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Mite infestations


Andrew

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Hi everyone,

As some of you will know, I recently had an infestation of reptile mites in my collection. Two of my pythons had a mild case of mite, but my death adders suffered terribly and I came quite close to losing them. I thought I'd share the experience with you so that you all know what to look out for.

Important:

Never think it won't happen to you. There was no apparent reason for my collection to suffer a mite infestation - my animals are well cared for, and I have always taken basic precautions to ensure disease and mites stay well away. This was my first experience with mites, and it was very nearly a disaster.

What happened:

It began with me noticing that my small coastal carpet was spending a lot of time in his water bowl. This is a well-known symptom of mite, but upon inspection, I couldn't see any on him. The weather was hot then and I just assumed he was doing it to cool down.

Then, my adders, which had always been fantastic feeders, went off their food. I knew it was not at all like them to miss a meal and I called the guy I bought them from. I was told I was being overly worried for nothing - he said that two weeks of refusing food was not an uncommon occurrence and to call in a couple of months if there was still no response.

As it turned out, I didn't have to wait that long - and if I had, I'd be minus two adders! After another 10 days or so, I was checking on them and noticed something moving along the female's head. *Insert rude word here* On closer inspection, I found not a few, but thousands of mites all over the female's body. It was already a very advanced infestation.

I checked the male... Same thing. I checked my small carpets... same thing (but to a much lesser degree). Luckily, the Pale-headed Snakes and big carpets had no signs.

How I fixed it:

I knew a bit about mite infestations, but theory and practice are two very different things. You can know all you like, but you don't truly know until you deal with things.

The first thing I knew to do, was at least correct. I took the affected animals and coated them in olive oil. This suffocates the live mites and they die and subsquently detach from the snake. It's a bit of a "quick fix", and it certainly does not protect against unhatched eggs.

I must have phoned a hundred people that night. I wanted second, third, fourth and thousandth opinions...lol When it finally registered that everyone was recommending the same treatments, I set about trying to fix the problem.

Orange Medic

A herper's best friend (or at least, one of them). I gave my snakes a bath in Orange Medic, diluted at the rate of 1:7 (7 parts of water). The next day, the floor of the cage looked like that scene in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", where the floor is covered in bugs. This was to be repeated five more times, at weekly intervals. Orange Medic is a head lice treatment, available from pharmacies.

Orange medic does not kill eggs, either. The baths are repeated, so that as each egg hatches, the mite larvae are killed. One bath only would have just killed the mites on the snake, but then another infestation would have resulted soon after from the hatching eggs.

Top of Descent

Ever been overseas? If you have, you'd notice that the "trolley dolleys" often walk up and down the plane, spraying this yucky stuff to kill any travel bugs. That's what this is. It's a synthetic pyrethroid chemical that appears very effective against mites, while being apparently non-toxic to reptiles! I bought some. I believe Auburn Aquariums will be stocking it, if anyone needs it.

With this stuff, I sprayed all the cages, with the animals still in them. Again, this does not kill eggs, but it does kill any live mites which are not attached to an animal host - they may be wandering all over the cage - or even the room - looking for hosts. Again, repeated several times at weekly intervals.

Furthermore, I have decided that I will now and always keep a couple of cans of "Top of Descent" handy, and use them as preventative, rather than cure. I will spray my rooms and cages out at regular intervals - and so should you!

The waiting game:

When you've done all you can, you can only sit and wait to see if the animals respond positively. If you got the buggers early, it will almost always be fine. My case, on the other hand, was a particularly nasty one, so I was justifiably concerned.

The pythons bounced back practically overnight. YAY.

The adders took a loooooooong time. No improvement, day after day. And they were so dehydrated, that I was taking them out for long baths every night - and every night they would gulp water for a good 3-4 mins!!!

After another month, the male went opaque. I kept the baths going, as mites cause shedding difficulties. After about two weeks, he shed, all in one piece and looked a lot better than he had for a while. Then one evening, walking past the cage, I saw something exciting... He was luring!!! DOUBLE YAY! I chucked a defrosted mouse in and he wolfed it down - brilliant! He was over it now.

The female was a different story. Even with the regular baths and TLC she was getting, she just kept looking worse. Then, about a fortnight after the male came good, she went opaque. Again, two weeks on, she sloughed the most perfect skin I've ever seen a snake shed. I didn't wait for the luring to start. I defrosted a small rat and offered it. She took it so fast, I didn't even see it! woot.gif

The end:

Everyone's recovered and eating now. I drank half a bottle of Bacardi Gold Label to celebrate - and didn't even feel bad in the morning! hehe

Some hints:

If any other reptile keepers come to your place, ask them to clean their hands with Aqium Gel or similar before they touch your animals.

When buying an animal, you should be able to see the person's other animals in fine condition - at least make sure they're not soaking in water bowls...lol

Mite eggs are like dust - there may be no one to blame for an infestation. They can come in on a breeze and wipe out large collections if left unchecked.

Keep "Top of Descent" spray handy and use it sparingly every couple of weeks or so - especially during warmer months. It is ok to use inside cages - just do not spray directly onto the animal.

Lastly - for god's sake - listen and make sure it doesn't happen to you. It's a whole lot of stress that none of us need in our lives!

Hope this helps,

Andrew.

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Excellent bit of info, Andrew !

Been through it with my Monique, but got it early and it wasn't to the extent of yours ohmy.gif what a shock it must've been !

We got it under control with Orange Medic.

Glad to hear they're all recovered, especially the gorgeous Adders. wub.gif

Andy

DM

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Thanks guys... There aren't words for how happy I was when I got my babies back on track. In fact, I couldn't even string two words together after what I drank to celebrate... LOL.gif

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Yeah good stuff Andrew!!!!

I had a bad case of mites, so bad, i had to take a "carers leave" day from work to get it under control. I woke up to see my blue tongues just lying there really lifeless, upon closer inspection, i saw him and her were absolotuely covered in mites. So i hit turbo to work to get the day off, came home and treated my whole lot with TOD. Within half an hour all mites were dead. So i disinfected all the cages (to kill eggs ect) and treated with TOD every 2 days after the initial treatment. This lasted a week, and i havent seen on sign of mite since.

Cheers, Alan.

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Glad to hear theyre back on track. We use cooking spray for ticks, i guess it has the same effect on mites. Always chuck a can of it in the back pack when we go bush, just to give any critters we catch a once over before theyre released.

Just dont get the spray too close to the head with Elapids, slippery snakes arent fun. no2.gif

Cheers

Jordan

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Do you mean like the "Pure & Simple" non-stick spray? I never thought of that - what a good idea!

And yes, I can imagine it would have the WD40 effect on a writhing Elapid... LOL.gif

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Thats the idea, we normally pickup that cheap 'home brand' stuff in the big aerosol can. Found it to be easier than tipping it on then massaging it in.

Ive taken a few pics after oiling snakes, gives them that shiny, freshly shed look...makes for some nice photos.

Cheers

Jordan

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  • 2 weeks later...
I defrosted a small rat and offered it. She took it so fast, I didn't even see it!
just like when i was their blinked and missed the feed angry.gif

reading this while mitch is around my arm made me take him off and search him over and over and over none but ill be getting all that stuff ASAP

i wonder why i never have money lol fish ,dogs, snake and bike blink.gif but its worth it in the end

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