Have tried everything. Just when I think I have it taken care of they pop again. They have infested my entire collection, so isolation wont work. I want to try preditory mites. Has anyone tried this with success and if so where can I purchase in the US. Everything I have found has been in the UK. TIA
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I have seen predatory mites for sale on amazon in vials. I’m considering trying them out next time mites pop up. Thankfully I haven’t had any in about 3 months…hopefully I can keep that streak up.
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What is everything?
Mites need to be treated fast and not only the enclosures need to be treated bt also the surrending area when you have an infestation to that extent.
Mite re-infestation are due fo one thing and it is that the product used does not get rid of the egg stage, only a few products do that.
PAM (provent a mite)
Rid Bed and Lice Spray
And home brew that contains Permethrin which is the key ingredient to address all stages…
Any of those products is to used spraying the cage not the animal and has a residual effect of about 2 weeks, and can be re-applied 2 weeks later if the infestation is severe.
My recommendations with any of those is to replace the substrate with paper towel for the next 30 days, remove the water dish, and the animal, spray, let dry for an hour and place everything back.
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I have soaked all snakes in water with drop of dish soap, sprayed entire rack and tubs with PAM and sprayed snake with reptile spray. I know I didn’t keep up with it enough at the beginning but have done all steps weekly for the last month and I am still seeing them. It is a huge process with 30 + snakes. I am looking for any other solutions to help fix this issue.
Where are you based? If in Europe try Taurrus mites. They are fantastic predatory mites. Unfortunately to my knowledge they are only available in Europe at the moment through a company called Dragonfli. They have a short shelf life in shipping so that’s why they are not available to the US yet. If in shipping for more than a week they will die. They are ferocious little hunters eating all stages of the mite cycle. When they run out of food (snake mites) they die off. They are completely harmless to the snake.
I am in the US. I have found preditory mites on amazon but they are described as spifer preditory mites and used in gardens. I’m not sure if they would work on snake mites and be safe for the snakes.
I have no experience with spifer mites so I don’t know either. Perhaps email the Amazon vendor? At a guess if the listing doesn’t state a use on reptiles it more than likely may not help.
Sorry missed the miss spelling. They are preditory mite for spider mites. Not sure if spider and snake mites are similar enough that they would work.
I think the Taurrus mites are so effective because they target all stages of the snake mite. Adults larvae and eggs. Emailing the spider mite predator vendor may be advisable. If your issue is reoccurring perhaps the mites are in the room also. Have you treated the room too? Is there a carpet in the room etc? Is the replacement substrate/paper etc kept in the same room? Is there any chance you may be visiting some where frequently that they may be hitching a ride home with you?
I have 8x10 room with concrete floors. I do keep all of my supplies in there. How would I go about treating the whole room. I dont have another space to place the 30 plus snakes to spray PAM everywhere. Are there other ways? Thank you for all the help so far.
Well the first thing I would do is bag all the supplies and remove them from the room. If you have a large chest freezer you can place them in there for a couple of days. The minus 15 degree celsius plus will certainly kill all stages of the mites. If this isn’t possible I would bin the substrate etc. Anything that can be wiped down wipe it down.
I believe F10 is effective on eggs and larvae of the mites. I could never source it in Ireland but I have heard many accounts of it working on your side of the pond. I also believe it is available in a concentrate form for a reasonable price.
I would treat all your animals and racks as you have done. Bag them and remove them temporarily from the room. Mix up F10 and spray the entire room, floor and racks. I would use a garden pressure sprayer for speed and convenience. Allow to dry, have a shower, a change of clothes and return the animals.
A lot of work for sure but apart from Taurrus mites I don’t think there is an easy way of ridding mites. If you look up the life cycle of snake mites you will see that even killing the adults the eggs hatch in about 2 weeks and off they go again. You have to kill the eggs too… unfortunately. The mites migrate all over the room and lay eggs to reap havoc over and over.
Hope this helps and best of luck with the mammoth task of ridding them!
So there is no confusion you are refering to F10® Insecticide which is not to be mistaken with the other F10 commonly used in the herp industry which is a disinfectant.
I know F10® Insecticide is available in UK not sure about US I have never seen it here and this could be due to laws and regulations when it comes to pesticides.
I’m referring to the commonly used disinfectant one. I could never source it here so I have never personally used it. Perhaps it’s just the cleaning action removing the eggs but I remember it being referred to as a step on many mite treatment informational stuff I’ve digested over the years from the US. Perhaps I misunderstood it’s use as part of the procedure.
I use beaphar Deep Clean to throughly clean the enclosure and surrounding areas when dealing with mites as that’s the only one I can find here.
To be eradicate mites you need a pesticide which the F10 found in the US does not contain it is a veterinary disinfectant not a pesticide but they do have a Pesticide available as well but again only in the UK.
Cleaning and desinfecting does just that which is why people see re-infestation every 30 days, because you cannot clean mites or eggs out completely and all it takes is for one remain behind.
Permethrin is still the key ingredient in Mite eradication which address all stages, it can be bought pure to be mixed, and is found in PAM and Rid Bed/Lice Spray
Taurrus M mite snake mite procedure:
- Open enclosure
- Place Taurrus mite tub inside
- Close enclosure
- Have a nice cup of tea
And this is what they look like
But where can I get them in the US. That is my problem. I would love to try them.
Unfortunately I don’t think they are available yet in the US. They will not survive high or low temperatures in shipping and will not survive the length of time to ship.
The UK based company is called Dragonfli, perhaps they may have some information as to when they may be available in the US. There may be issues with US customs and importing insects? I really don’t know. Perhaps try emailing them. If you google them you’ll find their website.
@thecrawdfather They are fantastic. There must be some red tape reason why there isn’t already. A rare occasion where it’s better to be this side of the pond!!
