yet ANOTHER mite thread

[Snowman]

Yes, that was one of many articles I read, however Dr Shane just told me that he would be more worried about TOD being applied directly to reptiles than Ivermectin. @junglepython2 yes I was treating snakes as well as enclosure.

Thank you so much @Darlyn, I am holding out hope that my continuous soaking and scrubbing will work.
@raycam01_au the first pic is a similar product just different brand to what I was using initially. The second pic is what I was eyeing off at the vet's. Good to know I'm on the right track

I'll try the Ivermectin tonight and hope for the best. Thank you to everyone for your suggestions.

I've applied TOD directly to carpets I have bought from wild takers. No ill effects...

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Yep Pete, you have to treat the entire room - spot treatment is practically useless, especially if the keeper has been moving stuff in & out of the enclosure, and will almost always lead to further problems in the weeks ahead.

Andy, I've used vegetable oils in years gone by, and find it can have a harsh effect on the skin of the snake, causing it to go into shed early and produce a very thick slough, so I'm not sure I'd do it again, given the effectiveness of the water soaking. It certainly didn't permanently harm the snake, but as I've found the water works very well, I'd probably stick with it.

The good thing about the flea/cockroach bombs and their residual effect is that if you introduce left-over mites from somewhere else in the house, or there are couple of them left on the snake/s, they can't breed because their progeny die.

I know what you mean about fleas too Pete, we have 3 dogs who live in the house with us, and after one treatment about 4 years ago, we've never seen another flea (luckily our dogs live on 100 bush acres so they don't see other dogs except at the vets when they're getting their shots, so the chance of them picking them up (except at the vets!) is minimal.

I must have written about mites with this story a dozen times here on APS but the question still comes up fairly regularly !

Jamie

 

[Snowman]

Yep Pete, you have to treat the entire room - spot treatment is practically useless, especially if the keeper has been moving stuff in & out of the enclosure, and will almost always lead to further problems in the weeks ahead.

Andy, I've used vegetable oils in years gone by, and find it can have a harsh effect on the skin of the snake, causing it to go into shed early and produce a very thick slough, so I'm not sure I'd do it again, given the effectiveness of the water soaking. It certainly didn't permanently harm the snake, but as I've found the water works very well, I'd probably stick with it.

The good thing about the flea/cockroach bombs and their residual effect is that if you introduce left-over mites from somewhere else in the house, or there are couple of them left on the snake/s, they can't breed because their progeny die.

I know what you mean about fleas too Pete, we have 3 dogs who live in the house with us, and after one treatment about 4 years ago, we've never seen another flea (luckily our dogs live on 100 bush acres so they don't see other dogs except at the vets when they're getting their shots, so the chance of them picking them up (except at the vets!) is minimal.

I must have written about mites with this story a dozen times here on APS but the question still comes up fairly regularly !

Jamie

Did you hear of anyone getting mites in WA Jamie? The only ones I've seen are the red ones that aren't as prolific and of course ticks are everywhere on wild animals.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Oh yes Snowy, they're just as active in WA as over here. In fact the last case of mites I had in WA resulted from a snake given to me by (then) CALM researcher Dave Pearson after it had been confiscated and kept by them at their Woodvale establishment. I have seen Stimmies with mites coming from CALM as well, following the establishment of legal keeping in WA, when dealers were given the right to bid for snakes. I recall them turning up from time to time in the 70s & 80s. We're talking about the snake mite, Ophionyssus natricis - any others are probably incidental and not a problem.

Jamie

 

[Snowman]

Oh yes Snowy, they're just as active in WA as over here. In fact the last case of mites I had in WA resulted from a snake given to me by (then) CALM researcher Dave Pearson after it had been confiscated and kept by them at their Woodvale establishment. I have seen Stimmies with mites coming from CALM as well, following the establishment of legal keeping in WA, when dealers were given the right to bid for snakes. I recall them turning up from time to time in the 70s & 80s. We're talking about the snake mite, Ophionyssus natricis - any others are probably incidental and not a problem.

Jamie

Cool. I just haven't heard of anyone with them in recent times. I quarantine and keep my collection pretty tight so haven't had the 'pleasure' of the little buggers before.
Is Ophionyssus natricis a native mite or introduced? Funny it came from CALM.
Do you know if Dave Pearson ever wrote up his study on barroni? He gave an interesting talk on it at a society meeting once.

 

[The_Geeza]

LOL.....gota say them bombs surprised me...when they set them off and leave for a few hrs...they mean GET THE HELL OUTA THERE ha ha.....always a good time to send the mrs to the shops while u take the kayak out for a fish

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I think he did Trent, as far as I know - I'll see if I can find it - I'm sure the WA Museum Publications Dept will know something about it. I believe the snake mite has been moved around the world in the past couple of hundred years on transported reptiles, but may have originated in Africa.

Jamie

 

[andynic07]

Thanks Jamie,

By very thick slough do you mean it has shed multiple layers? I have seen olive oil used by my brother in law for mites as I have been lucky enough to have never had them and the snake does seem to shed reasonably fast after the application but I assumed that was due to the mites. I have never seen the shed though. Also the new skin has looked fine once the snake has shed.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Pythoninfinite]

The skin just looked and felt thick & tough. As you say, post-shed the snake looked fine, so no harm came of it. But I use water because it works just as well. I'm not really sure about the microporosity of a snake's skin - obviously it is pretty impervious to the passage of water from the snake's tissues, but if any air exchange happens in the skin between the scales, a coating of oil will stop this from occurring, and I guess it's possible this is why they go rapidly into shed mode after being coated with oil. Just a theory... definitely not a known fact...

Jamie

 

[andynic07]

Cheers mate , you make a very valid point about the water being just as good option and having no apparent effect on the snake so probably is the better option.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

There is probably just as much reason for the snake to shed from the damage of dozens/thousands of mite bite penetrations too Andy, given that any insult/assault on the skin of a snake seems to cause a rapid shed response.

Jamie

 

[junglepython2]

Thanks for the post Jamie. I posted a similar question on Facebook and the general consensus was that flea bombs were highly toxic to snakes and have a long residual effect. I ignored that advice and let a few off, with snake cages closed though and you have at least put my mind at ease.

 

[Lawra]

Hi Jamie [MENTION=1228]Pythoninfinite[/MENTION] thank you for your input I set off 2 nature guard bombs off this morning and went in after 4 hours and opened windows and doors.

I never knew I didn't have to clean afterwards! That's excellent news Do I need to soak the water bowls or just scrub and disinfect?

I realise now that I should have done this in the first place and not spread everything around my house. I plan to bomb the rest of the house in the next few days in case I did distribute them around the place.

Thank you again!!!