We have been seeing a lot of mixed reviews about mite spray. We have been soaking in dawn and warm water but wondering if there is more we can do to help get rid of them.
What type of enclosures do you have and what kind of reptiles are you treating?
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I have used Provent A Mite (PAM) the couple times I’ve had mites. All I did was dump out all of the substrate after removing the water bowls etc. Then I lightly sprayed paper towels in an open air area prevent inhalation of any fumes. Then I let them dry. Then I laid enough paper towels in to cover the bottoms of the enclosures. I wiped the ventilation holes. After that I put the dried off snakes back in the tubs after their dawn baths. I repeated the process for the next 3 months. That’s all I had to do.
Now keep in mind that PAM is a bit controversial regarding safety and effectiveness. Supposedly snake mites are developing a resistance to PAM. PAM should not be used for hognose enclosures as hogs are very sensitive especially to products such as PAM. That being said, if used properly your animals should not be harmed.
I’m just telling you how I treated my snakes for mites. There is a very detailed thread here somewhere about mites. I’ll see if I can find it for you..
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I’m going to assume in replying that this discussion is about snakes.
I’ve dealt with snake mites once, and I used PAM and it was simple and effective. I use permethrin (the active ingredient in PAM) for livestock and keeping up a big house in the country so I’m comfortable with it.
That said, it seems to me that Afoxolaner – an injection that your vet provides – would be the most sensible option for many people. Apparently oral Fluralaner is another option:
Folks who already have a vet who provides care for their herps will find this option simple, and folks who don’t already have a vet need to have one anyway.
If many snakes in a collection have or have been exposed to mites because of poor biosecurity practices, then PAM might be more sensible for many keepers just based on cost considerations, though I haven’t done the math.
It is worth dropping a reminder for other readers who might see mite treatment threads and think ‘I’m not going to worry too much about getting mites because I can simply treat for them’.
The reminder is this: that out of the ten best ways to deal with mites, the top five options are not to get a snake with mites in the first place, and the other five options are the exact same. There are a lot of ways to minimize the chance of bringing home mites (don’t handle animals at expos, don’t buy from flippers or other sources that aren’t legitimate and high quality breeders, and others) that are always better options than having to treat for them.
And of course: always quarantine for a good long time. If everyone QTed for six months, I suspect we wouldn’t have snake mites in captive collections anymore.
It is also worth making sure that before treating for snake mites that what you’re dealing with is actually snakes mites and not harmless detritovores.
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Solid information there. Read it. Then read it again
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