| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| SurroundedByMadness |
Posted - 29/06/2011 : 20:49:16
This morning I woke up to see Kaa in his waterbowl, which is quite strange because he's shy and i rarely see him out. After he went back into his hide I took out the waterbowl to change the water and found tiny black specks in the water, so I suspected mites. I couldn't do much at this point because I had to leave for college so I put the clean water back in the viv.
I got home this afternoon and checked him over, and theres mites all over my poor baby.. 
However, I was slightly confused because last night I fed him, and he struck and constricted in a matter of about 15 seconds, he ate the mouse extremely quickly. I always thought royals dont eat when they have mites?
Where do they come from? And why?
I'm going to the pet shop tomorrow (as im off college) to get some mite treatment stuff. But can you please give me some advise as to how I get rid of them? How long it takes? What steps I have to take, ect..
Any replies I get will be very much appreciated. Thank you  |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| hodgie |
Posted - 09/07/2011 : 21:04:24
quote:
Originally posted by Lotabob
That aside though I do think the only real course of action in a collection is when a mite appears, is to treat the entire collection AND surrounding areas and stay away from other collections. Become a reptile recluse for the duration of the treatment. I also agree with its probably going to happen at one time ofr another to everyone, our love for reptiles will bring us into contact with an infested area or animal at some point and it doesn't take much to transfer a infestation.
Totally agree.
As for the airborn part i should have been more specific. I`ve seen a video from Markus Jayne Ball Pythons were they explained mite movement and the airborn part was outdoors but could easily become relevent if you have your windows open in your snakes room on hot days. There are plenty of owners who have been suddenly affected by mites and they had to get there one way or another. |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 08/07/2011 : 22:00:41
I have heard this airborne thing before and I dont think its anything to be concerned about.
The eggs adhere to the surface they are laid on, the larval stage barely move, the protonymphs are the mobile part of the life cycle, they walk vast distances (for something so small), they dont jump or fly. The adult fed stage also go walkies too to lay their eggs. I'm not saying that they can't be airborne, a good gust can blow a duck off its feet (I've seen the video) but airborne is going a bit far in my opinion mainly because there is no substantial wind in a vivarium or a living room without foreign food intervention so if disturbed the eggs could be tossed forth into the air but I believe in gravity winning the battle before the eggs could travel any distance.
That aside though I do think the only real course of action in a collection is when a mite appears, is to treat the entire collection AND surrounding areas and stay away from other collections. Become a reptile recluse for the duration of the treatment. I also agree with its probably going to happen at one time ofr another to everyone, our love for reptiles will bring us into contact with an infested area or animal at some point and it doesn't take much to transfer a infestation. |
| hodgie |
Posted - 08/07/2011 : 21:03:26
Mites are airborn, this is how they can suddenly appear and we will probably all get them at some stage. All living things including us have their own parasites, ours come in the form of lice, and worms etc.
Prevention and acting quickly when things appear is the only thing we can do. |
| n/a |
Posted - 08/07/2011 : 19:01:43
You mean the little bloodsuckers will leave the snake and go off to have a munch on yer aspidistra?
What DON'T they eat? What about the cat? What about humans?
Mites sound pretty tenacious once you have them.
Another point - the OP has had Kaa and her other reptiles for some time now, as far as I can see, but the mites have suddenly appeared - how do they do that? I can imagine going to premises where mites are living and accidentally bringing them home, but other than that ...? Well, hell, I suppose it's possible to catch them in the supermarket or on the bus - horrible thought! |
| hodgie |
Posted - 08/07/2011 : 18:47:10
quote:
Originally posted by scubadude
one thing to be aware of with mites is adults can travel up to 55 feet in a day, [/url]
It doesn`t actually say that though, it says - Unfed females are observed to crawl up to a rate of 11 inches per minute. That's 55 feet per hour!
- this would also work out to be 400 metres in a day.
I think we do agree that they travel as has been proved but from my knowledge they go off looking for food which will generally be plants in the house. |
| scubadude |
Posted - 07/07/2011 : 19:55:54
one thing to be aware of with mites is adults can travel up to 55 feet in a day, so moving the infected snake elsewhere may just be spreading the problem, the below link on VPIs website makes for interesting reading. if using callingtons treat the rubs and the area around the rubs may be just as effective.
http://www.vpi.com/publications/the_life_history_of_snake_mites |
| hodgie |
Posted - 07/07/2011 : 18:36:59
Doubt very much that there will be eggs on the snake but there may well be in the surrounding area were you keep your rub, but thats why you move them and carry on the treatment, hope that helps and good luck. |
| SurroundedByMadness |
Posted - 07/07/2011 : 07:33:58
Oh I understand your point now. Thankyou or explaining. But if there's eggs on the snake then I'll end up having mites in the RUB and viv |
| hodgie |
Posted - 06/07/2011 : 22:35:02
quote:
Originally posted by SurroundedByMadness
Sorry, I don't understand what your trying to say lol.
But it will make a difference, if the snake is free from mites then isolate it from the eggs and remove the risk of the eggs hatching and infecting the snake again. Leaving the snake there is asking for more problems.
i would strongly recommend moving everything to a different part of the house preferably to a different level as you have no idea of when the eggs will change into full blown mites, do this for 2 months and the job will be done properly,
I can only give advice on my own experience, My 1st Royal had mites when i bought her and my 1st attempt at mite removal in my opinion was half baked as i didnt take full precautions due to lack of understanding,and like you thought i was winning when i no longer saw them.
They can be moved by a breeze or up to 8-9 ft when they are active, you have no idea where eggs are in your snakes room. |
| SurroundedByMadness |
Posted - 06/07/2011 : 22:25:49
Sorry, I don't understand what your trying to say lol. It won't matter where I put the RUB surely? The mites are dead, but the eggs aren't, so wherever I put the RUB the eggs are going hatch into mites again so it won't make a difference lol |
| hodgie |
Posted - 06/07/2011 : 18:15:05
quote:
Originally posted by SurroundedByMadness
Thank you Tawfik
But sinse ive sprayed the viv and stripped it down, there seems to be barely any mites, only eggs. So im just going to keep cleaning regularly
So why dont you remove your Royal for a month or 2 into a rub and put it in a different part of the house, that really would be the easiest thing to do? |
| SurroundedByMadness |
Posted - 04/07/2011 : 19:37:10
Thank you Tawfik
Yeah, the guy at my local shop said not to bother with MITEOFF because its a comlete waste of time and money haha. But sinse ive sprayed the viv and stripped it down, there seems to be barely any mites, only eggs. So im just going to keep cleaning regularly |
| Tawfik47 |
Posted - 04/07/2011 : 09:12:37
Hope Kaa will get better soon. |
| markmifsud |
Posted - 04/07/2011 : 09:11:49
When I had an attack of mites, I tried MITEOFF and that didnt help at all, I ended up registering with a vet and getting the equivalent of frontline spray. After a full viv strip down and treatment, substrate changed to kitchen towel. I never saw another mite after a few days of the treatment. I left the viv empty for 6 weeks to be sure that none came back. |
| sandi |
Posted - 04/07/2011 : 08:41:30
The life cycle is 3 weeks plus so repeat treatment weekly for up to a month to be sure, as the eggs wont be killed by the spray you are using.
They can travel a long distance and have even been found inside the cable of light fittings. |
| SurroundedByMadness |
Posted - 01/07/2011 : 21:23:05
Yeah,the guy at the rep shop said to treat every 7 days, and mites have around a 3 week life cycle, so hopefully it wont take much longer than that. But who knows? Its all experience I suppose :)
I also put my name down for voluntry work at the extremely local rep shop I found 2 days ago that I never knew existed, its pretty awesome there, they had egyptian cobras, alligators, full sized boa constrictors and everything. Pretty impressive for a small shop in a deserted outside shopping centre haha |
| Evolution Morphs |
Posted - 01/07/2011 : 21:05:01
They say treat again in 7 days to break up the mites cycle as there might be some that was not killed that are still eggs |
| SurroundedByMadness |
Posted - 01/07/2011 : 21:02:01
What ive did last night was stripped down the viv, cleaned all the parts inside (i.e. hides, waterbowl) in boiling hot water with a weak bleach solution, wiped down the inside of the viv and put newspaper down (we had no kitchen roll) and put the 2 hides and waterbowl back inside after rinsing them well. I then sprayed the viv with Callingtons mite spray and waited 5 minutes untill i put Kaa back in.
I checked him over today, there were no mites in the water bowl, and only a few on him, so hopefully i caught them quickly and got rid of the majority of them. Just got to keep persisting now. |
| STICKS |
Posted - 01/07/2011 : 16:34:55
Hi there sorry to here about the mits,have you rub if not take all the inside of the viv out plastic can be washed hides ect,sub dump it and wash the viv bleach very week solution kitchen roll as sub so thay show up.bath snake in luke warm water with olly oil table spoon
if you can treat the snake with spray all the better but clean and no sub if you have wood in the viv bath the wood with the same solution and cook it in the overn then treat if you can not then dump it and get a new bit.I had a bad invasion never went back to sub still use K roll and still treat viv after every deep clean
hope you get on ok keep us updated.. |
| hodgie |
Posted - 01/07/2011 : 10:20:45
Its doesn`t matter if it bathing water or drinking water, you cant tell the snake not to drink, just because we use it to wash dishes doesn`t mean its safe to injest or get in your eyes. |
