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longqi

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I just did an accidental experiment
We had a medium sized retic that was covered in mites and ticks
Cleaned off as many ticks as I could and put in our bedroom
But still several small ticks under scales
Didnt worry about the mites at this stage
Just gave it a long bath
Still had plenty of mites under scales; in pits; etc etc but didnt want to stress it out too much at the start

We get mozzies here
so I use one of those electric thingies with a bottle of stinky stuff inside every night
Works well on most insects

Three days after putting retic in room
Not one sign of a mite anywhere on the retic or its box and hide except for a very few dead ones
Most ticks are dead and drying out
Only 2 out of 9 showed any signs of life
I rang the company who manufacturers this stuff and they stated
"Perfectly safe for all pets"
Obviously they dont consider insects as potential pets?

So now Im debating with myself on whether or not to use this as a regular mite treatment
I say regular because mites are a continuing problem here that simply cannot be eradicated under our conditions
[we have reptile club meetings here and wild caughts/rescues brought in a few times a week]

I have put a bird in a cage in the bedroom for last 5 days
Zero visible ill effect on the bird so far

I put ants and cockroaches into a viv and left the electronic gizmo going for 4 hours also inside the viv
All dead or dying; but this was in a confined space

If this is feasible it may be the simplest and most effective mite remover Ive ever heard of
Especially for larger collections
Just leave it running for more than 17days and even the eggs would have hatched so problem solved

Questions
Birds and snakes are very similar so should I try it on a bigger scale??
Has anyone ever heard of anyone doing this before?
Any scientific minds out there who can predict probable outcomes?
 
Interesting, what particular brand of smelly electrical gizmo are we talking about
 
Hey, you may be onto something.
Can you accurately describe the "electric thingy" and the "stinky stuff"? I would be looking for a detailed description of active agents and all additives before further experimentation.
You have got it running in your bedroom? When you start coughing, you know it's no good. :D
 
Runs in the bedroom because I like windows open and a bit of breeze where possible
[usually only cough if I swallow a hair]

The brand of this one is called HIT
Indonesian Brand made by P.T. Megasari Makmur; Bogor Indonesia
Active ingredients
Praletrin 13g/l
D-aletrin 0.01g/l

Seems very similar to ones made by Baygon
Like a big plug in phone charger with a container full of liquid underneath
You plug it in and a light comes on

Change the liquid every two or three months because it slowly disappears with usage
We use it about 8 hours every night
Very effective against mozzies

Found out real names of ingredients

Prallethrin
D-allethrin

They are Pyrethroids used as insecticides
No adverse effects against mammals or birds unless ingested in large quantities
Very potent against insects and fish

http://www.who.int/whopes/quality/en/prallethrin_spec_eval_Nov_2004.pdf
WHO report pages 16/17 worth a quick look


This might be starting to get interesting
Distinct possibilities maybe????

If anyone has a can of Top Of Descent by Callingtons can you let me know if it has Prallethrin listed in the contents please??
 
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I'm actually starting to think this may work out to be ok

Have removed water bowl from VIV in case of injesting disolved pralletrin Replace water when gizmo is turned off
Had a bird in room too for three nights with zero side effects so far
Put another mited snake in there as well
Same deal mites gone after 48 hours

Both snakes have fed and are looking fine

Has anyone got scientific information out there??
 
Ok Results for far are better than excellent
Kept 2 snakes in Bedroom along with boxes of various insects and a bird
Removed water from cages when gizmo was turned on
100% kill rate on insects
Both snakes had mites originally and I introduced more mites to each of them to be sure it was this stuff and not a fluke
Now zero sign of mites
Bird and snakes show no side effects at this stage
All feeding well and active
 
It appears that this stuff kills all insects
Tried reptile mites bird mites rat fleas cockroaches ants flies and a few unidentified thingies
Sopposed to be deadly on fish too but didnt try that because I like fish
 
Do you know what the possible effect of bioaccumulation might be with these chemicals?

I am desperately hoping some expert will read this and comment
We know that its short term effects from direct spraying appear to have minimal or zero effect on reptiles
Only thing now in doubt in my mind is accumulated build up of prallethrin

But I simply dont have the knowledge or expertise to find out
I know it is very similar to TOD but in a weaker solution
 
Well the accident has been going on long enough I think

So far zero visible side effects
Positive results
Kills every insect within cooee
No visible effect on birds mammals or reptiles

NOW
This will NOT be a cure-all
BUT
It could be very handy for those with large collections or intricately designed vivs that are showpieces
Showpieces are hard to strip and clean

For other people with just a couple of slitherers I would not recommend it
That is because the long term effects are not known yet

After several pretty heavy discussions on other websites and a load of emails I must repeat what I said earlier

This MAY turn out to be very good
BUT and this is a HUGE but
My test was an accident that I extended when I saw the results

That means it was not in any way a scientifically conducted experiment

Only because of our conditions here with regular infestations of these little bugs I may try it again
But even that trial will be on a small number of snakes and vivs
 
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