I can document fipronil/Frontline causing both neurological problems and death in an animal, so it too can be problematic. That said, I agree that it is an order of magnitude safer than permethrin/PAM.
Another option is a very dilute ivermectin solution. I do not have the calculations in front of me so DO NOT take this as gospel but I believe it is something like 1:1000 dilution of a 10mg/mL stock. At this concentration it is not dangerous to snakes but it wipes out the mites (and most other insects… and snails… and isopods… and springtails… and worms)
I have used this method before as it’s readily available at the local farm and feed. It does work but like Travis points out you have to heavily dilute it because it’s very strong. Error on the side of caution when diluting it if you choose this route.
We bought some babies two years ago that came with mites, we put Frontline on a paper towel, rubbed the snake all over, deep cleaned racks, provent a mite around the tubs. Mites were gone in one shot
Last week I was handling my collection, and noticed on my 0.1 pied, that there was some pink spots showing up on the white areas. Grabbed a led flashlight and pressed it against her and could see tiny black dots under her scales. Knew what I saw. Removed everything out of all the enclosures. Placed the BPs in a water bath, followed by a oil treatment(Mite Guard). While they soaked, I sprayed the enclosures with Provent a Mite, baked all the wood items, and placed hides and bowls in the dishwasher. The 0.1 Pied was the only one I could find any signs of mites on. This week, the pink spots are going away, I used the flashlight again, and couldn’t find any mites under her scales. I’m going to keep them on paper towels for at least a month before putting substrate back in. I’ve heard to many horror stories of mites spreading, and think I caught it right when it was starting. I am going to keep the Provent a Mite treatment from now on, I disregarded before, thinking if the reptiles came in clean, that they would stay clean.
! - for infestations I use Predatory mites. They will eat snake mites all up. Available in the UK - even on eBay. I have used them before on plants. (obviously a different type.) They eat all the mites then they starve to death when there is no more snake mites left.
No risk of chemicals harming your animals.
I also use olive oil as a preventative. I coat the any new snake with olive oil on white paper towels, because if there is any, you can see them like pepper on the paper towel so you know you have them. Mites breath through their skin, so if you oil them the oil suffocates the mites and also kills most. If you see any on the paper kitchen towel, repeat until there are no more.
With quarenteenining new snakes and any substrate for a month, and the oil thing, there should be no need for predatory mites.
Things have moved on these days and mites need not be an issue.
We don’t know if our baby ball has mites or if we are seeing little springtails from the substrate. Nothing in his(?) eyes or vents. the bugs we have seen are tiny…like a grain of pepper. The kits think they see them under his scales but he has a very speckled pattern. I threw out the substrate, moved him to a 10 gallon tank with throw-away plast bowl and hide and just paper towels. I will do a Dawn bath tomorrow and maybe try rubbing with some olive oil. I don’t want to use too many chemicals because he is so small still. Just moved up to sm mice last week. I think I will treat his enclosure with the Prevent-a-mite and let it dry/air for a week while I keep him on paper towels. I will try to get a bug picture tomorrow. I am too tired tonight!
What color are the bugs you’re seeing and how fast do they move?
Snake mites will be black and if you put on a hard surface and press down on it with your fingernail, it will pop and leave a blood stain. Wood mites and other species that don’t bother snake will generally be white or lighter colored and usually move faster than snake mites do.
Hi @jennamcg ! Welcome to the forum! I’m sorry about the possibility that your baby bp has mites. When you say they look like pepper flecks, it sounds like you probably have mites. Is there any way to post a picture?
Kudos to you for beginning the soaks and moving to paper towels right away. I have successfully used dawn soaks to eradicate those little suckers. I know from other people’s posts that provent-a-mite worked really well also.
Provent a Mite worked perfectly for me and you are correct that the sprayed surfaces have to completely dry before returning the animal to the enclosure. In the meantime the soakes will help ease any discomfort that your baby may be feeling……
I added the best picture I could find if the one bug I found on the paper towels this morning. It definitely looks like we have mites. I can get either ivermecton or the puppy frontline. And I have prevent a mite (equivalent) for the big enclosure. I am okay with keeping him in the small tank on toweling for a month or two. Just to be sure. It will give me time to properly set up the bioactive tank.
Yeah looks like it. Sorry that it happened. Just remember that at one point or another, every has or will have to deal with them. It sounds like you have got a great plan in place so hopefully it shouldn’t be too long before you can get everything how you want it.
Don’t put oil on the snake, it damages the natural oil on their scales. Just lather the snake up heavily with dawn and let the lather stay on the snake for a couple full minutes then rinse. While you’re doing this make a ring with your hand drag it down the snakes body to help mechanically remove as many as possible.
If you have carpets in the room vacuum them thoroughly and/or treat with provent a mite.
We used the shop vac, and then moved it to the garage emptied and did it again. We are in Wisconsin, and I we have a solid two weeks of overnight temps below freezing coming up, per the mite resources, freezing temps kill adults and prevent eggs from hatching. I also sucked bleach water through the shop vac just to be safe… Anything going back into the enclosure I will bleach and bake at 200 (wood or resin) and still going to give it a month before I put anything back together. I also sprayed the plants that were in the room with the mite spray. They are now at the other end of the house. I have kids and dealt with lice twice. It’s a similar process, just with a snake instead of a toddler!
I spoke to our vet this afternoon. Her suggestion was invermectin with a solution of 20ml of .8 solution to 36 oz spray bottle with five drops of dawn. spray the paper towel after removing everything from the tank including the water (very important) and also wet a cotton ball. let the snake sit on the towel for about 15 minutes and use the cotton ball to get to his back and sides. Then get hands wet and a quarter size squirt of dawn. Rub the snake all over with the dawn, keeping it damp, for about five minutes. Rinse with slightly warm water and then put in a soak bath with water for an hour. Boil water and pour it all over the empty tank and anything going back in (clear tupperware water bowl and a plastic hide). Pay close attention to the corners and the lid. return snake to tank after cooled and dry with clean toweling. He can do the soap and soak every day. the pesticide every four-six days. May need to do for over a month because it is a very dilute solution for a baby snake. She said we can spray the Rid/Nix furniture and carpet spray in the room but not with the snake in the room…So Maui has moved to the bathroom for the month, and all the soft materials in the room have been vacuumed and thrown in the dryer on high. All tank accessories are soaking in a 3% bleach solution, then going to the freezing garage, and then the oven. We did get a Ton of the mites off with the first treatment. So hopefully it won’t take too long. She wants to see him next week.
Not to belittle your vets advice, and yes Ivermectin has been around for centuries and it’s a great versatile treatment, using the Provent a Mite method is a whole lot simpler and the results are the same.
Before you even use it, you can call the number on the can and speak to a real person about how to use it, which is what I did, so you will be using it correctly. I did not even have to do any soaks or dish soap on any of my snakes….
The Provent a Mite must be a relatively small company because the gentleman answered right away, no automated c**p.
Now I am in no means telling you not to follow your vet’s advice. I am just saying that there is a much simpler solution to getting rid of your mites with the same results because I speak from experience……
The chemical composition of Rid/Nix/and Prevent-a-Mite is exactly the same at the same concentration. It was going to be 5-7 days for the prevent-a-mite and I could get the Rid at Walgreens for $10. My vet is a reptile specialist so I do trust her. I am using an organic product in the rest of the house. Because we have cats and dogs too. She also recommended using a steamer in the room. For the window tracks and carpet. She is planning on seeing Maui on Tuesday to make sure he’s not dehydrated. She said warm soaks daily will be his best friend.
come to my house? For a fee of course! 
