I have snake mites, i was wondering if anybody knew of any home remedy i could use 2 rid my snakes of them?

Question

The mites showed up about 2months ago and I have been trying to get rid of them since. The pet store told me to wipe their bodies with mouthwash on a cloth, it doesnt irritate their skin. But the mite still seem to be there and getting worse!! I am very very concerned. I have cleaned their cage multiple times, and I have taken out all extra necessities such as branches or rocks. I have left a circular and pond looking water dishes in the cage. Also a heat rock. I cleaned the cage and I have tried leaving bedding out of the cage and using newspapers like sites say to do but it doesnt work. I put new bedding in about 1 week ago after they were rinsed off, I cleaned off the watering dishes and heat rock too. I need some responses to help me rid my 1foot long ball Python and 21/2 feet long Albino Burmese Python of mites. Thank You!!!

Answer 1

To get rid of mites, you have to break the mite life cycle. You have to get rid of not only the living mites that you can see, but also the mite eggs that you can not see.

The "official" answer is to use Provent-A-Mite(PAM ,$20 per can) and follow the directions exactly (do NOT apply this directly to your reptile). The more common answer is to use Equate Bedding Spray ($4 per can, sold at WalMart as a lice treatment...same active ingredients as PAM). Here are the steps to follow:

Remove the snake from it's cage and soak it in warm water (luke warm, not hot!). Add a drop or two of Ivory dish soap to the water. This will break the surface tension of the water and more easily drown the mites. Make sure that the water is deep enough to come up to the snakes back, but not so deep that the snake has to actually swim.

While your snake is soaking, clean the cage COMPLETELY. Remove any cage furnishings and water bowls and sanatize these items (or replace with new). The cage should look brand new when you are finished cleaning. If you are using a home made wooden cage, this will be more difficult.

After cleaning, seal any vents and you want to spray the Equate (what I use) or PAM in the cage (give it a decent fogging, hard to say how long without knowing the size of the cage). The idea is to keep the "fog" inside the cage to treat the entire cage. DO NOT SPRAY WATER BOWLS WITH INSECTICIDES.

Let the cage sit, still sealed, from an hour or two to allow all the fumes to dissipate (sp?). The fumes are what will harm the snake and you should never, ever spray these products directly on your snake.

Once the cage is completely dried and no trace of fumes remain, you can then remove your snake from it's soaking tub. Use paper towels to dry your snake. You will notice alot of dead mites on the paper towel as you wipe the snake down. Return your snake to it's cage, but do not give it a water bowl for another 24 hours. Use newspaper or paper towels as a substrate until you are sure all mites are gone.

The PAM and Equate bedding sprays both have a residual effect that will kill any mites that come into contact with a treated surface for roughly 30 days. However, since you already have a mite infestation, you need to repeat this procedure in two weeks.

If you are looking for a product that you can spray directly onto the reptile, I would recommend Reptile Relief. I use this on every new snake that I aquire as I place the animal into quarantine. While not as effective as the stronger products I outlined above, it does kill mites (works in a different way and is safe to apply directly to the snake, providing you follow the directions on the bottle).

I hope this answers your question. As a point of reference, my husband and I are professional reptile breeders and dealers. We have had to deal with mites on occasion when bringing in new animals. If you have several animals, you will need to treat every one of them as if they have mites (even if you don't see any). Mites travel.


Good Luck!

Answer 2

Snake Mite Treatment

Answer 3

Start w/ an empty tank, disinfect with a mixture of 75% water 25% bleach. Scrub good and rinse. Scrape down walls with a razor blade to remove any eggs and larvae. Also disinfect anything going back into tank and if possible replace anything with a porous surface(anything wood or plant material) . Use newspaper to line the tank.

Snakes should be soaked in a diluted Betadine bath. If the snake persists in climbing out of the tub or is too small to put in a bathtub, place it in a plastic, lidded container into which air holes have been punched, filling it 3/4 full of the Betadine/water solution. You may wish to bathe the snake in a plain water bath first to allow it to drink first, adding the Betadine after it has done so. If the snake defecates in the water, drain the tub, clean it, and draw a fresh Betadine bath.

Whether or not the snake's head was under the water, dab the eyes and heat pits with mineral oil after removing it from the bath. Check the groove under the chin as well as under all the belly scutes and in the vent folds to make sure there are no mites, dead or alive, lodged in those areas. If you find mites in these areas, you can remove them by gently rubbing them from between the scales and folds with a cotton-tipped swab dipped in mineral oil.

Unfortunately because mites are so hard to treat you will often have to repeat the treatment about 2 weeks later

Answer 4

I'll second the idea that you should be very careful what kind of mite remover you apply to your snakes as it may kill them. The dish soap in water idea is a good one. The reason why you are getting a re-infestation is because the mites aren't just in the snakes' cages! They are loose in your house. Here is a simple way to clean your house and remove the mites permanantly. Go to Walmart or a grocery store and purchase a large box of Borax powder. Also purchase two large 32 oz cylinders of table salt. Now whatever rooms the snakes have been in or that their cages have been in, you must cover the floor with borax. If you have kitties or ferrets, you cannot let them in these rooms, as borax will kill them if it gets on their paws and they eat it, but to humans it is harmless. Wait 10 days, then vaccuum thoroughly and apply the salt in the same way. The salt is not harmful to anything, but it can dehydrate, so make sure your animals have pleanty of water. The borax kills the adult mites and the salt will kill the eggs and larva.

Now until you get your mites all the way gone, once you have done the borax thing, you can keep the mites from spreading by surrounding the cages with a ring of borax. That way you don't keep reinfesting, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to do all your treatments at the same time. It will make sure that you have to reapply as little as possible.

To kill the mites on our gerbils, we used mite spray for birds, and followed the instructions. I'd call your vet and see if you can use the bird mite spray because that worked very well for us.

From now on, try to wean your snakes onto eating frozen food, as dead mice/rats have dead mites.

Answer 5

I have been going through this also, the owner of Pro Products out of New York showed me the way. My snake was abused & almost dead when I got her, full of mites. Take a long plastic tub, like you would put a small artificial xmas tree in, 2 tablespoons of ORIGINAL Dawn dish detergent. Add water to tub first, around 80 degree temp. add the Dawn. DON T suds it up. Take hand & move slowly through the water. Put a rock in so your snake can rest it s head on it, put a heating pad under the center of the tub, put your snake in & close the lid. Leave the snake in for 30 minutes. While soaking the snake, take 3/4 alcohol mixed with 1/4 water. Spray entire encasement down thoroughly, leave for a couple of minutes. Rinse extremely thoroughly, you want absolutely no smell left from the alcohol. Dry the cage & all the cracks & crevices thoroughly. He also sent me Provent-a-mite to spray onto her newspapers. This works for 30-90 days so that after the mites bite the snake they climb off & the treated papers kill them in their tracks. Although, they have also laid eggs that you probably missed so the eggs will hatch & the treated papers will continue to do your job. My snake was totally infested with them, to the point of upper respiratory & anemic, they are virtually gone after 2 months of using the treated papers. I see someone mentioned vaseline, this is NOT recommended to use on a snake as snakes skin is porous & it will embed the mites into her skin. This treatment worked.

Answer 6

DO NOT FUMIGATE YOUR SNAKES CAGE!!!!!! Spraying poison in any pets environment is just plain stupid. Snakes absorb warmth through thier skin and will absorb poison and kill them. Personally having a pet Burm is a dumb idea for a pet anyway, no offense I used to relocate displaced reptiles and 9 out of ten of them were Burms and Retics people bought because they look cool when they are small but when they reach 20+ feet they are dangerous. And if you can't get rid of mites its apparent you are a beginner herper and shouldn't have such monstrous pets. Back to the question at hand, get some mite pads for the tank. If you have wooden cages chances are they are in the wood. If in aquarium, take them to a qualified vet to have them checked out with a fecal specimen. They may have picked up a parasite somewhere/somehow. Pet shops are not the people to ask because most employees in a pet shop are there because its thier first job and really don't know what thier talking about. My apt has pissants and to avoid them getting in the tanks, i wipe some vinegar around the outside of the glass and they don't cross the vinegar line, even though they get anywhere else. If you talk to someone in a pet shop speak with the owner or supervisor. They will be the ones who know what they are talking about. best bet still is take a fecal specimen to a qualified vet to check for parasites. Once again: DO NOT EVER USE POISON IN ANY PETS CAGE, IT WILL POISON THE PET ALSO. And you and I both know albino burms go for around 200 bucks starting. That would be a very expensive lesson learned. You can use bleach to disinfect the cage just make sure there is 1 part bleach, 10 parts water and then rinse out. We use bleach in the animal hospital I work at to disinfect everything, it is toxic straight up but not dilluted with water. I would also take a fecal sample to a vet for testing, that would be the best bet. You could have got mites from a feeder mouse and not known it. I have seen a lot of sketchy pet shops that don't take proper care of feeders because feeders are there to die anyway.

Answer 7

the first thing to do is use vasoline and rub it all over their body except the eyes and nose, leave it on for 2 days and then wash it off. this smothers the mites. make sure you are not using cedar bedding as it is known to carry mites in the wood therefore passing it to your snake. clean cage, and accessories well with bleach and let air dry for 24 hours. this should help cure the problem.

Answer 8

my son's snake got mites a while back, we sterilized the cage and equipment with bleach and he wiped the snake down with rubbing alcohol, no problems since

Answer 9

mineral oil works like a charm and its cheap soak them in it and the oil will smother the mites an is safe for the snake makes them shine i had the same problem a few months ago

Answer 10

find a mite killing fumigator . wrap the cage in plastic, fumigate according to directions. prolonged exposure should saturate & kill the mites. then put the snakes back....good luck....chirp1