week.
 
I used the permethrin 10% when I picked up a boa from a show. I tried the reptile spray before that and it did nothing really. A breeder told me about the permethrin and to dilute 1/4 Oz to a gallon of water, add to spray bottle and spray snake and cage. I guess you could just soak the snake to remove them from the body but I sprayed snake and enclosure left water dish out for 24 hours, rinsed her and the cage and they were GONE in ONE hit. I did a second treatment just to he safe but it wasn't needed.
 
You can get it from any farm store like tractor supply and it's like $6 and lasts forever. That was the first and last time I had mites. She went directly into quarantine and after she was set up and all that I took a shower before even entering my bedroom where the rest of my snakes were. Any time I had to handle her I'd change and wash my hands before entering my bedroom. Any time you go to a show shower and change before going any where near your snakes.
 
Tons of really good info, great read up's on the subject-

At the same time, what is the status of your clean up/resources look like-To prevent and maintain ?
 
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