I have a growing collection of western hognose currently and noted that some of them have mites. I know hognose are sensitive to PAM and other strong chemicals. I’m in a couple hognose groups and talked to one breeder and some other hobbyists. I’ve had people recommend “Reptile Spray” and people state that it’s safe and just to follow the directions. I’m looking for input on reptile spray or recommended treatments. I’m really wanting to get ahead of this and be aggressive on solving this problem
I have used Provent-a-Mite. Before I actually applied it I called the company and talked to a gentleman there. He told me to remove the reptile and spray the BEDDING ONLY, let it dry, and then put the reptile back in the enclosure. I did not have to treat the reptile. He also told me to spray some on a cloth and wipe around the openings of the enclosures, thus presenting the mites from crawling from one enclosure to another.
I have to tell you that it worked! If you do get the Provent-a-Mite and you are apprehensive about using you can call the company. The gentleman I talked to was very informative and positive the product would work as he told me to apply it and it did!
The Reptile Spray is a good one for hogs. Predator mites might also be an option depending on your location. I’ve never used them but heard a lot of good things. Personally I will never use PAM or recommend it. I know there are people who’ve had no issues but I’ve seen plenty of others who used it perfectly and still had to watch their pets in agony until passing. It’s just not worth the risk in my opinion.
Also when dealing with mites it helps to keep in mind that this is a long process, potentially weeks or even months, as you have to break the cycle.
I wish you luck and sorry you are dealing with this.
I agree with @caron about pam and how to use it. It’s just for the enclosure. I would do the enclosure once every week for 4 weeks. I would treat the snake in a nice bath with a few drops of dawn every day for a week and then at least once a week for a month, assuming you got rid of them in the enclosure that should be a effective way to aggressively get rid of them. Alternatively if you don’t want to use Pam in the enclosure, I have had success in putting the enclosure in a chest freezer and keeping the snake in a quarantine set up plastic bin, and continue soaking the snake and just cleaning the bin with hot soapy water. (Of course this would only work with smaller enclosures, not a rack system) good luck!
I dealt with a bad mite infestation last summer. I tried everything to get rid of them, including predator mites. Those worked for a few weeks but the snake mites always came back. Reptile Spray was the only thing that worked and got rid of the mites for good.
