MITES!!!

[brunetteoctober]

MITES MITES MITES MITES

My new skink is infested! when i bought it, i checked it over really well, head to tail, and didn't see anything. after bring it home, i set it on a white sheet, and little moving specks came off.
so i treated it for mites today, and the poor thing leaves a trail of them as it walks. i was wiping the excess meds off it and the paper towel was coming up nearly black. why could i not see this before? an infestation this bad should be noticeable to the naked eye, right??


Question:

is it ok to keep my bluey on paper towels while i'm treating it? i just don't want to waste a lot of substrate.

should i treat it more then twice like the bottle recommends? it says treat it, then 3 days later treat again. should i treat it another 3 days later because the infestation is so bad?


Thanks for all your help! you all are seriously amazing and knowledgeable. i would be lost without your help. thanks again.

[AndrewSeike]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your skink. Put your skink on white paper towels if possible however some products require bedding and not a bare tank. Make sure you read the directions on the can to make sure things are done correctly.

You're going to have be working pretty hard and keeping that tank clean for months as adult mites are one thing but the ones about to hatch are another.

What product are you using?

Andrew

[brunetteoctober]

its called natural chemistry, reptile relief. it says that it kills mites and ticks on contact. so far it's living up to that, so it seems.

[Zach]

I used the reptile relief when Sunny arrived with mites. It's water based and non toxic which I like. It did the trick! Clean the tank like crazy WITH the reptile relief and don't use any substrate. White paper towels is perfect. Aso look for lifted scales. I took a tooth pick and and simply flicked them out from underneath the scales....some were so deep the reptile relief had a hard time reaching up there.

[Geoff Gates]

there will be mite eggs in his cage. Ensure you clean it thoroughly too.

You might have to do this for upto six weeks as the egg to adult mite stage depends on temperature.

Look for other posts on mites. I supplied a link to an Aussie site with heaps of info on mites.

[brunetteoctober]

ok, he doesn't like being touched still, it was really difficult just getting him to sit still long enough to apply the stuff. i may have to turn off his lights and cool him down to get at him with a tooth pick. as far as cleaning the cage, i'm already on top of that. i have reptiles in the ve other reptiles in the house, i can't afford to have the mites spread.

[SailleSkinklover]

Oh total Yuk about the Mites! Those are always one of my biggest fears, and I have heard that some substrates can carry them.
I'm going to the Reptile Expo here at the end of the month, and I'm gonna be sure to immediately wash my clothes and shower the second I get home!!
I hope your poor Skink gets healthy soon, and yes, paper towels or newspaper (unprinted) are very easy/cheap to use as substrate for dealing with the cleaning on a daily basis.
I had to bathe and daily clean my skink/cage when he had internal parasites. Yuk!

[JWSR]

This is exactly why, when I buy compressed packages of aspen shavings, they immediately go into our upright freezer for one month before I open and use the package. I keep 3 bales freezing, and when I open one, I add a new one. A long deep freeze will kill anything living in the bedding. Just a suggestion.

Good luck, hope you get rid of them all.

[brunetteoctober]

thats a really good idea. i don't have room to freeze the bags of bedding, how about baking it?

[JWSR]

That would be kinda messy.

[Leigh]

thats a really good idea. i don't have room to freeze the bags of bedding, how about baking it?

FIRE HAZARD

[Scotts1au]

Anyone had experience trying to get rid of mites from an outdoor enclosure?

I've sprayed the bluey and inside of the enclosure as instructed, removed all the wood and other furnishings but I don't like my chances.

I used a poduct called Repti-Guard (yep Permethrin based - I have read about the dangers of this) - I'm thinking -abandon the existing cage for till next Spring and keep him in a tank, or set up a a new enclosure some distance away. Other option to give control a go and see what happens.

The spray seems to have killed the adult mites at least some temporary relief.

Any words of wisdom appreciated.

Scott

[Blotch]

aww dude!

I don't like your chances! However, maybe you could remove your blueys and douse the area in petrol and set it on fire. That'd surely kill anything in the area, then you could spray with a mortein spray around the pit so nothing comes in?

Surely that's worth a try.

[Celeste]

On a more serious note...

I had a Brazilian Rainbow Boa that had mites. It took about a year and a half to get rid of them, as they kept returning. Near as I can figure, they must have laid eggs in the wooden stand his cage was on.

You can wash your skink off with lukewarm water to remove most of the mites, then spray with Reptile relief or whatever.

Keep him on white paper towels for the time being so you can see the little buggers if they are still there or come back.

If your animal is in an aquarium you should put a ring of Vaseline around the outside of the tank (not inside where the skink might come in contact with it -- it is very bad for reptiles' skin. If your animal gets Vaseline on its skin, wipe it all off completely). But the ring of Vaseline will prevent the mites from escaping into the local environment. Be sure to put a ring of Vaseline on all electrical cords leading into/out of the enclosure, too. In the case of my Brazilian, I put a ring of Vaseline around the legs of his terrarium stand instead of around the aquarium itself. (Which is probably why he kept getting re-infested, presumably from the wooden stand itself).

And then be careful not to brush up against his cage, as the mites can get onto your clothing for a free ride to other parts of the house...

You have to re-treat every 10 or 11 days to get the ones that have hatched since the last treatment before they reach adulthood and lay more eggs themselves. (I would recommend even more frequently). And as a previous poster said, keep treating for at least six weeks, then watch for at least a couple of months for any possible recurrence of the mites.

What finally seemed to work for me ('though I'm not sure how safe it was for the animal -- I was desperate) was putting a cat flea collar on top of the cage, and replacing it with a fresh one every few weeks. (Not a dog flea collar -- only a cat one. I seem to recall reading somewhere that a cat flea collar is safer). Cover the entire top of the cage with aluminum foil to trap the fumes in.

I would recommend also moving the mite-infested animal and its enclosure as FAR AWAY from the rest of your collection as possible (if you haven't already done so)...

I have also used No-Pest Strips in the past with good success, but these days they say not to use them because they are dreadfully toxic (to you and potentially to your animal, as well as to the mites)! (But if you have a large collection that gets infested, you may have to resort to them). If you have to resort to that, contact me for instructions. You only put a small piece of them on top of the enclosure for overnight, and you have to remove all the food and water from the enclosure in the meantime. Then re-treat every few days as well. But they were sure effective! For the fellow who is trying to treat an outdoor enclosure, No-Pest Strips might be the way to go. Be sure to remove all food and water bowls while the strips are in there, as water absorbs the neurotoxins in the strips and then your animals can ingest it. I would put a No-Pest Strip in, and then "tent" the entire enclosure overnight, and repeat it every few days.

Also to Scott: I have heard of reptiles (not mine, fortunately) supposedly getting mites from a cage that had been in storage for a *year-and-a-half*, so just abandoning the cage until spring might not do the trick...

Good luck! And act quickly! And be *relentless*, because the darned mites sure are...

-- Celeste

[jasjmm27]

Oh Man...almost forgot about mites! Brought back all kinds of bad memories in dealing with them with my past herps! Hope I can be careful enough not to have to worry about them much in the future! I will have to keep this thread available for if it does happen, though!

[Scotts1au]

hi Celeste

Thanks for the advice, I think I'll try and set up another enclosure somewhere else on my property. Unfortunately there are a number of other reptililian buddies running around my garden - small skinks, geckos etc that probably introduced the mites in the first place.

I suppose all I can do is try. Thanks again.


I'll see how things go.

[Leigh]

Would you be able to use Teatree oil on them,that stuff has numerous uses, and makes me bloody cold when I use my shower gell of it,Steve (usersafe)has a peppermint essence thing thats tops(reading the reviews ) ,I just wondered if it would have the same effect on mites?

[Celeste]

I had always heard you should never use oil on a reptile -- that it would cause the skin to slough off locally. But in searching the internet, I don't see anything about that. I even see places where they recommend using mineral oil on a reptile in some instances. (Ya live and learn!) :->

The trachydosaurus.de site even recommends using Frontline! (see: http://www.trachydosaurus.de/cdisorders.html )

I also found this site:
http://www.anapsid.org/mites.html

which has lots of good info. They even talk about the dreaded No-Pest strips. (Which I have used successfully in three cases over the past 30 years with no apparent ill effects -- on one Ball Python and two Corucia -- and which, after this most recent episode with the Rainbow Boa, I would definitely consider resorting to again...)

If you do try the tea tree oil, please let us know if it works!

-- Celeste

[Scotts1au]

The mite spray appears to be working at the moment. I'll be due to re-apply in a few days. I have some tee tree oil (almost every good Aussie household does ) that I can try if the other treatment doesn't work.

You might be glad to know that blue blueys of South Eastern Aus are getting a good dowsing at the moment from a huge rainband. Welcome rains.

Regards

Scott

[Usersafe]

Frontline should be only used on dogs and cats, not lizards. Merial even states on their website, “FRONTLINE is intended for use on dogs and cats only. Do not use on other animals.”

Note: Frontline works by being stored in the animal's hair folicles, so even if it did work, its very short lasting on reptiles and not as safe as other methods.

Steve